Slovakia 0 – 11 Kingdom of the Netherlands
Slovakia wasn’t quite an equal opponent. Slovakia was pushed aside by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in only seven mercy rule innings.
A Slovakian miscue in the first inning, gave the Dutch a 1-0 lead. It took them a bit to heat up against the debuting country. In the third inning, the Dutch bats woke up but not before the Slovakian pitcher struggled and the Dutch took advantage of it. Lukas Zilavy started the inning with hitting two batters, then walked the next two batters, so the Dutch could score their second run. Two wild pitches allowed the Dutch to score two more runs. A double by Dwayne Kemp and a single by Junior Martina drove in three more runs to give the Dutch a comfortable lead. Martina delivered again in the following inning when he doubled to left field and drove in two more runs.
A single by Calten Daal in the fifth and a fielding error in the sixth, drove in two more runs to reach the final score of 11-0.
Manager of team Kingdom of the Netherlands, Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen saved his arms for the tougher opponents. Lars Huijer, who can normally go the distance, was pulled after one inning. As a result, his successor, Mike Bolsenbroek earned the win after a perfect inning in which he struck out two. Jayden Gonesh pitched two frames in which he allowed one hit and three walks and struck out four. Raf Cocu, who was added to the roster due to an injury of Franklin van Gurp, pitched 1.2 inning in which he allowed one hit and a walk and struck out five. Mike Groen finished the game as he lasted 1.1 perfect inning in which he struck out four.
Average-wise, Calten Daal was the best hitter for the Dutch. In one pinch hit at-bat, he
singled and drove in a run. Dwayne Kemp went 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored and Sharlon Schoop (1 for 2), Junior Martina, Dashenko Ricardo, and John Polonius (all 2 for 4) hit .500.
Tomorrow the Dutch will face the Czech Republic in the final game of the day. An opponent that should not be underestimated as the Czechs have beaten the Dutch twice so far during European tournaments.
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