Dutch knocked out of World Baseball Classic semis; Errors anger coach

By Janene Pieters on March 21, 2017 - 13:35
Xander Boggaerts during the World Baseball Classic semis against Puerto Rico in Los Angeles, 20 Mar 2017
Xander Boggaerts during the World Baseball Classic semis against Puerto Rico in Los Angeles, 20 Mar 2017. Photo: HonkbalNL / KNSB

The Netherlands' baseball team got knocked out of the World Baseball Classic semi-finals against Puerto Rico in Los Angeles on Monday. Coach Hensley Meulens attributes the loss to some "frustrating" mistakes, NOS reports. 

With frustrating mistakes, Meulens is referring to the first Oranje innings during which Adrelton Simmons went out in a failed attempt to steal a base. And Jurickson Profar went out when he did not keep his foot on the base while celebrating a single. 

"Beforehand we spoke about the experience Yadier Molina had behind the plate. That if you go too far from the base, he will throw you out and that is what happened", Meulens said to NOS. "And then Jurickson celebrating and not returning to the base, that is unacceptable." This meant that after Wladimir Balentien hit a home run moments later, the Netherlands walked away with two points instead of four. 

The wild first inning got the game going, but a solo shot in the second by TJ Rivera put Puerto Rico ahead 3-2. By the fourth inning the game was tied, and it stayed that way until it went into extra innings. In the 11th inning, Carlos Correa made the winning run and knocked the Netherlands out of the World Baseball Classic. Puerto Rico won 4-3 and will go on to play either Japan or the United States on Wednesday.

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