   Dutch BB Women finish 8th after shutout-loss
Nederlands
 MIYAZAKI (Japan) -
The Netherlands Women Baseball Team finished in eighth and last place on the Women's Baseball World Cup in Japan after being shutout 4-0 by Hong Kong this morning (Sunday, September 7).
On Saturday, the Dutch Team lost 19-11 to Hong Kong to finish in last place in the Second Round.
Today, the two teams met again to decide seventh and eighth place.
For Hong Kong, the victories against the Netherlands were their first in World Cup-history.
The country participates in the event for the fourth time.
The team was 0-6 in 2006 and 0-5 in 2008.
In 2010, Hong Kong also participated in the Championship when it was held in Venezuela.
After losing its first game, Hong Kong played the Netherlands.
During the game, 3B Woon-Yee Cheuk was struck by a stray bullet in her leg when she took the field in the fourth inning against the Dutch, who were leading 12-9.
After the incident, the game was halted, as were all other games.
Hong Kong withdrew from the event and all games were moved from Caracas to Maracay.
Hong Kong didn't participate in the Championship two years ago in Canada, but returned again this time.
And Woo-Yee Cheuk again was one of the players in the Hong Kong-squad.
She didn't play today, but in yesterday's game, she went 1-for-3, scored once and had four runs batted in.
In today's game, Hong Kong scored two runs in the second and two in the third inning off of Loes Asmus, who went the distance for the Dutch.
In the second inning, she walked the lead-off hitter, then an error on a sacrifice bunt led to runners on second and third base.
With one out, the bases were loaded when a batter was hit by a pitch, then Asmus committed a throwing error on a force play-grounder, which led to the first two runs.
In the third inning, Wai Yee Cheung and Hei Ting Lau began with singles.
With one out and the runners now on second and third base, a single by Tan Lee Cheung and a wild pitch made it 4-0 in favor of Hong Kong.
The Dutch Team didn't got much scoring opportunities.
After a runner was left in the first inning, Claudia Kranendonk led off the second with a single, but was forced out on a grounder by Sofie van de Wiel.
The latter then stole second and third base, but was left behind.
In the third, another runner stranded, then two batters reached in the fourth.
With one out, Claudia Kranendonk reached on an error, then Anouk Vergunst walked with two outs, but again, the runners were left behind.
In the sixth, lead-off hitter Annemiek Koehorst was hit by a pitch, then Claudia Kranendonk singled with one out.
After the latter was replaced by pinch-runner Kelly Zuurendonk, Sofie van de Wiel hit the ball into leftfield for an apparent single, but Koehorst was forced out at third base.
Hereafter, the inning ended when Zuurendonk also was forced out on the next grounder.
In the top the seventh, Paulieke Breukers became the final Dutch runner after she walked with one out, but she also was left behind.
With the loss, the Dutch Team remained winless in the event, having lost all six games it played.
In three World Cup-participations, the Dutch Team has won only one game, which game two years ago against Cuba.
(September 7)
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