The Dutch Shock The World

The team from the Netherlands in this year's WBC wasn't expected to make any noise.

Well they now have done the impossible.

They upset the heavily favored and much better team from the Dominican Republic. The DR is loaded with perennial all-stars and the Dutch's ace was Sidney Ponson, and their only notable hitter is Randall Simon. They upset them twice in the last week.

The DR just wasn't able to figure out the Bert Blyleven coached pitching staff of the Netherlands. They only managed to muster 3 runs total in their two matchups.

Gene Kingsale was the man of the night. He drove in the tying run in the bottom of the 11th, and scored the game-winning run on the Willy Aybar error at first base. Kingsale went 2 for 4 for the game.

The Dutch were celebrating like they won a World Series.

However, the Dominicans, led by Felipe Alou, were visibly shaken. They were expected to win and that's what they came to do. An All-Star laden lineup that included Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Marmol, David Ortiz, and an injured Alex Rodriguez. Just couldn't crack the Dutch pitching and get anything done offensively, even with the names mentioned above.

Up next for the Dutch are the Puerto Ricans who are 2-0 in WBC play, and are also loaded with big-time big league talent. That is obviously no obstacle for the Dutch.