Dutch Hoofdklasse, Saturday April 18: Couple of surprises

Today was day two of the first round of the Hoofdklasse season.

The following games were scheduled: Curacao Neptunus – HCAW; Pronto DSS –  Corendon Kinheim; L&D Amsterdam Pirates – UVV and Vaessen Pioniers –  Mampaey the Hawks.

I attended the latter.

L&D Amsterdam Pirates – UVV (remainder of Thursday’s game) 0-2

Because a part of the light towers refused to work on Thursday, the game was postponed, so the remainder was played today. The game was stopped at a 0-1 score for UVV from Utrecht. Both pitchers who started Thursday did not return. For L&D Amsterdam Pirates, Tom de Blok entered the sixth innig and lasted the remainder of the game. In four innings he allowed a run on three hits. He struck out five and walked none. His opponent,  Jim Ploeger allowed two hits but kept the Pirates from scoring. He walked two and fanned five. Rob Cordemans was labelled with the (rare) loss.  Jurjen van Zijl earned the win and Jim Ploeger the save.

L&D Amsterdam Pirates – UVV 5-0

One player stood out in this game. L&D Amsterdam Pirates’ starting pitcher Kevin Heijstek. In seven innings he dominated the lineup of UVV. In seven innings he faced 25 batters, meaning that he only allowed four hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out four. Heijstek’s counterpart, Kevin Noordzij lasted five innings in which he walked four, gave up five hits, struck out one but didn’t allow a run. His successor. Timo van Ankum pitched three innings and gave up all five runs (four earned) for the loss. Nick Urbanus went 3 for 4 with a double, a walk and two stolen bases. Rashid Gerard drove in the most runs for the team from Amsterdam: three.
Omar Williams earned the honour of being the best batter for UVV with two hits out of three at bats.

Curacao Neptunus – HCAW 3 – 4

A major upset in Rotterdam today. After a 12-2 blow out, last Thursday, everyone (including me) expected that this game would be a walk over for Neptunus. But once again both teams proved that baseball is an unpredictable game.
With the MVP of the 2014 Holland Series, Berry van Driel, on the mound, manager Evert-Jan van ‘t Hoen apparently expected to have a reliable option on the mound. Normally, Van Driel is a closer but he had to start the final game of the Holland Series last year because starting pitcher Diegomar Markwell was suspended. In that game he kept L&D Amsterdam Pirates from scoring and guided Neptunus to the second Dutch championship in as many years.
Well, today things would go a little bit different. Van Driel lasted 4.1 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits. Neptunus took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and things seemed to go their way. But in the third inning, HCAW jumped on Van Driel and scored three runs. After another run in the fourth, Van Driel was pulled and replaced by Kenny van den Branden. The Belgian international kept HCAW from scoring for the rest of the game. On the side of HCAW, starting pitcher Giovanni Tensen lasted 4.2 innings in which he allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits. His successor, Gijs van Els kept powerhouse Neptunus from scoring. He struck out just one, walked one and allowed five hits. Despite having runners on third four times with Van Els on the mound, Neptunus failed to score. So the final score was perhaps the biggest upset today. Berry van Driels got the loss and Gijs van Els earned the win with his splendid outing.
HCAW’s Shorstop Roy Seltenrijch went 3 for 4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Urvin Kemp went 3 for 4 for Neptunus with a double but didn’t drive in any runs.

Pronto DSS – Corendon Kinheim 5 – 6

Another game that was expected to be an easy task for Thursday’s winner was the one between DSS and Kinheim, both from Haarlem. When Kinheim scored one run in the first inning and three in the second, history seemed to repeat itself. But this time things would go a bit different. Kinheim’s starter, Nick Veltkamp kept his neighbour from scoring in the first three innings. But then in the fourth DSS scored two runs. Still nothing to be worried about. But two innings later DSS scored three and took a one run lead. A single by Ryan Miner, followed by two walks, loaded the bases. A single by Joffrey Heus drove in two runs to tie the game at four. That was the sign for Kinheim manager Wim Martinus to pull Veltkamp in favour of Pim Walsma. Walsma started in the worst possible way by throwing a wild pitch to give DSS a 5-4 lead. But then he got out of the inning by striking out Lex Leijenaar.
Eventually Kinheim scored a run in the eighth and in the ninth for the one run victory. Arshwin Asjes entered the ninth to close the game. His performance was a bit shaky as he gave up a hit to Lex Leijenaar, the first hitter he faced. The next hitter reached first base on Asjes’ throwing error and advanced to second on the error. Leijenaar came within 90 feet of scoring the tying run. Sven Jongejans hit the ball to shortstop Dudley Leonora, who threw the ball towards homeplate where Lex Leijenaar was tagged out. Then Asjes setteld down and retired the next two batters by striking them out for the save.
None of Kinheim’s hitters had a multiple hit game, but Jeffrey Arends went 1 for 2 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and two walks. Ryan Miner went 2 for 4 for DSS with a double, a run scored and a strikeout. He also laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced runners to second and third in the fourth inning.

Vaessen Pioniers  – Mampaey the Hawks 5 – 0

In a one-sided game, Pioniers was too strong without flexing it’s muscles. Starting pitcher Lars Huijer (made his comeback with Pioniers after spending a few years in the minors in the US), kinda cruised through six innings in which he gave up three hits, one walk and struck out five. His opponent, Evan Simons got the loss after giving up five runs (only one earned) on eight hits.
The Hawks never got further than second base. Pioniers opened the score in the second inning when catcher Quintin de Cuba hit a lead off single to right field. De Cuba advanced to second on the error that the right fielder made. De Cuba advanced to third on the 4-3 ground out by Kevin Dirksen. Eventually De Cuba scored the opening run on a single by Kevin Weijgertse.
A four run fourth inning sealed the fate of Mampaey the Hawks. Lars Huijer earned the win. Pioniers used a total of four pitchers in this game. Best hitter for Pioniers was third baseman Vince Rooi, who went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a walk. Catcher Brian Raap went 3 for 3 for the Hawks and was caught stealing once.

An impression of the game in Hoofddorp in pictures