Premier12 Replay Series | USA, Netherlands collide in opener
The Premier12 Replay Series, celebrating one year from the II Premier12 2019, will lead off with the tournament’s Opening Game between USA and Netherlands in Guadalajara, Mexico.
On 2 November 2019, exactly 1,442 days after the successful conclusion of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 2015 -- where Korea defeated USA 8-0 to win the global battle -- the Netherlands and the United States national teams took the field at Charros de Jalisco stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, to open the II Premier12 2019.
USA -- the then second ranked nation in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings - and the Netherlands -- Europe’s sole representative at the 2019 Premier12 -- were drawn into Group A of the tournament, along with Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
“We want to show that the Netherlands belongs among the top 12 teams in the world, and it would be very important for us to advance to the Super Round," Netherlands manager Hensley Meulens said during the pre-tournament press conference. "We always perform very well in these kind of tournaments.”
Meulens gave the ball to Rob Cordemans, a 45-year-old pitcher with more than two decades of national team experience. The right hander represented his country at the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, as a 21 year old, and was part of Netherland's historic squad that won the Baseball World Cup 2011, posting a 3-0 record with a 2.29 ERA.
Heading into the II Premier12, USA manager Scott Brosius said: “We came here expecting a very competitive group and very competitive games. But as the other three managers said, our goal is to advance to the next round in Tokyo.”
Brosius sent Cody Ponce to the mound, a 25 year-old right hander now with the Pittsburgh Pirates after having made his debut in the bigs this past season.
The game between USA and Netherlands will be available for free on Monday, 2 November, at 9 am Eastern US Standard Time (11 pm Japan Standard Time, 3 pm Central European Time) at www.youtube.com/wbsc; and 9 pm Eastern US Standard Time (11 am Japan Standard Time, 3 am Central European Time) at www.facebook.com/wbsc.
The WBSC's GameTime.Sport OTT platform will also publish additional content such as behind-the-scenes material and other fan-focused content.
The next episode of the Premier12 Replay Series will be tomorrow, with the game between Mexico and USA.
