Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said Team USA tried to get officials in The Netherlands to replace the baseball used for the Haarlemse Honbalweek Tournament with a harder ball, but could not get them to change it out.
“We got to The Netherlands and we were using a Nerf Ball,” Van Horn said. “That ball was horrible.”
The 24-man collegiate national team, led by Van Horn, lost their opener in the tournament, but then won seven in a row and defeated Japan 6-3 in the championship game on July 20.
“The USA people, we were upset,” Van Horn said. “We tried to get the ball changed. It was a problem. We didn’t hit one home run in eight games.
“It’s the ball. I’m just telling you, it’s the ball. I brought back [from Team USA’s international tour] every baseball that I could. I brought back a big league ball, a minor league ball, an international ball, and the cream-puff ball.”