Dutch hoofdklasse 2018: Round 6, day 1
On day one of round six, De Glaskoning Twins hosted HCAW, Curaçao Neptunus took on Silicon Storks in Rotterdam and DSS hosted Cityside Apartments Quick Amersfoort. The game between Hoofddorp Pioniers and L&D Amsterdam Pirates was canceled due to abundant rainfall.
HCAW 3 – 1 De Glaskoning Twins
For seven innings, De Glaskoning Twins predominated the game with a minimal margin.
But in the eighth inning, HCAW struck and scored twice In the ninth inning the Bussum based team scored an insurance run and stepped off the field as a victor.
The bullpen, normally one of the strengths of De Glaskoning Twins, couldn’t finish the job today. Pastor Chavez Martinez dominated for six innings as he allowed only four hits, walked two and struck out five. The only flaw was he needed a lot of pitches to do so. But that was the merit of the lineup of HCAW. The HCAW lineup was patient in the batter’s box and kept hitting foul balls. The Twins lineup, on the other hand, hit early in the count and thanks to that, Dennis Burgersdijk could pitch a complete game for HCAW and needed 101 pitches to accomplish this feat.
Twins took a 1-0 lead in the second when Dennis de Quint scored an unearned run on a base hit to left field, hit by Nick Peels. Next, to this inning, Twins put runners in scoring position in the fifth and the seventh but did not manage to cash in. In the other innings, the team did not get a grip on the pitches of Burgersdijk. After Jan Evertse was replaced by Thijs Steenwijk, with a runner on third, Steenwijk allowed Vince Rooi to reach first base on a walk. Rooi stole second and was replaced by Julian Rip. Both runners scored on the single by Bryce Cherry. In the ninth, HCAW scored their insurance run.
Thijs Steenwijk took the loss as Dennis Burgersdijk earned the win. 
Best hitter for HCAW was Seb Visser, who went 2 for 3.
Today, the loss of last Sunday vs DSS, proved to be a costly one for Twins. Thanks to that loss, the gap between HCAW and Twins remained just two points and HCAW could close that gap with today’s victory.
Silicon Storks 4 – 13 Curaçao Neptunus
For three innings, Orlando Yntema flirted with a no-hitter but Joost van den Bergh
spoiled Yntema’s party in the fourth. At that moment, Curaçao Neptunus had a 1-0 lead but Van den Bergh’s single ignited a four-run inning for the team from The Hague.
But Neptunus flexed its muscles in the bottom of the fourth. Nick Winkel, who limited Neptunus to one run on two hits and three walks and who had thrown only 49 pitches until that moment, was replaced by Gijs Timmer in the fourth inning. That move backfired in a big way. Timmer gave up two walks, two singles and a double that allowed Neptunus to score six runs. Notable feat: With runners on the corners, Neptunus executed a double steal as Stijn van der Meer stole second and Gregory Muller stole home.
Eventually, Neptunus scored six more runs to reach the final score of 13-4. 
Loek van Mil, who pitched the final two frames and struck out four and did not allow a hit, earned the win. The loss went to Gijs Timmer.
Best hitter for Curaçao Neptunus was Dwayne Kemp. He went 4 for 5 with a double and three runs batted in and a run scored.
Cityside Apartments Quick Amersfoort 3 – 6 DSS
With a pitching staff plagued by injuries, DSS managed to keep Cityside Apartments
Quick Amersfoort, who proved not to be a pushover as new team in the hoofdklasse, at bay. Three two-run innings proved to be enough for the Haarlem based team.
After DSS had taken the lead in the first inning on a double and two singles, Quick Amersfoort cut the lead in half in the top of the second inning when Brian Engelhardt homered to right field. But in the next two innings, DSS extended the lead to 6-1.
Two one-run innings by Quick Amersfoort were not enough to erase DSS’ lead.
Quick Amersfoort had runners in scoring positions on several occasions but failed to take advantage of those situations. Especially in the fifth inning (in which they scored their second run) and in the seventh inning, the team failed to cash in. 
Sander Helmendach pitched seven solid innings in which he needed 114 pitches. Sander allowed two runs on three hits and six walks and fanned two for the win.
Luis Figuera took the loss as he lasted only 2.1 innings in which he was tabbed for six runs on eight hits and two walks.
Koen Halderman and Tommy van de Sanden both went 3 for 4 but Tommy hit a double and drove in two while Koen scored twice. 
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