Hoofdklasse promotion/relegation series 2018: game 1

In a battle of provincial capitals between Silicon Storks (The Hague) and Kinheim (Haarlem), the runs did not come cheap until the eighth inning. Storks needed one big inning to strike first in this series for promotion/relegation.

Former hoofdklasse pitcher Glenn Wassink and Storks starter Juan Carlos Sulbaran performed well in a real pitching duel. For five innings nothing much happened but eventually, in the sixth inning, Kinheim took the lead. With runners on the corners, Sven van der Sanden singled down the left field line to drive in Bram Blokker.

One inning later, Storks pushed for the game-tying run. After Kenny George singled down the left field line, he was replaced by pinch-runner Quinlan de Windt. A throwing error by Glen Wassink on a pickoff attempt, allowed De Windt to advance to third base. Joost van den Bergh singled up the middle to drive in the tying run for Storks.

After recording the first out in the seventh inning, Wassink was replaced after he had thrown 103 pitches. From that moment on things went wrong for Kinheim. Calvin Andringa recorded only one out but allowed two runners on base before he was replaced by Al Morales. Morales was hit hard as he gave up two singles and a double that drove in four runs for Storks. 

Jurrian Koks entered the game in relief in the seventh inning and shut the door for Kinheim as he allowed only one hit in the final three innings and was tabbed for the win. Juan Carlos Sulbaran did what Silicon Storks “hired” him for. In six innings, he kept Kinheim limited to one run on four hits as he walked two and struck out thirteen (!).

Best hitter for Silicon Storks was pinch runner Quinlan de Windt, who went 1 for 1 with a double, two runs batted in and two runs scored. Joost van den Bergh and Tijani Dunlop went 2 for 4. Van den Bergh drove in two runs.  

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