KNBSB baseball and softball All Star Game
Today UVV from Utrecht and the KNBSB (Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation) organized the All Star Game for the best baseball players and softball players.
With the Softball ASG, team red beat team blue 5-2.
The KNBSB put together the teams in a different way. In the previous editions, there was a North team and a South team. But in almost every edition one team was way too strong for the opponent. So this year the teams were put together in a different way: Blue vs Red.
In team Blue, players from Curacao Neptunus, Vaessen Pioniers, Pronto DSS and HCAW were put together, while players from L&D Amsterdam, Corendon Kinheim, UVV and Mampaey the Hawks played in team red.
Before the All Star Game started, a homerun derby was held. Contestants were Bryan Engelhardt, Gianison Boekhoudt, Quintin de Cuba, Bas Nooij and Dashenko Ricardo. After two rounds left handers Bryan Engehardt and Gianison 
Boekhoudt qualified for the final round. Boekhoudt hit eleven dingers and Engelhardt collected a total of fifteen homeruns in the two rounds.
In the final round both finalists hit three homers, so a tie break was needed. After four tie breaks, Bryan Engelhardt hit the decisive dinger for the win.
The All Star Game started around 14:00.
Team blue took a lead in the second inning when Shaldimar Daantji singled towards second base and drove in Christian Diaz from third and advanced Vince Rooi to third. A wild pitch by David Bergman allowed Vince Rooi to score the second run for team blue.
One inning later team red (the home team) tied the game. Remco Draijer led off with a double to right field, followed by another double by Steven Wharwood to right field that allowed Draijer to score and to cut the lead of team blue in half.
After Mervin Gario drew a walk, Gilmer Lampe singled to left field. Steven Wharwood tried to score from second but was 
thrown out at the homeplate. Mervin Gario could score the game tying run on a wild pitch.
In the fourth inning both teams scored a run each and in the sixth both team scored two runs. First the announcer said that a tie breaker would be played in the eighth, but after deliberation between both managers and the umpires, it was decided that the game was called and ended with a 5-5 tie.
MVP of the game was Christian Diaz of Curacao Neptunus. He went 2 for 3 with three runs scored.
MVP Christian Diaz
One thing is sure, the way the teams were created this year worked a lot better than with the North and South teams. Perhaps a bit too well, but the game was a nice promotion for baseball in the Netherlands.
The following photos give an impression of the day:
