The Caribbean side won their opening match two days ago at the qualifier in Puebla, when they triumphed against Venezuela.

Their 4-3 win over the Dutch ensures them of a pace in the final, where they will battle for the last remaining Tokyo 2020 spot.

Johan Mieses and Roldani Baldwin gave Dominican Republic a 3-0 advantage in the contest, prior to a rain delay at the Hermanos Serdan Stadium.

Curt Smith and Dashenko Ricardo brought the Dutch team level after play resumed.

Dominican Republic celebrated a victory with a walk off from Ramon Torres, as his home run ended the game.

The Netherlands and Venezuela will now go head-to-head in the semi-finals, with the winner joining the Dominican Republic in the final of the qualifier.

Australia, previous hosts Chinese Taipei and China all withdrew from the qualifier prior to the event, due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan qualified for the Olympic baseball competition as hosts, and Israel joined them after winning the Africa/Europe qualifier in September 2019.

Two more teams qualified in November 2019 through the WBSC Premier12 tournament - Mexico, the Americas winners, and South Korea, who won in the Asia/Oceania category.

United States took the fifth place earlier this month through the Americas qualifying event.