Netherlands 4 - 2 Cuba
The two-time semi-finalists said "let there be baseball" with a hard fought triumph over historical powerhouse Cuba. The decisive blow was a two-run bloop single into no man's land in center field by Chadwick Tromp, the Dutch catcher. Xander Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar had quiet days but no matter. Sir Didi drove in a run, and Washington Nationals youngster Josh Palacios had himself an RBI and a stolen base. Former Nat and longtime national team mainstay Roger Bernadina also stole one. The Dutch pitching held in spite of four walks from starter Tom DeBlok.
For Cuba, there is something to build off of though. Yadiel Rodriguez was solid with six strikeouts through four innings. Livan Moinelo also showed why he is so highly regarded with an impressive inning of relief. However, the bats were sepulchrally quiet, save for Yadil Mujica's two run double. Their MLB players were quiet today also.
The Dutch will face Panama in hopes of putting a stranglehold on a spot in the last eight. Cuba get Mike Piazza's strong, well balanced Italian squad looking to make waves of its own in what is surely a must-win for Cuba.
Panama 12 - 5 Taiwan
Disaster struck for the hosts in Taichung in a fourth inning that saw three pitchers struggle to get three outs. Five runs later, C.C. Lee finally did get the elusive third out. Panama further made up for lost time with another onslaught in the sixth to threaten victory by mercy rule but we did see the full nine innings. Former big leaguers Johnathan Arauz and Ruben Tejada each drove in runs. A sensational catch by Luis Castillo that saw him crash into hot Dodger prospect Jose Ramos. Both were okay in the end thankfully.
For Team Taiwan, pitching was sketchy from the start. Hu Chih-Wei was lucky not to surrender runs in the first three innings and probably should not have gone back out for the fourth. It was all downhill from there. Offense was fine though and Wu Nien-Ting did hit the first homer of the tournament.
Panama will look to go 2-0 against the mighty Dutch. Taiwan will face Italy on Friday with pretty much everything on the line. It is a must-win for the hosts.
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