Dutch Hoofdklasse, Thursday May 28

On day one of round seven, the following games were scheduled:

Curacao Neptunus @ L&D Amsterdam Pirates; Mampaey the Hawks @ UVV; Vaessen Pioniers @ Corendon Kinheim and Pronto DSS @ HCAW.

Of the four scheduled games, only one lasted the full nine innings. The others had to be stopped because of the curfew rule or due to the mercy rule.

Curacao Neptunus @ L&D Amsterdam Pirates  1 – 6

On paper and based on the standings, the absolute top series of this week.
Two top pitchers of Dutch baseball faced each other in this game: Neptunus’ Diegomar Markwell and Pirates’ Rob Cordemans.
In the first three innings both pitchers kept the opponent in check. But in the bottom of the fourth, Pirates took a 2-0 lead when Koen Nooij tripled to center field with Remco Draijer on second base and Bas Nooij on third. Both scored easily to give the team from Amsterdam the afore mentioned 2-0 lead. But Neptunus would answer in the top of the fifth. With two outs already, Christian Diaz drew a walk and sfole second before he was driven in on a single by Benjamin Dille.
In the bottom of the fifth, Kenny Berkenbosch led off with a double down the left field line. A fly out to center field, hit by Bas Nooij, made Berkenbosch advance to third. Berkenboschs scored when Benjamin Dille committed a fielding error on Remco Draijer’s hit. For manager Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen of Neptunus, this was the sign to replace Markwell with Kevin Kelly. After Rashid Gerard drew a walk and Koen Nooij struck out swinging, Jesse Aussems doubled down the left field line to give Pirates a 5-1 lead (also thanks to a fielding error by left fielder Urvin Kemp). When Pirates loaded the bases with two outs, they failed to extend their lead as Nick Urbanus lined out to second baseman Benjamin Dille.
Eventually Pirates added one more run to reach the final score of 6-1.
Rob Cordemans earned the win after six innings of work in which he dominated Neptunus’ lineup. Cordemans allowed one run on six hits, gave up two walks and fanned six. Diegomar Markwell took the loss. He lasted 5.1 innings in which he allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits. Koen Nooij was the best hitter for L&D Amsterdam Pirates. He went 2 for 4 with a triple and two runs batted in. Dwayne Kemp’s efforts were in vain. He went 3 for 4 with a double.

Mampaey the Hawks @ UVV  9 – 9
Quite a surprise in Utrecht. Mampaey the Hawks clubbered UVV’s pitching. In the top of the first inning, the team from Dordrecht took a 2-0 lead and extended it in the third and the fourth to make it 5-0. UVV got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on third and second, Dennis Ribbens grounded out 6-3. Jordan Illis scored on the play and Jamie Verheyleweghen advanced to third. After Joris van Ballegooy drew a walk, he stole second. An attempt by Hawks catcher Brian Raap to throw out Van Ballegooy was punished by Verheyelweghen who scored the second run for UVV on the play.
The fifth inning was a big one for Mampaey the Hawks that started with a single, hit by Berend Ruben. Kevin Noordzij then replaced Ian Lamarre. Eventually Lamarre allowed the Hawks to load the bases before Amir Daou singled to drive in Berend Ruben. After Gino Hersilia struck out, Kilian Jansen grounded out 6-3 and all runners advanced and Julian Goins scored on the play. Brian Raap drew a walk to load the bases. After Kevin Noordzij was replaced by Jeremyh Angela, Odion Gouverneur reached first base on a throwing error by shortstop Tony Enos that allowed all runners to advance and Gregory Trinidad to score the third run of the inning. A walk drawn by Stephen Henson allowed Amire Daou to score the Hawks’ final run of the inning.
But in the bottom of the fifth, UVV proved the proverb “It ain’t over until it’s over” is true. Consecutive walks by Tony Enos and Omar Williams, followed by singles hit by Mike Bazuin and Norbert Jongerius, a double by Jamie Verheyleweghen, a walk by Joris van Ballegooy and a double by Gilmer Lampe, made UVV score six runs to get within one run from the Hawks. Eventually UVV tied the game in the eighth inning as Dennis de Quint scored on Norbert Jongerius’ single. The game ended after the eighth ining as the curfew rule came into effect.
Gilmer Lampe was the best hitter for UVV. He went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk and three runs batted in. Stephen Henson also went 2 for 4 with three RBI. He doubled and scored one run to become the best hitter for Mampaey the Hawks tonight.

Vaessen Pioniers @ Corendon Kinheim  0 – 10

A big surprise in the other game of top four teams.
Corendon Kinheim only needed seven innings to clinch the victory over Vaessen Pioniers. After a scoreless frst inning, Kinheim scored a run in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth inning to walk away from Pioniers slowly. A three run fifth inning actually sealed the victory for Kinheim but in the seventh they stepped up one more time. With runners on first and second, Mervin Gario doubled down the left field line and drove in two runs. Gario scored on a single by Bryan Engelhardt. Dudley Leonora reached base on an error by first baseman Mark Jan Moorman, and advanced to third on the error. In an attempt to score from first base on the error, Bryan Engelhardt was thrown out at homeplate. A wild pitch by Dennis Buring allowed Leonora from third for the tenth and game ending run.
Glenn Wassink earned the win. In six innings he only gave up two hits, walked one and struck out three. Ricardo Hernandez lasted 4.2 innings and took the loss. He gave up six runs on nine hits. He gave up as many walks as he struck out batters: seven. Mervin Gario went 3 for 4 with a double and three runs batted in.

Pronto DSS @ HCAW  0 – 1

In a very low scoring game, both lineups were kept in check by the opponent’s pitchng rather well. HCAW’s Sander Helmendach lasted seven innings and gave up four hits, walked one and struck out four.
It took HCAW until the fifth inning to score the game’s only run. Giovanni Frolijk led off the inning with a walk and advanced on a 3-4 ground out hit by Emersson Paula. A 5-3 ground out by Kevin van Hoek, made Frolijk advanced to third base. Max Clarijs singled home the game winning run as he hit the ball to center field.
The teams couldn’t play the full nine innings because the curfew rule came into force.
Sander Helmendach earned the win and Steven van Groningen earned the save as he pitched a perfect eighth inning in which he struck out one. Emersson Paula went 1 for 1 and was the best hitter for HCAW.
Van Lingen took the loss for Pronto DSS. In three innings of relief he gave up HCAW’s only run on one hit. He walked two and fanned two.
Something that has not been mentioned before is the notorious sun delay at the evening home games of HCAW. When the sun is setting, the hitters and homeplate umpires are bothered by the low sun. Therefore the game is halted for a certain amount of time. Perhaps if this sun delay had not been there, the full nine innings could have been played and DSS would have had a chance to turn the game around. Perhaps the field of HCAW shoud be restructured in a way that the the hitters are not bothered by the sun anymore. Or perhaps a tall screen can be placed behind the outfield fence to prevent the sun from blinding the homeplate umpire and hitters.