In the second match of the tournament, The Dutch had a tough night on which most of the pitching did not pan out and the bats stayed dormant when it mattered most. First it looked like things would go without a hitch but later in the game, the team faced an Italian team that took the lead and never looked back.
Italy 7 – 5 Kingdom of the Netherlands
In the first inning, the Dutch took an easy lead when Italian starter Edoardo Uttini struggled through that inning. Three consecutive singles by Raidley Legito, Mees Robberse and Emilson Haswell, led to the opening run. A single by Luca Pastor and a 6-3 groundout by Mart Blijleven drove in two more runs. But after that, Uttini settled down and kept the Dutch lineup in check.
Dutch starter Brandon Herbold pitched a scoreless first inning but then loaded the bases without recording an out in the second inning. His successor, Dorian Lippens, could not prevent the Italians to score thrice, for which Herbold would be tabbed. Lippens would give up three consecutive walks in the third inning and was tabbed for three runs in the third inning. Eventually, Cody Hendriks got out of the inning without further damage. But also Hendriks would give up a run. In the fifth, thanks to a fielding error, the leadoff hitter got on base and eventually scored the unearned run.
In the fifth inning, the Dutch offense finally showed some signs of life. With two outs, Emilson Haswell singled to left field and scored on a triple to right center field, hit by Jesse Velders, who pinch hit for Rodmar Angela. That triple was the sign for the Italian manager to replace Uttini on the mound. His successor, Edoardo Zingarelli, who started by giving up a walk to put runners on the corners. He then gave up a single to Mart Blijleven that drove in Jesse Velders for the fifth Dutch run of the game. But that was all the Dutch lineup was capable of.
Edoardo Uttini pitched 4.2 innings for the win, in which he allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and a walk as he struck out five. Edoardo Zingarelli earned the save. In 2.1 innings, he gave up one hit and one walk and struck out five as well. Dorian Lippens took the loss. In 1.1 innings in relief, he gave up three runs on one hit and five walks and struck out three.
Italy’s best hitter was Samuele Gamberini, who went 2 for 4 with one RBI.
You will never know how the game would have gone when the Dutch had not committed the three errors. It might have prevented two (unearned) runs.
I would like to thank the WBSC (Europe) for a not functioning link to the streaming. If you want to promote the game, like you say you are doing, make sure that the streaming is working instead of cutting games by two innings.
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