Intercontinental Cup
	Netherlands vs. Taiwan November 14, 2006

Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2006 by Marco Stoovelaar

Dutch defeat Taiwan in 10 innings
Nederlands | Box Score | Play-by-Play
TAICHUNG (Taiwan) - The Dutch National Team played another fine game on the Intercontinental Cup-tournament on Tuesday-evening and defeated host Taiwan 4-2 in 10 innings. In the morning, unbeaten tournament-leader Cuba handed Japan its first loss by winning 6-3.

The Dutch team broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the tenth inning. Sharnol Adriana led off with a walk, then moved on a sac-bunt by pinch-hitter Roel Koolen. Next, Sidney de Jong walked and the bases got loaded when Ivanon Coffie singled. The Dutch team took a 2-1 lead when Adriana scored on a sac-fly by Raily Legito, then increased the lead to 4-1 when Danny Rombley (who was 3-for-3) followed with a 2-run single. Michael Duursma then also reached base when he walked, forcing a pitching change, after which the inning ended with a flyout.

In an exciting game and in sold out Taichung Baseball Stadium, the Dutch team opened the score in the second inning when Ivanon Coffie homered with one out. After next batter Raily Legito struckout, Danny Rombley and Michael Duursma singled, but then the inning ended when Eugene Kingsale also struckout.

In the third inning, the Dutch got another scoring opportunity. Dirk van 't Klooster, in the starting line-up for the first time in this tournament, led off with a single and advanced when Sharnol Adriana was hit by a pitch. The two moved on a sac-bunt by Bryan Engelhardt. Next, Sidney de Jong grounded towards short on which Van 't Klooster took off from third for home, but was caught in a run-down for the second out. The runners advanced, but with Adriana at third and De Jong at second, Ivanon Coffie ended the at bat with a groundout.

In the home third, Taiwan came alongside. Dutch starter Rob Cordemans had given up a lead-off single in the first inning, but then retired the next seven batters in a row, including four with a strikeout. But now, with one out, the righthander gave up homerun to Chung-Shou Yang, the ninth batter in the Taiwanese order, which tied the score at 1-1.

...Danny Rombley... ...3-for-3, 2 RBI... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

From here on, the two starting pitchers, and their relievers, kept each other in balance and were supported with fine defense. Taiwan turned a double play in the fourth inning, then kept the Dutch from scoring again in the sixth. In this at bat, Sidney de Jong led off with a walk and moved on an one-out grounder by Raily Legito. A pitching change followed, but reliever Yeuh-Ping Lin was greeted with a single by Danny Rombley. De Jong tried to score on the basehit, but was thrown out at home, ending the inning.

After giving up the homerun in the third inning, Rob Cordemans gave up only two more basehits (both in the fourth) in the next three innings, as he retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced after the homerun. In the seventh inning, Tom Stuifbergen took over. He gave up two singles with two outs in the eighth inning, but then a grounder ended this scoring chance for the Taiwanese.

In the ninth inning, both teams got another chance of adding a run. Raily Legito led off the Dutch ninth with a single, which led to another Taiwanese pitching change. Legito moved up on a sac-bunt by Danny Rombley, but then Michael Duursma struckout. A force play was created by walking Eugene Kingsale intentionally, after which the inning ended when Dirk van 't Klooster struckout.

In the home ninth Tom Stuifbergen gave up an one-out single, then walked the next batter and was relieved by Michiel van Kampen. The inning then ended when a double play was turned on a grounder by Chih-Kang Kao, who would be the lone hitter to face Van Kampen, who was to become the winning pitcher, as his teammates rallied for three runs in the tenth inning.

Dave Draijer took over in the home of the tenth in which Taiwan came back, but a great play saved the game for both Draijer and the Dutch team. The first batter Draijer faced grounder towards third base and was credited with a basehit (error?), then another single followed to put runners on the corners. Next, second baseman Michael Duursma made an outstanding play on a grounder by Chih-Yao Chan and turned its into a double play. A run was scored, but also two outs were registered. Would the play not have been made, a run also would have scored, but there also would have been two runners with no outs. Both could have scored and tied the score, as next batter Yung-Chi Chen doubled. But now Chen was the lone runner and the score remained 4-2. The game then ended when the next batter grounded towards first base and Draijer earned his second save of the tournament.

Complete Play-by-Play Netherlands vs. Taiwan (Game Five)
Box Score Netherlands vs. Taiwan (Game Five)

Also on Tuesday...
As mentioned, Cuba won its fifth game in a row by beating Japan, 6-3. Dutchman Jan Esselman was one of the Technical Commissioners.
In the afternoon, Italy shutout the Philippines with 'only' 9-0. In this game, Dutch umpire Edwin van den Berk was at first base, while Feiko Drost was the Official Scorer.
In the evening, Australia won 10-9 in an exciting game vs. Korea. Australia led 7-1 after five innings, but then Korea scored four runs in the sixth to make it 7-5. Australia answered with one run, after which Korea tied the score at 8-8 by scoring three runs in the seventh inning. Australia again was able to recover and scored twice in the home seventh. After giving up a run in the eighth, Australia held on to this new lead.
(November 14)