The baseball players of the Dutch Kingdom Team also won their second game at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Thursday. Panama was beaten 3-1 in Taiwan.
The Kingdom Team took a 2-0 lead in the Taichung Stadium after five innings thanks to homeruns by star players Xander Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar.
Panama then did something back, but the victory was not in danger for the team of national coach Hensley Meulens. Bogaerts increased the margin to two again in the eighth inning.
The game against Panama was a special one for 35-year old Sharion Martis, who started as the starting pitcher. In 2006, the then eighteen-year-old Martis also stood on the mound against Panama for the first time. He then threw the first and so far only no-hitter in World Baseball Classic history.
Kingdom team wants to win World Baseball Classic for the first time
In the first game of the WBC, the Kingdom team was already too strong for Cuba: 4-2. It is the only tournament where Major League Baseball (MLB) players are allowed to participate. The Kingdom team therefore has top players such as Bogaerts, Profar and Didi Gregorius at its disposal.
The baseball players also compete against hosts Taiwan and Italy in the group. Those matches will also be played at Taichung Stadium in Taiwan. The numbers one and two qualify for the quarter-finals, which will be played in Tokyo. The winners will play the final round in Miami.
The Kingdom team hopes to win the World Baseball Classic for the first time. In 2013 in 2017 the semi-finals were reached. The unofficial World Cup is held once every four years.
Programma WBC
- Zaterdag 12.00 uur: Koninkrijksteam-Taiwan
- Zondag 13.00 uur: Koninkrijksteam-Italië
- Genoemd zijn de Nederlandse tijden
