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Schoop leads Netherlands to WBC win

Orioles' No. 4 prospect homers, doubles, drives in four runs
March 7, 2013

Jonathan Schoop was really looking forward to participating in the World Baseball Classic for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. And his results show why.

The Orioles' No. 4 prospect went 3-for-6 with a three-run homer and an RBI double en route to the Netherlands' 6-2 win over Cuba on Thursday night at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.

The 21-year-old Curacoa native smacked a three-run homer to left-center field in the sixth, driving in Mariners outfied prospect Kalian Sams and Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons. He doubled Simmons in two innings later. He also singled in the second and grounded out with the bases loaded in the ninth.

Baltimore's Minor League Player of the Year in 2011, Schoop smacked a two-run shot Monday to help the Netherlands advance into the second round with a 4-1 win over Australia.

Schoop might feel particularly comfortable with the international competition in the Classic, since he was a part of the Netherlands' gold medal-winning 2011 Baseball World Cup squad.

"We have a good team, and I think we can get pretty, pretty far," Schoop told MiLB.com last week. "The team is coming along good. We've played since we were kids, and now we're together here. We're playing the game the right way.