A thumping 10-0 victory at Estadio Hermanos Serdán in Puebla ensured Venezuela progressed to the final.

Dominican Republic had already qualified for tomorrow's all-important clash, where a Tokyo 2020 berth will be at stake.

Venezuela have never played in an Olympic baseball tournament, while Dominican Republic's last appearance in the sport came when they finished sixth at Barcelona 1992.

The South Americans made a bright start and Hernán Pérez doubled to centre field with one out in the first inning.

Venezuela seized control in the third as Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run homer to put them 6-0 in front.

Gorkys Hernandez, Engelb Vielma and Pérez then added to the misery for the Dutch to seal a dominant win and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for Tokyo 2020.

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 were given an automatic place in 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 World Baseball Softball Confederation 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.