Men's World Championship day 4
Singapore vs Netherlands 0:13 (0:3, 0:2, 0:8, 0:X)
The shutout streak extended to three days in Prague this morning. The opener between Singapore and The Netherlands began under clouded skies and cool temperatures, fitting for the pounding the Dutch were about to give the men from Asia.
After suffering a 12-0 loss last night, today there was plenty of contact between the Netherland’s bench and their bats. The hurt they laid upon the Singaporeans was truly a team effort with 4 guys batting in 2, and only 2 with more than a hit added to their totals on the day. Centerfielder Danny Rombley, their #8 guy in the lineup, did the most damage going 2/2 with 2 hits, both doubles, and an RBI. Amazingly enough, in all that action, not a single shot left the park. In fact, the only addition extra base hit came from Enrique Javier who also hit a 2-bagger.
In the ring for the Netherlands starting pitcher Jeroen Mulder went the full 4.0 innings giving up just 2 hits on the day while walking 1 and striking out 7. Only 3 of the 13 runs given up by Singapore were unearned. The rest remain the responsibility of their bullpen who combined to give up 10 runs off 9 hits while striking out just 4 between them.
Venezuela vs Denmark 1:0 (0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 1:0)
We had the first extra innings game of the day in Prague when Venezuela and Denmark teamed up for a pitch-off. Both teams opted to keep their starters on the mound to the end.
In the ring for the South Americans, Erick Urbaneja went 8.0 innings, walking 3 while striking out 6. Kim Hansen gave up 4 hits and a run while striking out 14. Clearly the fielders on both benches had the back of their #1 guy for the day.
It was the RBI by leftfielder Herwims Querales that would put an end to the fun. In the top of the 8th he sacrificed his bat for the good of the team. Per extra inning rules 1st baseman John Zolarzano was placed on 2nd. Manuel Contreras grounded out, advancing the runner before Querales slammed one out to left, giving Zolarzano time to cross for the win.
Czech Republic vs Japan 3:4 (3:1, 0:1, 0:0, 0:1, 0:1, 0:0, 0:X)
In the final game at Hippos Arena the local fans were treated to yet another intense matchup as the Czech national team squared off against Japan.
The Europeans jumped out to an early lead putting 3 on the board in the 1st. Vaclav Svoboda singled and Patrik Kolkus walked along with David Mertl. Bases loaded, the first run of the evening walked across the plate as Marek Maly reached base on a catcher interference call that sent Svoboda home. Michal Koluch singled to right scoring Kolkus and Mertl while advancing Maly to 3rd where he was left stranded.
In the bottom of the inning Japan answered with a run of their own after Ryoyu Une, who was walked, touched home on a single by Hikaru Matsuda. After a scoreless 3rd inning, Japan was back on the board in the 4th with another Une-Matsuda pairing with a single by Ryoyu and a grounder for the out by Hikaru. At the end of 4, Japan had tied it up.
The Asians took advantage of some wild ones thrown by the Czech Republic’s relief pitcher Marek Joska, who appeared to need a few additional warm up pitches, in the second half of the 5th to claim the lead. Kuroiwa pinch ran for Mitsuru Miyaji after his single then advanced to both 2nd and 3rd on errant pitches. When Taiyo Kataoka singled to center he sacrificed his at bat for the winning run.