Seoul (Korea). Colombia scored eight runs in the first two innings to defeat the Netherlands 9-6 at Mokdong Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Dutch team tried to come back, but it was too little to erase the big deficit. It is the first win for Colombia at the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship, while the Netherlands lost the second day in a row.

Colombia didn’t waste any time to get on the board. Cristian Cano greeted Dutch starter Tim Halderman with a RBI single in the first. In the second frame they used five hits and three errors by the opposing defense to score seven runs, chasing Halderman (1.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, BB, SO) midway through the frame. Reliever Tony Kreisel settled in after a rough start and kept the Colombian batters in check afterwards.

This allowed the European champion to cut the deficit and get back into the game. In the fifth they themselves took advantage of a struggling defense, plating five runs thanks to three errors. Another run on an error in the eighth made it a two-run game, but an insurance run by Colombia in the bottom half of the same inning, killed the momentum for the Dutch. The leadoff hitter reached with a walk, but the Netherlands went down in order to end the game.

Yair Morelos and Cano finished the game with two RBI apiece. Eight different players scored for Colombia. Rachid Engelhardt had two hits and a RBI for the Dutch. On the mound Roger Velez picked up the win, allowing four hits, five runs (2 ER) and three walks in five innings. Yeizer Marrugo struck out five in four innings of relief to close it out.