Moesquit takes bite out of Canada
Nova Scotia battles, comes up short

By Mark Rogoff
Special Correspondent

The strive for 5 began at 5:00 for Nova Scotia.

Beat Curacao in their 5:00 p.m. contest, and beat ‘em by 5 runs, and they’re onto the semi-final round.

Things were going well for the Glace Bay gang early on. The Canadian champs scored one in the first, and were one step closer to a 5-run triumph.

The excitement didn’t last long, though – once a mosquito came to bat in the 3rd. Well, Kevin Moesquit to be exact. The Caribbean 2nd baseman laced to right-centerfield a 2-out, 2-RBI double that gave Curacao a 2-1 advantage. It was all they would need to put away the Canadian champs and advance to single-elimination competition in Thursday’s International semi-final.

“Our objective was just to win the game,” said Canada head coach Henery Boutilier. “We knew it was going to be difficult to score 5 against that team.”

Asked if he thought his hit would hold be enough to hold off Canada, Moesquit said, “No, I thought the other team would score (more) runs.”

Carol de Palm picked up the win for Curacao, which improved its pool-play record to 2-1, good for 2nd place behind Japan in Pool D.

de Palm gave up just 2 hits in his complete-game victory. He walked one while striking out 7, including the side in the 3rd.

“I had a lot of faith to come back and win the game (after giving up the first-inning run),” the righthander said.

Canada in the 5th had threatened to re-take the lead and get back on track to meet that magic number. Kenny Routledge’s single put runners on first and 2nd with 2 outs, but Jonathan Boutilier’s groundout to first baseman Tharick Martines ended the rally.

Curacao advances to take on Venezuela in one of the International semi-final matches. Coach Michelangelo Celestina realizes the next tall task ahead.

“In this series, we haven’t hit a lot,” he said. “(Thursday) we will see if we can hit. The pitching will be strong. We need hits to score runs.”