2021 Dutch hoofdklasse: Round 1, Day 2

With most of the games of day one played, today the teams met again for the second day. The following games were scheduled: L&D Amsterdam Pirates @ Hoofddorp Pioniers, Silicon Storks @ Curaçao Neptunus, Quick Amersfoort @ DSS/Kinheim and HCAW @ Oosterhout Twins.

L&D Amsterdam  6  –  4  Hoofddorp Pioniers

L&D Amsterdam Pirates had to go deep to clinch the victory today. After a first inning in which both teams scored a run, Pirates appeared to walk away from Pioniers by scoring a run in the third and the fourth inning. But Pioniers kept track with Pirates as they scored their third run in the sixth when Tyler Boersma got on base thanks to a fielders choice when the out was made at second base and Raoul Jacobs could touch home plate. But in the top of the eighth inning, Pirates could score their fourth run when Denzel singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Richardson touched home plate on a sac fly by Kenny Berkenbosch. But Pioniers would bounce back once more in the bottom of the eighth. With runners in scoring position, Tyler Boersma singled home two runs. 
So with a tied score, the game went into the ninth inning. After Max Clarijs drew a leadoff walk, a pitching attempt didn’t pan out the way it should and Clarijs could advance to third base and could score on a sac fly by Raydley Legito. The next batter, Roelie Henrique was walked as well. Then Kalian Sams doubled down the left field line to give Pirates a 6-4 lead. 
Mike Groen took over on the mound in the bottom of the ninth. Despite giving up a leadoff single, he retired the next three batters for the save.
Kevin Geestman earned the win despite giving up two runs on three hits and a walk in one inning pitched. 
Max Clarijs was the best hitter for L&D Amsterdam Pirates as he went 2 for 3. 

Silicon Storks  1  –  18  Curaçao Neptunus

Just like Thursday, today’s game wasn’t much of a game. Once again, Storks was unable to get a grip on the pitching of Neptunus.  In seven innings, Storks scored one run on four hits. 
Orlando Yntema was practically unhittable. In six innings, he allowed one run on four hits, struck out six and walked one. 
Not only did Curaçao Neptunus outscore Silicon Storks 18-1, they also outhit them 13-4. 
In the first two frames, Twan Naessens managed to keep Neptunus from scoring but in the third, hell broke loose. Three singles, a double, a walk, an HBP and a fielders choice allowed Neptunus to score five runs. In the following inning, Neptunus did it all over again. Even though the margin was nine runs by then, the game was already played. Eventually, Neptunus scored six more runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to reach the final score. 
Orlando Yntema earned the win, while Twan Naessens took the loss.
Best hitter for Curaçao Neptunus was John Polonius who went 2 for 2 with a double and four runs scored. 

Quick Amersfoort  4  –  17  DSS/Kinheim
DSS/Kinheim needed only seven innings to clinch the series win today. The team from Haarlem took a 5-0 lead but Quick Amersfoort bounced back in the top of the second inning when they scored four runs. But DSS/Kinheim had a firm answer in the bottom of the third when it scored eight runs. 
In the fourth inning, Quick Amersfoort failed to make the third out in order to get out of the inning without any damage. A fly ball was dropped by the second baseman and DSS/Kinheim started a rally. A single, a walk and a double lead to four more runs for DSS/Kinheim. 
Glenn Wassink earned the win after six innings of work in which he allowed four runs on six hits as he struck out four. Jan-Willem Geerts took the loss after one inning and five batters faced in the second. Geerts allowed ten runs (six earned) on five hits and four walks and struck out one.
The best hitter for DSS/Kinheim was Marcel Tolenaars, who went 3 for 4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. 

HCAW  5  –  4  Oosterhout Twins

In a very attractive game, HCAW stayed at the right side of the score. For three innings, neither team did score a run but HCAW got more runners on base. But in the fourth inning, new acquisition Taisei Nakamura gave up a monster home run to Arthur Bonefacia, that cleared the outfield fence (98 meters/ 322 feet) by a wide margin. Bonefacia took two runners with him. HCAW starter Jim Ploeger was practically unhittable. But after giving up a walk in the seventh inning, manager Roy Berrevoets decided to pull Ploeger and replace him with Steven van Groningen. As a result, the defense collapsed and Twins scored twice with two outs. In the next inning, with runners on the corners, Jason Halman tripled off Arij Fransen, who had replaced Van Groningen in the bottom of the eighth, to give Twins a 4-3 lead. 
But Twins wasn’t able to cling on to the one run lead. Instead of keeping Enrique Chavez on the mound, manager Jeffrey Arends opted for Raf Cocu to close out the game. But Cocu was hit hard and did not get the much needed defensive support and thus, HCAW could take the lead once again. Despite giving up a walk in the bottom of the ninth, Arij Fransen managed to record three outs for the win. In two innings, Fransen gave up one hit, and a walk and struck out four. 
Raf Cocu took the loss as he allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk. 
Best hitter for HCAW was Kevin Dirksen, who went 2 for 3 with an RBI. 

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