2021 Dutch hoofdklasse: Round 2, Day 3

After a day of rainouts, the following games were scheduled today: Quick Amersfoort @ Curaçao Neptunus, L&D Amsterdam Pirates @ HCAW, Hoofddorp Pioniers @ DSS/Kinheim, Silicon Storks @ Oosterhout Twins.

Quick Amersfoort  2  –  12  Curaçao Neptunus
Curaçao Neptunus needed only eight innings to finish the job vs Quick Amersfoort. Just like Thursday, Quick boldly took a 2-0 lead, this time in the first inning. With runners in scoring position, Rachid Engelhardt singled to center field, to drive in two runs. But from that moment on, the Quick offense was mostly a sitting duck as it was limited to four more hits by Orlando Yntema, who pitched six solid innings in total. 
After cutting the lead in half in the second inning, a nine-run (!) fourth, turned things around. Eventually in the bottom of the eighth, Neptunus ended the game prematurely as two runs were scored on a ground out by Quentin de Cuba (one run) and a wild pitch on which Gregory Muller could score the game-ending run. 
Orlando Yntema earned the win. Stijn Bruins Slot took the loss as he pitched three innings and faced four batters in the fourth without recording an out.
Dudley Leonora was the best hitter for Neptunus today as he went 4 for 5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. 

L&D Amsterdam Pirates  13  –  10  HCAW
With a nice come-back-from-behind victory, L&D Amsterdam Pirates tied the series vs HCAW, so now it comes down to the rained out rubber game on Tuesday. HCAW took a 3-0 lead on the pitching of Juan-Carlos Sulbaran, in the first inning. In the top of the fourth, Pirates got on the board with one run but in the bottom of the same inning, HCAW extended their lead with three more runs. But in the top of the fifth, Pirates got within a run as they scored four times. In the bottom of the fifth, HCAW scored once more but in the next inning, Pirates took the lead by scoring four more runs and never looked back, even though HCAW scored three more runs. But with four insurance runs, two in the seventh and two in the ninth, Pirates stayed at the right side of the score. 
After Juan-Carlos Sulbaran struggled through four innings, Gio de Graauw took over for two innings, in which he gave up a run on two hits and a walk for the win. Bobbie Gnade took the loss as he allowed three runs on two hits and a walk in 1.1 inning.
Kalian Sams finally got in his groove as he went 3 for 4 with a double, four RBI and three runs scored. 

Hoofddorp Pioniers  6  –  10  DSS/Kinheim
It was one of those games in which both teams had the lead but only one could walk off as the victor. DSS/Kinheim took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, cut in half by Pioniers in the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, DSS/Kinheim added another run, followed by Pioniers in the top of the sixth, to take a one-run (4-3) lead. But in the bottom of the same inning, DSS/Kinheim tied the game at four. Two more runs in the top of the seventh, thanks to a triple and a sac fly, gave Pioniers the lead once again. But then, their offense collapsed. Ryan Huntington, who had kept his team in the game for six innings, allowed runners on first and second and was replaced by Nathan Diaby, who started his outing by giving up a double and a single that drove in three runs. After he was replaced by Lucca van der Schouw, DSS/Kinheim scored two more runs to take a commanding 9-6 lead. In the tenth, DSS/Kinheim scored once more to reach the final score. 
Despite giving up two runs in one inning, Rick Timmermans earned the win. Nathan Diaby took the loss. He allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk as he did not record an out.
Aidan Finnegan was the best hitter for DSS/Kinheim with 3 hits out of four at-bats. He doubled, drove in two runs and scored once. 

Silicon Storks  1  –  8  Oosterhout Twins
In not the most exciting game, Twins clinched the series win. In the first inning, Twins took a 1-0 lead on Jarreau Martina’s single to right center field. That one run lead stood on the board for the next four innings as both pitchers, Simon Gross for Twins and Nelmerson Angela for Silicon Storks, kept their opponent in check rather well. But eventually in the sixth, Twins blew the game open. Four singles, a monster home run by Ruendrick Piternella and a triple by Diamond Silberie, drove in six runs. In the following inning, Luuk Bun hit his first homer in the hoofdklasse, which was his first hit of this season. When Simon Gross was replaced by Shunta Oba in the seventh, the latter allowed the only run of Silicon Storks. 
German native Simon Gross earned the win by pitching six solid innings in which he allowed only one hit, walked four and struck out four. Nelmerson Angela, took the loss despite pitching five solid innings in which he kept his team in the game. 
Average-wise, Luuk Bun was the best hitter as he went 1 for 1 with that solo shot. 

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