2023 Belgian Series: Deurne Spartans Strikes Again, One Win Away From Championship
Game two of the Belgian Series was a fraternal quarrel as Kevin Desmedt took the mound for Hoboken and Cedric Desmedt took the mound for Deurne. Cedric stayed at the right side of the score as Deurne beat Hoboken in a close game to get within one win of clinching the Belgian championship.
Hoboken Pioneers struck first today. In the first inning, the reigning Belgian champions took a 2-0 lead. Luis Unda opened the score from second base on a single by Dennis de Quint. De Quint advanced to second on a passed ball before he could score on a single by Benjamin Goffaux.
But Hoboken’s lead would not last long. In the bottom of the second inning, Deurne jumped on Kevin Desmedt. With two outs and the bases loaded, Edgardo Jose Nieto Castillo singled up the middle and drove in two to tie the game. Then Daniel Bustamante tripled down the right field line, to drive in two more runs.
But in the next two innings, Hoboken would score a run each to tie the game at four again.
In the sixth inning, Spartans had a major opportunity to take a lead again, with runners on first and second and only one out. But Leonel Santiago Reina Viant grounded out. Both runners moved up one base but also Edgardo Jose Nieto Castillo couldn’t drive in the two runs as he grounded out 6-3.
But eventually, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Deurne struck again. This time the team managed to score with runners in scoring position, even with two outs. Edgardo Jose Nieto Castillo came through with a single to right field that drove in two runs, of which one appeared to be the insurance run as Pioneers scored one more time in the ninth when Xander Verspreet scored on a sac fly.
Cedric Desmedt earned the win after a complete game outing. He gave up five runs of which four were earned, on eleven hits and two walks as he struck out five.
According to the box score, Lucas Rizzi took the loss, but since Kevin Desmedt allowed two runs (one unearned) in the eighth, before Lucas Rizzi took over on the mound, Desmedt should be tabbed with the loss.
The best hitter for Deurne Spartans was Brian Jordani Valdez Lazil, who went 2 for 3 with two runs scored.
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