On the final day of Honkbalweek, The Netherlands beat Chinese Taipei 4-0 to receive the bronze medal. The Netherlands used a four-run eighth inning to propel themselves to victory in their final game at Honkbalweek.
The Netherlands started a little slow after a devastating loss to the United States yesterday in the semifinals. So did Chinese Taipei, as neither team put together many scoring opportunities early on.
Chung-Hsiang Huang started the game for Chinese Taipei and went three innings with no runs. He was relieved by Kuan-Ying Chen, who mimicked his performance by pitching three shutout innings.
For the Netherlands, Shairon Martis did it all himself. He pitched seven full innings, striking out four and only allowing four hits.
Leadoff Jair Van Borkulo singled to right and Tyriq Kemp followed that up with a bunt single. A sacrifice bunt from Jeandro Tromp moved them over, and the Netherlands now had men on second and third with one out.
A fielders choice off the bat of Delano Selassa scored the first run to put the Netherlands up 1-0. Stijn Van Der Meer hit another fielders choice to score Kemp, putting Team Kingdom up 2-0.
With two outs, Sem Kuijper homered to deep left field to extend the Netherlands’ lead late in the game. It was now 4-0, and Chinese Taipei were down to their final three outs.
In the top of the ninth in his second inning of work, Scott Prins continued to shut down the Chinese Taipei offense. With two strikeouts and a fly out he had a one, two, three inning to seal the game for his country.
The Netherlands finished 5-2 and claimed the bronze medal in the Honkbalweek tournament. Chinese Taipei finished 2-5 but provided some incredibly entertaining games and moments along the way.
The Championship game will be between the number one seed, Japan, and the number three seed, the United States of America. It will take place at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). Japan hopes to finish the tournament undefeated, while the United States hopes to keep their momentum alive and hoist the Gold Medal.
Follow the Honkbalweek Haarlem championship here at the World Baseball Network and watch along at honkbal.tv.
Photo Credit: Honkbalweek Haarlem (Helene Wiesenhaan)
