Team Australia fell to The Netherlands tonight after the home side used a five run third inning to propel them to victory.
The Netherlands got on top early, but a solo home run from former MLB representative Trent Oeltjen levelled the ballgame in the bottom half of the frame with a deep solo shot to right field.
The third inning proved to be the difference between the sides, with The Netherlands piling on five runs. A pair of singles, a pair of questionable balks from Wilson Lee and a passed ball saw five runs cross the plate.
Wilson Lee was replaced on the mound by Perth Heat veteran Scott Mitchinson (4.2IP, 1ER, 3K) who threw admirably in front of a parochial home crowd.
Team Australian Manager Jon Deeble was impressed with Mitchinson’s performance.
“Scott battled hard and kept us in the ballgame,” Deeble said.
“He did a great job, threw the ball really well and should be right to go again in a couple of days.”
Team Australia managed to peg one back in the bottom half of the third when Mitch Nilsson drove in Sydney Blue Sox catcher Trent D’Antonio.
From there, defence reigned supreme, with Dutch pitcher Jim Ploeger and Mitchinson throwing strongly.
Team Australia hit the ball well as a group, but couldn’t find any clear ground, with the Dutch defence getting behind Ploeger.
Shane Lindsay and Aaron Sookee both threw shutout innings of relief but it wasn’t enough, as The Netherlands got over the line and sealed the top seed heading into the playoffs.
Australia will against face The Netherlands in a qualifying final at 3am AEST (7pm local time) tomorrow morning.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble is upbeat by the prospect of facing The Netherlands again.
“We’ve put ourselves in a great position with three wins so far,” Deeble said.
“Our bullpen is fresh and we’ve aligned our pitchers up well, we have no fear going into tomorrow’s final.”