2019 World Port Tournament

The 2019 World Port Tournament took place from July 12 to July 21, 2019. Participating teams were the Netherlands, Taiwan, Japan, Curaçao and North America (which somehow included a Belgian, an Australian and a Pole in addition to Americans and Canadians, several with MLB experience). Despite its MLB vets, North America only placed 4th while the host Netherlands won it all after a 1-2 start to the tournament. Cuba was missing for the first time in sixteen years.

Games

July 12

• Netherlands 6, Japan 5. The hosts win their opener in extra innings as 3B Dwayne Kemp scores three times. Tom Stuifbergen gets the win over Takumi Matsukawa. DH Ryuma Seki drives in 3.

July 13

• Japan 4, Curaçao 3. LF Yoshihiro Nagashima had 3 hits (2 doubles) as Japan wins a one-run game this time. Kodai Tosaka got the win over Alexander Rodrigues.
• North America 5, Netherlands 0. Former major leaguer Josh Collmenter allows one hit in five shutout innings and Cole De Vries and Bo Schultz (both also ex-MLB players) allow one more hit in the next four. 2B Gianfranco Morello has 2 runs and 2 hits for North America. Orlando Yntema allowed 8 hits and 4 runs in 3 1/3 IP for the loss. RF Denzel Richardson and LF Dudley Leonora had the lone Dutch hits.

July 14

• Curaçao 3, Netherlands 2. Curaçao upset the hosts when 3B Raywendley van Gurp scored on a throwing error by C Rodney Daal in the 8th, giving Tom Stuifbergen the loss. Ramses Jamanika got the win and Kennima Arjun the save as Curaçao's hurlers overcame ten walks; van Gurp scored two and 1B Alexander Rodrigues drove in a pair. DH Gianison Boekhoudt drove in both runs for the Netherlands.
• Taiwan 3, North America 1. Taiwan also got an upset win, as Sheng-Feng Wu (2 H, 0 BB, 1 UER, 7 K in 7 2/3 IP) was stellar and Chien-Lung Huang notched a save. Fernando Fernandez took the loss. SS Chun-Kai Liao scored a pair.

July 15

• Taiwan 6, Curaçao 2. Chun-Chang Su got the win with three shutout innings of relief, while Ruderly Manuel took the loss. 3B Wei-Chih Chen drove in two and had two hits.

July 16

• North America 7, Japan 2. 3B Nick DiBenedetto went 4 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2B Gianfranco Morello scored three runs. Jonah van Bemmelen got the win while Tsugumi Fujisaki got the loss.
• Netherlands 4, Taiwan 1. Taiwan was the last team to take a loss, as Diegomar Markwell turned in a fine start. Tom Stuifbergen saved it, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the 9th. Yi-Sheng Chu was the losing pitcher.

July 17

• Taiwan 4, Japan 2. Taiwan rebounded to go to 3-1 as Chih-Hung Cheng got the win and Chun-Chang Su the save; SS Chun-Kai Liao drove in two. CF Koki Kajiwara had both Japanese runs and DH Ryuma Seki 3 hits and 2 RBI. Yasuhiro Ukai took the loss.
• Curaçao 20, North America 2. North America, which had been 2-1 with a 13-5 run differential, got crushed. Raydell Isabella had a complete game win and got plenty of support; LF Rayshelon Carolina and 3B Raywendley van Gurp each drove in four while RF Sander Boeldak and 2B Risandro Pastor each scored four. Artur Strzalka took the loss and three other pitchers provided little relief. DH Liam Scafariello had both RBI for North America.

July 18

• Taiwan 7, Curaçao 6. Taiwan began the double-elimination final phase by edging out Curaçao. Taiwan led 5-2 after 3 but allowed four runs over the next 3 before scoring twice in the 7th to pull back ahead. Chun-Chang Su went to 2-0 and Chien-Lung Huang got his second save while 1B Po-Hao Huang had two runs and two RBI. 1B Alexander Rodrigues was 2 for 2 with 3 walks and 3 RBI in a losing cause, while Christopher Koeiman took the decision.
• Netherlands 13, North America 3. The Netherlands bounced back from their earlier loss to North America. After being shut down by Josh Collmenter last time, they rocked the former big leaguer for 9 runs in 2 1/3 innings. RF Denzel Richardson had 4 hits, 3 runs and 4 RBI, CF/LF Gilmar Lampe had 3 runs and 3 extra-base hits and C Jason Halman added three more hits. Lars Huijer got the victory. 2B Gianfranco Morello remained hot for North America with 2 runs while SS Darryl George drove in two.

July 19

• Japan 13, Curaçao 1. After one win in the opening round, Japan starts its second round with a big win. LF Ryoma Nagashima and DH Ryuma Seki each had 3 hits, with Seki driving in four. CF Koji Kajiwara scored three times. Yusaku Miura got the win, Ruderly Manuel the loss. CF Sherman Lacrus had 3 hits for Curaçao.
• Netherlands 8, Taiwan 0. Orlando Yntema, Mike Bolsenbroek, Kaj Timmermans and Kevin Kelly blank Taiwan for the second loss for that country. The Dutch team used a balanced offense against Kuo-Hao Chiang to advance to a spot in the finals.

July 20

• North America 6, Curaçao 0. In the 4th/5th place game, Ross Vance held Curaçao to two hits while Ruendy Carolina lost.
• Japan 8, Taiwan 1. Japan continued its surprising turn in the second round with another rout to send Taiwan to a 3rd-place finish as Japan moved to the finals. Japan gets another big game from LF Ryoma Nagashima (3 H), CF Koji Kajiwara (3 H) and DH Ryuma Seki (3 R, 3 H, a homer shy of a cycle). Taiwanese starter Yi-Sheng Chu gave up 4 runs and retired one batter while Rikiya Watanabe got the win.

July 21

• Netherlands 3, Japan 2. Japan got to veteran Rob Cordemans early as CF Koji Kajiwara had a two-out double in the first and DH Ryuma Seki singled him in. Japan made it 2-0 in the 4th when 3B Masaya Higashimoto went deep. In the bottom of the 4th, the Netherlands challenged Yusaku Miura for the first time on hits by 2B Sharlon Schoop and DH Gianison Boekhoudt to put men on the corners but failed to produce a run. Orlando Yntema relieved Cordemans in the 5th and threw 3 shutout innings. Juan Carlos Sulbaran, Kevin Kelly and Tom Stuifbergen would shut down Japan the rest of the way.

The Netherlands' comeback began in the bottom of the 5th. LF Dudley Leonora singled and SS Stijn van der Meer walked, then 3B Dwayne Kemp singled to load the bases. Miura fanned 1B Bryan Engelhardt but Schoop came up with a double to right to tie it and chase Miura. Daiki Sekino relieved and escaped further harm. In the 6th, Japan came close to scoring; Kajiwara had a one-out single, stole second with two outs and was headed home on a single by RF Jho Ohkanda but was gunned down at the plate.

In the 7th, Kemp reached on a two-base error by Higashimoto. With one out, he advanced on a passed ball and Schoop again came up big, singling him in. Japan would threaten in the 8th, getting men on the corners off Sulbaran before Kelly retired Seki in the clutch. Ohkanda started the 9th by reaching on an error and advancing on a passed ball but Kelly retired Higashimoto and Stuifbergen saved it by getting the last two outs. Yntema got the win.

Rosters

Curaçao

• Raily Legito, Coach
• Ruendy Carolina, P
• Shair Lacrus, P
• Hershelon Juliana, P
• Ruderly Manuel, P
• Ramses Jamanika, P
• Chris Koeiman, P
• Cerilio Soleana, P
• Kennimar Martina, P
• Jhan Rifaela, P
• Nelmerson Angela, P
• Ulrich Snijders, C
• Ildion Martina, C
• Quintin de Cuba, C
• Johnny Gregorius, IF
• Raywendley van Gurp, IF
• Riordan Windster, IF
• Rogier Boeldak, IF
• Raydel Isabella, IF/P
• Alexander Rodrigues, IF/P
• Sherman Lacrus, OF
• Rayshelon Carolina, OF
• Sander Boeldak, OF
• Sherwenne Antersijn, OF/P

Japan

• Ryuto Iida, P
• Yusaku Miura, P
• Daiki Sekino, P
• Rikiya Watanabe, P
• Kodai Tosaka, P
• Hidenori Maeda, P
• Takumi Matsukawa, P
• Tsugumi Fujisaki, P
• Yasuhiro Ukai, P
• Kota Okumura, C
• Yusuke Kamon, C
• Ryo Teshima, C
• Daisuke Ezaki, IF
• Koki Furutera, IF
• Masaya Higashimoto, IF
• Yoshihiro Nakashima, IF
• Taichi Ito, IF
• Koki Kajiwara, OF
• Ryuma Seki, OF
• Ryoma Nagashima, OF
• Jho Ohkanda, OF
• Yuya Sugiyama, OF
• Yasuhiro Tomioka, OF
• Wataru Oshima, OF

Netherlands

• Evert-Jan 't Hoen, Manager
• Robin van Doornspeek, Coach
• Sidney de Jong, Coach
• Mike Bolsenbroek, P
• Rob Cordemans, P
• Misja Harcksen, P
• Lars Huijer, P
• Kevin Kelly, P
• Diegomar Markwell, P
• Jim Ploeger, P
• Tom Stuifbergen, P
• Juan Carlos Sulbaran, P
• Kaj Timmermans, P
• Orlando Yntema, P
• Gianison Boekhoudt, C
• Rodney Daal, C
• Jason Halman, C
• Delano Selassa, IF
• Dwayne Kemp, IF
• Bryan Engelhardt, IF
• Stijn van der Meer, IF
• Sharlon Schoop, IF
• Yurendell de Caster, IF
• Gilmer Lampe, OF
• Dudley Leonora, OF
• Denzel Richardson, OF
• Mark Smit, OF

North America

• Greg Frady, Manager
• Geoff Freeborn, Coach
• Scott Cawker, Coach
• Kevin Sawatzky, Coach
• Brent Cooper, Coach
• Jonah van Bemmelen, P
• Josh Collmenter, P
• Fernando Fernandez-Beltran, P
• Anthony Ferrari, P
• Rusty Huber, P
• Dusty Hughes, P
• Paul Kirkpatrick, P
• Chris Pfau, P
• Bo Schultz, P
• Artur Strzalka, P
• Ross Vance, P
• Cole DeVries, P
• Zane Chavez, C
• Michael Varga, C
• Sam Buelens, IF
• Anthony Buonaiuto, IF
• CJ Epperson, IF
• Gianfranco Morello, IF
• Simon Pond, IF
• Zeek White, IF
• Nick DiBenedetto, OF
• Luis Esteban, OF
• Darryl George, OF
• Liam Scafariello, OF

Taiwan

• Ying-Nan Li, Manager
• Den-Kai Tang, Coach
• Chin-Chih Huang, Coach
• Wei-Chieh Hung, Coach
• Yu-Hua Lu, Coach
• Chien-Lung Huang, P
• Cheng-Hao Wang, P
• Sheng-Feng Wu, P
• Wei-Fan Tsai, P
• Po-Hsien Hsieh, P
• Chih-Hung Cheng, P
• Yi-Sheng Chu, P
• Kuo-Hao Chiang, P
• Tsung-Hao Wang, P
• Chun-Chang Su, P
• Shuo-Cheng Wei, P
• Chia-Wei Huang, C
• Kuan-Wei Yang, C
• Wei-Ming Huang, C
• Han Lin, IF
• Yu-Wei Kao, IF
• Hsin-Chuan Wang, IF
• Wei-Chih Chen, IF
• Chun-Kai Liao, IF
• Po-Hao Huang, IF
• Chen-Yu Yang, OF
• Ching-Han Ko, OF
• Hao-Chen Chen, OF
• Chih-Yu Tsai, OF

Awards

• Best Contact Hitter: Ryuma Seki, Japan (.560)
• Best Pitcher: Ross Vance, North America (1-0, 0 ER in 10 2/3 IP)
• Home Run King: Denzel Richardson, Netherlands (2 HR)
• MVP: Dwayne Kemp, Netherlands 3B (.333/.379/.407, 4 SB, 5 RBI)
• Most Popular Player: Richardson
• Best Rookie: Delano Selassa, Netherlands
• Donald Bax Press Award: Team Japan