The Dutch U-18 squad managed to win the 2018 European title by beating Spain 6-3. Luuk ter Beek pitched a gem and kept the Spanish scoreless in eight innings. 

It wasn’t really a close game but the Dutch did not manage to walk away from their opponent. In the first four innings, the Dutch jumped to a 4-0 lead but did not extend their score in the following innings until the bottom of the eighth.

After Jeandro Tromp led off the first inning with a walk, he advanced to third base on a throwing error with a pickoff attempt. With two outs and runners on the corners, Denzel Bryson singled to center field to drive in Tromp from third.

Two innings later, Tromp also scored the second run for the Dutch. Again he batted leadoff but this time he got on base thanks to a single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch. When Darryl Collins hit into a force out at second base, Tromp advanced to third from where he scored on a sac fly by Ruendrick Piternella.

After the Kingdom of the Netherlands scored twice in the fourth inning, the team did not come close to home plate until the bottom of the eighth. Denzel Bryson led off the inning with a double to left-center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Shuruengelo Mingeli. Leandro Anasagasti’s single drove in Bryson to make it 5-0. After Nolan Beugeling drew a walk, Jeandro Tromp drove in Leandro Anasagasti from second base with a single to left field.

Luuk ter Beek pitched eight solid innings and faced two batters in the ninth. After he gave up two consecutive singles, manager Erik de Bruin pulled him and replaced him with Arij Fransen. But Fransen could not keep Spain from scoring as he gave up a bases-clearing double to Juan Jose Gonzalez. When Edgar Rodriguez singled down the left field line, things started to become threatening especially when Juan Jose Gonzalez scored another run for Spain when Pol Rodriguez hit into a double play.  But Fransen eventually straightened the ship as he struck out Octavio Aulet for the final out of the game.

In eight innings and two batters faced, Luuk ter Beek was tabbed for two runs on six hits and a walk as he struck out two for the win. Arij Fransen gave up one run on two hits and struck out one in one inning of work.

Leandro Anasagasti was the best Dutch hitter going 2 for 3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Grosseto 14-07

Today, the Dutch cruised through seven innings as they beat Italy 12-2. In the lion’s den, the Dutch were way too strong for the host nation. Solid hitting and a pristine outing by Sem Robberse, laid the foundation for this easy victory.

After the Dutch scored on a passed ball in the first inning, Italy tied the game at one in the top of the fourth and scored another run in the top of the fifth. But for every run the Italians scored, the Kingdom of the Netherlands scored three so they walked away to a 7-2 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Mick Vos doubled home Shuruengelo Mingeli to extend the score to 8-2. Eventually, the Dutch dealt the final blow in the seventh. Jeandro Tromp drew a leadoff walk and scored on Tyler Boersma’s double to right field. After Darryl Collins was hit by a pitch, Denzel Bryson homered to left field to finish the game in seven innings.

As written in the introduction, Sem Robberse pitched a complete game gem. He allowed two runs on seven hits, struck out two and did not issue a walk. Only in the fifth Robberse got in a jam as he loaded the bases. Italy managed to score one run but he managed to get out of the inning without further damage. The Italian pitching struggled quite a bit as they gave up eleven walks and threw six wild pitches.

The Dutch lineup collected eleven hits of which five were extra-base hits (three doubles, one triple and a home run).  Darryl Collins and Nolan Beugeling both went 2 for 3. Collins hit a triple and drove in two runs and scored once. Beugeling had one RBI and scored once.

The Dutch will face Spain or the Czech Republic who will play the other semifinal later today.

Grosseto 13-07

The Kingdom of the Netherlands shoved aside the still winless Ukraine 17-0. Starting pitcher Chris Stuart took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning but it was spoiled with two outs. Thanks to this win, the Dutch will advance to the semis as the winner of group A.

Chris Stewart was dominating the Ukraine lineup as he limited them to just one hit in seven innings of a lopsided game. That sole hit spoiled his no-hitter. After he retired the opening batter of the seventh inning, Anton Poplavski singled to right field to break up Stewart’s no-hitter. But the next batter hit into a game-ending double play.

At bat, the Dutch were vastly superior as well as they collected as many hits as the runs they scored. Six of those seventeen hits were extra-base hits, two doubles, and three triples.

Ruendrick Piternella had the most impact with three hits out of five at-bats with four runs batted in, two runs scored and a triple. Average-wise, Max Kops was the best hitter as he went 1 for 1.

Other hitting results:

Jeandro Tromp: 1 for 3
Tyler Boersma: 1 for 4
Darryl Collins: 3 for 6
Leandro Anasagasti: 2 for 4
Sherson Randt: 1 for 3
Tahir Meulens: 2 for 5
Nolan Beugeling: 3 for 5

As the winner of group A, the Dutch will face Italy in the semifinals. Italy lost to Spain yesterday. Today, the Italians had to face Ireland that had only lost one game (vs Spain) as well. In a close game, the Irish made the Italians work hard for their money and almost stunted against the Azzurri. Trailing 10-9, the Irish had runners on first and second with one out but eventually, they were not able to force a decision in their favor.

In a game of which the score moved back and forth, the Dutch stayed at the right side of the score. The pitching struggled at times and gave away the lead in the sixth but eventually the Dutch bounced back to walk off the field with a 17-7 win. 

The 17-7 may not reflect the whole game as it took the Dutch a long time to walk away from their opponent but in reality, the Dutch were the better offensive team by far as they outhit their opponent 17-3.

The French took a 2-0 lead as they scored a run in the first and in the second inning but in the third, the Dutch turned the tables as they scored thrice on a home run and three consecutive singles. After the Dutch scored six runs in the next three innings, the French inched closer in the bottom of the fifth as they scored once.

In the sixth inning, the French would turn the tables as they scored four. But those four runs didn’t come thanks to any base hit. The Dutch pitching struggled as it gave up three walks and an HBP and also threw a wild pitch followed by a throwing error.

But the French pitching struggled as well as the French pitchers threw ten (!) wild pitches and gave up fourteen walks. Next to the lack of control, they didn’t get the necessary defensive help from their infielders as they committed four errors that led to three unearned runs.

The lack of French control led to six runs in the ninth inning as the Dutch scored thanks to three walks, three wild pitches combined with a triple and three singles.

Dutch head coach Eric de Bruin used four pitchers today of which Daniël Vos earned the win, despite giving up five runs of which four were earned. In the 3.1 innings he stayed on the mound, he walked six and struck out five. Of the seventeen hits the Dutch collected, six were extra-base hits: two home runs, a triple and three doubles.
Three Dutch hitters hit .500 today: Tyler Boersma went 3 for 6 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Ruendrick Piternella went 2 for 4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored and Denzel Bryson went 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Thanks to this win the Dutch are 3-0 and have secured a spot in the semifinals. Tomorrow the Dutch will face Ukraine that is still without a win. With a win, the Dutch can finish as group winner. Who they will face in the semis will likely be decided tonight as Italy and Spain, both without a loss, will face each other.

After a day of rest, the Kingdom of the Netherlands took on the Czech Republic. Until the seventh inning, the Czechs could keep pace with the Dutch but eventually, the Kingdom of the Netherlands walked away and won 9-5.

In the first two innings, both teams kept each other in balance but in the third, the Czech Republic took a 5-3 lead thanks to two unearned runs. The two-run lead would last for an inning and a half as the Dutch tied the game in the fourth when Leandro Anasagasti led off the inning with a double, followed by a single Mick Vos that drove in Anasagasti. Nolan Beugeling then bunted Mick Vos over to second, who advanced to third on a balk. A fielding error that followed on the hit ball by Tyler Boersma, allowed Vos to score the tying run.

After the Kingdom of the Netherlands scored a run in the sixth, they finally walked away from the Czech Republic in the seventh inning.  With runners in scoring position, Jeandro Tromp singled to second base to drive in Mick Vos from third base. Back-to-back singles by Tyler Boersma and Darryl Collins drove in two more runs to give the Dutch a safe 9-5 lead.

Luuk ter Beek, who started the game, only lasted two innings as he gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk as he struck out one. His replacement Stefan Iannelli lasted three innings in which he gave up two runs (one earned) on four walks. Eventually, Arij Fransen kept the Czechs from scoring as he pitched three innings in which he allowed only one run and two walks and struck out two, numbers he earned the win with. Jiorgeny Casimiri finished the game by pitching a perfect ninth in which he fanned two.

Best hitter for the Dutch was Darryl Collins, who went 3 for 5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.

Tomorrow, the Dutch will take on France, that has a 2-1 record.

Team Kingdom of the Netherlands U18 the European Championship U18
 in Grosseto started well with a very big victory over Great Britain. In just five innings, the British were 21-2. The difference was made in the third inning, in which the team of coach Eric de Bruin scored 19 runs on 9 hits. Sem Robberse, pitcher of HCAW,
 opened the game for the Dutch squad and, thanks to a double play, was unscathed from the first inning. Thanks to some sloppiness in the British defense and singles by Neptunians Darryl Collins and Ruendrick Piternella, the Kingdom Team took an early lead when
 Tyler Boersma (Meerlease Pioniers) scored the first run. An inning later, the lead was doubled. Shuruengelo Mingeli hit and singled and stole second base after five failed attempts at a pick-off. The Curaçaoan then scored the second run for the Dutch
 Team on the single by Mick Vos (Curaçao Neptunus). Rally time Robberse eventually pitched three innings as starter, in which he struckout two batters and gave up only one basehit. In the tying at bat of the third inning, the Kingdom Team broke the game
 completely. On nine basehits - two doubles (Collins, Bryson), two triples (Anasagasti and Piternella), singles (Piternella, Boersma, Beugeling, again Boersma and Anasagasti) - two errors, ten (!) Free runs, a walk and a few wild throws scored nineteen runs.
 With a 21-0 lead, relievers Scott Prins and Jiorgeny Casimiri threw out the game. Ruendrick Piternella (3-4 with 4 RBI) and Leandro Anasagasti (2-3 with 4 RBI) were the attacking champions on the side of the Kingdom Team, which has a day off tomorrow and the
 European Championship continues on Wednesday at 15.00 with a more difficult opponent: Czech Republic.                   
 1 2 3 4 5 R H E 
GREAT BRITAIN 0 0 0 2
 0 2 4 5 
NETHERLANDS 1 1 19 0 x 21 15 1 
Pitchers Great Britain Michael Lawson (5): 0-5-7-3 
Nathan Kettle (3 hitters): 0-2-1-0 
Christopher Gregory (4 hitters): 0-3-0-1 
Ian Dellapina (1): 2-1-7-1 
Pitchers Netherlands 
Sem
 Robberse (3): 2-1-1-0 
Scott Prins (1): 1-1-3-1 
Jiorgeny Casimiri (W) (1): 1-0-0-0

Regensburg 05-07 
Played against Germany I was allowed to
 throw 1 inning where I needed 9 balls. 
We have won the game

Regensburg 04-07 
Today's practice match was against a 
Travel Team from the USA. 
AAA won the match with 13-6

Regensburg 03-07 
Practiced today against the Czech Republic.
 
I pitcht 1 2/3 inning and that went well. 
The match was won by us 15-3

AAA is finally on its way to the European 
Championships U18
 in Italy.
 But first we fly to Regenburg for the final 
preparations.

Monday 9 July 201815.00 The Netherlands-Great Britain 
Wednesday
 11 July 201815.00 The Netherlands-Czech Republic 
Thursday 12 July 201816.00 Frankrijk-Nederland 
Friday, July 13, 201820.00 Ukraine-the Netherlands 
Semi-finals 
Saturday, July 14, 2018 15.00 . Number 1 group A-number 2 group B 
Saturday,
 July 14, 2018 20.00 . Number 1 group B-number 2 group A 
Final 
Sunday, July 15, 2018 6.00 pm Winner semi-final 1-Winner semi-final 2

I can go with AAA to the European Championship in Grosseto (Italy).
 
I leave on July 1st to Regensburg (Germany) where we have a final training camp and fly from 
there to Italy where the European Championship is held from 09-07 to 15-07.

Amsterdam 19-04 
France has practiced against NL AAA this week.
 
I myself only pitching on the Tuesday and that was reasonable. 
We have already won the 4 matches.

Barcelona 25-3 
After NL with 4-0 to have been behind, they
 know this to turn to a 6-4 victory.
I was allowed to throw 3 innings where I did not give away any points

Barcelona 23-03 

15-0 was the result of the game with 2 grand slams and a hone run

Barcelona 22-3 

We played a draw with 4-4 against Germany
 and I made my debut in the Dutch National Junior Team. 
I was allowed to throw as a reliever and that went reasonably well.

Deventer 21-03 

I am on my way to Barcelona. 
I
 leave Eindhoven at 7:00 am by plane (the first time) to Barcelona. 
We stay there 8 days to train and play matches.