Jessie Van Aalst outstanding evening gives the Netherlands ticket to Finals 2024

Jessie Van Aalst was the Netherlands’ star this evening in Valencia, with an impressive performance, both offensively and from the circle. The two-way player produced the only two runs of the game in the first inning, and tossed 5.2 scoreless innings in Netherlands’ 2-0 win over China, to carry her team in Group B’s finale, securing a ticket to the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Finals 2024.

Netherlands jumped ahead in the first inning. Britt Vonk led off the game with a single to the right field and Brenda Beers walked, to put on base the first two hitters of the game. Two outs later, Van Aalst stepped on the plate and hit a triple down the right field line, producing the two only runs of the game.

In her second start of the tournament, Van Aalst struck out eight opponents against three hits and three walks. 

In the sixth inning, China put two runners on with no outs. However, Xinyue Jiang lined a fly ball to center field, and Yue Xie was thrown out in second base, on a key double play. Lisa Hop replaced Van Aalst in the circle and pitched 1.1 innings with two strikeouts.

For China, Yinan Chai was charged with the loss after pitching 2.1 innings, giving up five hits and two runs.

With this win, the Netherlands secured their ticket to the Finals 2024, joining USA, Australia (from Group A) and Puerto Rico.