He wasn’t as dominant as Kevin Heijstek yesterday, but Neptunus’ starter Elton Koeiman kept the Pirates’ lineup in check. Pirates did not have an answer to his variety of pitches that he mixed very well. Neptunus took advantage of one poor inning of Kyle Ward and walked away with the 4-1 victory.
It was a game in which quite a lot happened. Not only baseball-wise but also complaining about decisions made by the umpires.
Curaçao Neptunus struck first. In the first inning. After Stijn van der Meer laid down a sac bunt that moved runners in scoring position. With this play, Van der Meer accidentally crashed into second baseman Niels van Weert, who took over first base. Some people claimed to have heard a cracking sound. Van Weert was escorted off the field holding his arm. Dwayne Kemp eventually drove in the opening run with a single to center field.
But Pirates answered in the top of the next inning. With Kenny Berkenbosch on first base, Rashid Gerard doubled down the left field line to drive in Berkenbosch from first base.
Kyle Ward wasn’t brilliant but he kept Pirates in the game until the fourth. Ward allowed Neptunus to load the bases on two singles and a walk. Singles by Dudley Leonora and Gregory Muller drove in three runs that put the final score on the board.
As written in the introduction, Pirates did not have an answer to the mix of fastballs, off-speed pitches and breaking stuff thrown by Elton Koeiman. As the game continued, the team started to hit for the long ball which resulted in many (lazy) flyouts and popups.
In the fifth inning, Pirates had a chance to inch closer. With Rashid Gerard on first base, Victor Draijer doubled to center field. But instead of holding him at third base, third base coach Randell Hannah sent Gerard towards home plate where he was tagged out thanks
to a throw by center fielder Shaldimar Daantji that was right on the money.
After Victor Draijer singled with one out in the eighth inning, manager Ronald Jaarsma pulled Elton Koeiman for Loek van Mil, who shut the door for Pirates and earned the save. Koeiman pitched 7.1 innings for the win as he gave up a run on four hits and two walks and two strikeouts.
Six Neptunus’ hitters went 1 for 3: Darryl Collins, Stijn van der Meer, Dwayne Kemp, Dudley Leonora, Gregory Muller and Shaldimar Daantji. Of these six, Muller had the
most impact with two RBI.
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