Netherlands vs Venezuela 1:9 (0:0, 0:1, 1:2, 0:6, 0:X)
The Netherlands fell to Venezuela 1-9 after a breakout 4th inning to end the game early. The Dutch were held scoreless all but the 3rd inning when Maiker Pimentel gave up an RBI to Jefferson Delfina to tie the game. 

By the end of that inning, Venezuela had put 2 on the board to regain the lead. The South Americans racked up 6 more before claiming final victory. 

John Zambrano kicked off their 4th inning rally with a triple just to the right of center. Rogelio Sequera took Carlos Ojeda’s spot in the lineup and singled to left scoring Zambrano. The Netherlands put Jeroen Mulder on the block but he could not stop Venezuela’s momentum. In fact, he contributed to it. 

Sequera reached 2nd on a wild pitch before Herwims Querales doubled him home. Edward Rogers hopped off the bench for Manuel Contreras while Herwim moved up to 3rd on another one thrown wild. When Rogers singled to center, he crossed the plate for the 3rd run of the inning. 

Another pitching change, the 3rd Dutch hurler on the day, some additional pinch hitters and wild pitches, left runners in scoring position for Engelbert Herrera to take one deep to left and score the remaining three before the close of the inning and the game.

Denmark vs Australia 3:5 (0:1, 0:1, 0:0, 1:3, 0:0, 0:2, 0:X)
While all of Denmark’s scoring came in the third, Australia played a lot of small ball well in their 5-3 victory over Denmark at Hippo Arena this afternoon. 

The Aussie pitching staff did an outstanding job giving up just 1 hit on the day. Harrison Peters pitched 4.0 innings, striking out 9 and giving up all 3 runs off a shot to the parking lot. With two outs recorded, Peters walked Martin Simonsen then hit Anders Svane. That set the field for Alejandro Isasi to drive in three with his homer deep over the right field wall. While he ended the inning, Harrison’s day was done. Andrew Kirkpatrick took the ball and pitched 3.0 innings of perfect ball striking out 3. 

The Australian lineup took full advantage of the opportunities presented to them by the Danish defense. In addition to Jett Wright stealing home in the second, Brendon O’Bryne scored on a wild pitch in the 6thbecoming the go-ahead run after Scott Patterson’s solo shot to left tied the game in the 4th. This kind of heads-up base running firmed the team’s lead until all 7 were complete.

Czech Republic vs Argentina 3:6 (0:0, 0:3, 0:1, 0:0, 3:2, 0:0, 0:X)
In the final game of the evening for Prague, the Czech national team was greeted by a standing room only crowd as they faced off against Argentina. 

On the plate for the Argentine’s, Roman Godoy completed 5.0 full innings giving up 3 runs off 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7. Though the runs were earned, with each man reaching base safely, right fielder Santiago Carril was responsible for two of the three runs that got the Czech’s within reach. 

With Kasal on 2nd and Korcak on 1st, single and a walk respectively, Vaclav Svoboda singled to right to score Kasal and get the RBI. Korcak advanced to 2nd on the play. In right Carril missed the scoop as he overran the ball however and, on his error, both Korcak and Svoboda score. That made the game 4-3. 

In answer to his mistake Santiago doubled to right in the bottom of the inning driving in Motroni for some insurance before crossing the plate himself on a triple by Alberto Montero, putting a point on the end of it.

/Picture: WBSC/