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Israel scored three runs against Rob Cordemans in the first en route to a 4-2 stunning victory over the Netherlands on Thursday at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea. With the win Israel continued its miracle story and claimed the number one seed in the first-round pool in Seoul at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. The Dutch team advances in second place.
Facing probably the best European pitcher of the last two decades Israel’s Ty Kelly, Ike Davis and Nate Freiman all scored in the first for a quick 3-0 lead, working on the upset between a European B-pool team – although heavily reinforced – and the reigning European Champion.
The Dutch team got on the board in the third thanks to a RBI groundout by Xander Bogaerts. However thanks to another run by Kelly Israel regained the three-run advantage in the sixth. A throwing error led to a second Dutch run in the eighth, but no successful comeback for the team of manager Hensley Meulens followed.
Even though only pitching the first Jason Marquis earned the win. He pitched for a second time in the tournament. The former big leaguer already started against Korea. Josh Zeid closed out the win with 1 2/3 scoreless frames. Cordemans obviously got charged with the loss. The Netherlands used seven pitchers overall, Israel nine.