in 1989 and would go on to win the title in 1996 and 1998, albeit without any of the old Amstel Tigers players. Haarlem Nicols were particularly dominant in the 1980s with seven pennants over ten years, but declared bankruptcy in 1994, just five years after winning their last pennant. In 1981, Neptunus Rotterdam won the pennant for the first time since the baseball team's foundation in 1942. Neptunus began to dominate the championship during the 1990s and 2000s, winning eleven pennants in total including seven consecutively between 1999 and 2005. World Baseball Classic 2006 In 2006, the Netherlands finished 3rd in Pool C behind Puerto Rico and Cuba. 2009 In 2009, the Netherlands defeated the heavily favored Dominican Republic twice to qualify for the second round of the World Baseball Classic. The Dutch upset the Dominican team 3-2 in their first meeting and 2-1 in 11 innings in a qualification game. 2013 In 2013, the Netherlands finished 2nd in Pool B with wins over South Korea and Australia. In the second round the Netherlands were placed in Pool 1. The Dutch beat Cuba twice while losing to Japan twice to finish as the second seed. In the semifinals they fell to the Dominican Republic 4-1. 2017 The Netherlands again lost in the semifinals, this time to Puerto Rico. They reached there by going 2-1 both in the first and second rounds. Baseball World Cup (IBAF) 2009 In 2009, for the first time in history, the Baseball World Cup was hosted by a continent rather than a single country. The Netherlands were one of 8 European countries to host the tournament. Together with Italy, they hosted the second round, which is the reason they received a bye through the first round. In the second round they faced the teams from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, South Korea, Nicaragua, Spain and Great Britain. They went undefeated through the first six games, but lost the final game to Cuba, 3-5. They went into the third round as the top seed, where they faced the teams from the United States, Canada, Australia and Chinese Taipei. In the first game, they defeated Chinese Taipei 11-2 but they lost their 3 remaining games. Before the final round, every team was ranked based on their results of the second and third round. As a result, the Netherlands played Australia in their final game of the tournament where