U-18 World Cup 2019: Dutch don’t stand a chance vs Canada

After a strong game against Korea, that was only lost in extra innings, the Dutch team may have had good hopes for a good result vs Canada. For three innings, the Dutch could keep pace with the Canadians but in the fourth, the Canucks had a big inning that was the foundation for an 11-0 victory.

Until the fourth inning, the Dutch were able to keep Canada from scoring but in the fourth, things went wrong. Pitcher Scott Prins gave up five runs on which three were earned. His successor Sem Lauf, who lasted one inning, gave up four runs (one earned) on one hit and four walks. Shane Quant pitched 2.2 innings and gave up two runs on two hits and three walks. Eventually, Canada needed only 6.5 innings to clinch the win.

Did the Dutch do nothing back? Actually not much. In six innings, the Netherlands collected four hits. Three of those four hits were doubles, but those doubles were not really helpful as they were too much spread out in the game.

Starting pitcher Scott Prins had a good start even though he gave up leadoff walks in the first two innings. He managed to keep Canada from scoring in the first three innings. But in the fourth, he gave up back-to-back home runs. That was too much to overcome for Prins as he was tabbed for three more runs when he struggled with his control (a wild pitch and an HBP) and didn’t get the needed defensive support.

In the fifth inning, Canada added six more runs to reach the final score.

Average wise, Ryson Polonius was the best hitter for the Dutch as he went 1 for 1.

Tomorrow, the Kingdom of the Netherlands will face Nicaragua.

In group B, the other European representative, Spain, clinched a surprising win by beating Panama 12-3. The Spanish collected fourteen hits, of which four doubles and one home run.