The Netherlands failed to remain clear at the Haarlem Baseball Week. After previous victories over Cuba and Italy, Curaçao turned out to be too strong today. The Netherlands eventually lost its third game 8-6.
The Netherlands shot off the starting blocks in the Pim Mulier stadium. In the first at bat, the team of national coach Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen took a 2-0 lead right away. Rogear Bernadina crossed home on a single by Denzel Richardson and not much was also able to score for Sharlon Schoop on a successful hit by Juremi Profar.
Disastrous inning
In the sixth inning, things went completely wrong for the Orange. With a 3-0 lead for the Netherlands, Curaçao struck and made no less than six runs. The Netherlands was able to score one more run in the tying at bat to give Curaçao a 6-4 lead in the last inning. In the spectacular finale of the game, both teams each scored twice and so the final score was 8-6 on the board.
It marked the first loss for the Netherlands this edition of the Haarlem Baseball Week. Later this week, the Netherlands will play against Japan and the United States in the group stage. The semi-finals are on Thursday 14 July and the final is the day later on Friday.