European Cup 2014: Belgium clinches first win with a no-no

After two games in which they played good ball and kept it close until some bad inning ruined it all, the Red Hawks (as the moniker of team Belgium goes) finally won their first game. Normally I only write about the Netherlands, but in this case I thought the Red Hawks deserved some attention; especially their starting pitcher.

In the first inning the Red Hawks loaded the bases but couldn’t score right away when pitcher Thomas de Wolf, who was batting fourth in the lineup (!!!), hit towards first base. The Swedish first baseman threw the ball towards home where Steven Delannoy, who dashed home from third base was tagged out. Thomas de Wolf reached first base on the fielder’s choice. Dennis de Quint then drew a walk to move up all baserunners and thus he “drove” in the first run. When Robin Roevens drove the ball towards center field for a single, Belgium scored their second and third run of the game.

In the second inning Steven Delannoy led off with a single to center field. After a failed pickoff attempt, he stole second base. Jamie Verlheyleweghen failed to advance Delannoy when he popped out to third base with a bunt attempt. Benjamin Dille (who is playing for Dutch champion DOOR Neptunus) was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Thomas de Wolf then doubled to left center and drove in Delannoy and Dille, to make it 5-0. De Wolf advanced to third on a single by De Quint and eventually scored on a sac fly by Robin Roevens.

After a one run third inning, Belgium didn’t score in the fourth but had another three run inning in the fifth. With two outs already, Dennis Ribbens drew a walk of Swedish pitcher Joakim Klasson. After Ribbens stole second he scored on a single by Steven Delannoy. Jamie Verheyleweghen singled to left field. With runners on first and second, Benjamin Dille singled up the middle to drive in Delannoy and to advance Verheyleweghen to third and Dille advanced to second on the throw.
A wild pitch by Klasson allowed Verheyleweghen to score the third run of the inning. Klasson finally got out of the inning when Thomas de Wolf grounded out for an unassisted out at first base.

Belgium scored one more run in the fifth but by then the game wasn’t a game any longer.

Starting pitcher Thomas de Wolf pitched six innings. He struck out nine, walked four and hit a batter with a pitch, but… he didn’t allow a hit. This may have very well been the very first Belgian no-hitter pitched during a European Cup.

Thomas de Wolf, here hitting, pitched a no-hitter in six innings.

Sweden’s Joakim Klasson lasted five innings in which he allowed ten runs (of which nine earned) on nine hits, walked five and fanned three.

Best hitter, average wise, for Belgium was center fielder Delannoy. He went 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored. He also drew a walk.
Hitter with the most impact for Belgium was Robin Roevens. He collected one hit out of three at bats but drove in three runs.