Even though it was only in the Bronze Medal game, the Dutch got their revenge for the ass whooping by Italy, earlier this week, as they beat their eternal rivals 5-3.
The Netherlands took an early lead when it scored twice on a sac fly by Tyrell Mercado Reyes and an RBI single through the left side by Moos van Genderen.
But in the third inning, Italy would bounce back. With runners in scoring position, Lorenzo Barbona singled up the middle to drive in Italy’s first run. A groundout tied the game at two and a balk with runners on the corners, gave Italy the one-run lead.
From there, the Dutch garnered some runs for the victory. A fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third inning, made the Dutch score the game-tying run. One inning later, a wild pitch allowed Mauricio Montenegro Espinoza to score the go-ahead run. And finally in the fifth inning, the Dutch scored an insurance run when Jamie Beerman scored from third on a sac fly by Keegan Pieternella.
Thijs Helms pitched four innings in relief and earned the win as he allowed two hits and two walks and struck out four. Amarensio Franka earned the save as he recorded the final out of the game in 0.1 inning. Riccardo Mazzanti took the loss. In 1.2 innings, he gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk and struck out one.
Amarensio Franka was clearly the best hitter for the Netherlands as he went 4 for 4 with two runs scored.
Dutch Baseball Hangout 