Pirati dei Rimini vs. L&D Amsterdam Pirates (final)
The batters of Amsterdam Pirates struck at the right time in tonight's.
Four Rimini-pitchers struckout 16 batters, but Amsterdam collected nine basehits, including three by Jesse Aussems.
And some of those hits came at the right moment.
Amsterdam again faced Alexis Candelario, who they also faced in the first game of the tournament on Tuesday.
Candelario, who was named Most Valuable Player of last years Italian Championship Series, had to be relieved in the third inning then.
Tonight, he had a stronger outing and struckout nine batters, but he again faced a deficit when he left the mound.
The Dominican righthander gave up a 2-out single to Gilmer Lampe in the first, but he stranded.
Candelario then struckout the side in the second inning, but then saw Pirates get into scoring position for the first time in the third at bat.
With one out, Jesse Aussems singled and Nick Urbanus walked, but two more strikeouts followed.
Amsterdam again left two runners in the fourth inning.
Remco Draijer led off with a single (and stole second base).
Candelario struckout the next two batters, then walked Kenny Berkenbosch, but closed with another strikeout.
In the meantime, Amsterdam-starter Kevin Heijstek also did great on the mound.
He retired the side in the first three innings, then gave up a run in the fourth.
After having retired ten batters in a row, Heijstek gave up one-out singles to Ennio Retrosi and José Flores in the bottom of the fourth, then the first scored on a double by Daniel Mayora.
To set up a force play (and to pitch around him), the bases were loaded by walking powerhitter Jairo Ramos Gizzi.
That worked, as Flores was forced out at home, then Heijstek closed the at bat with a strikeout, meaning three runners were left behind.
...Nick Urbanus...
...Best Hitter...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Amsterdam Pirates then struck off of Candelario in the top of the fifth inning.
Jesse Aussems led off with a single, then Nick Urbanus followed with a double.
With one out, Aussems scored the tying run on a grounder by Gilmer Lampe.
Hereafter, Candelario got the bases loaded when he hit Remco Draijer with a pitch (he stole second base again) and walked Danny Rombley.
That led to a pitching change, as José Escalona took over, but he was greeted with a 2-run single by Linoy Croes that gave Pirates a 3-1 lead.
From that moment on, it was counting down the outs and the Amsterdam-defense was successful in doing so.
Heijstek retired the side again in the fifth.
He then gave up a lead-off single to Ennio Retrosi in the sixth, but hereafter, a double play followed.
With two outs, Daan Hendrix took over for Heijstek and got the third out in the inning.
In the seventh, Hendrix gave up a lead-off single to Jairo Ramos Gizzi, but again the Amsterdam-defense turned a double play.
A grounder ended the at bat and with that Amsterdam was only six outs away from winning the Cup.
In the top of the eighth inning, Amsterdam got a chance of adding an insurance run, but left the bases loaded.
Lead-off hitter Linoy Croes was hit by a pitch and Kenny Berkenbosch walked, which led to the next pitching change.
Roberto Corradini took over and saw the runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Rashid Gerard.
A strikeout followed, then Nick Urbanus was walked intentionally to pitch around him and set up a force play.
A grounder then ended the at bat, leaving three runners behind.
...Kenny Berkenbosch...
...Most Valuable Player...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
In the bottom of the eighth, Rimini came alongside.
Freddy Noguera led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Lorenzo Di Fabio.
Next, Stefano Desimoni walked and now Amsterdam's Head Coach Charles Urbanus made a pitching change.
Tom de Blok was brought in, but he began with a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third base.
Hereafter, Ennio Retrosi singled to bring in a run.
José Flores followed with a sacrifice fly that made it a 3-3 tie!
De Blok closed with a strikeout, but the suspense was building even more in the already excited and attractive game.
In the ninth, Amsterdam was retired in order, while Rimini left a runner on first base and so, the game went into extra innings.
Amsterdam then struck in the top of the tenth to decide the game.
With Remco Draijer (2nd base) and Danny Rombley (1st base) being the tie-break runners, a throwing error by pitcher Corradini followed on a sacrifice bunt by Linoy Croes.
Draijer scored on the error, but Rombley, who also was waved home, was eliminated at the plate.
With one out and a runner on first base, Carlos Teran became the new pitcher for Rimini, which also replaced veteran second baseman Freddy Noguera.
Teran was greeted with a double by Kenny Berkenbosch that brought in Croes with an insurance run and made it 5-3 in favor of Amsterdam.
Hereafter, Teran closed with two strikeouts.
The suspense kept on building in the bottom of the tenth inning.
Tie-break runners Lino Zappone (pinch-runner, 2nd base) and Riccardo Babini (1st runner) executed a double-steal, but that was followed by a throwing error towards third base by catcher Rashid Gerard, which led to a run and made it 5-4!
De Blok then struckout Lorenzo Di Fabio and Babini was eliminated at third base, trying to advance on a grounder to short by Stefano Desimoni.
Hereafter, De Blok closed the inning, the game and the tournament with a strikeout!
Amsterdam had won the European Champions Cup to become the best team in Europe this year!
,,This has been a real team-effort, players, coaches and staff'', reacted Amsterdam Head Coach Charles Urbanus afterwards.
,,We have had a wonderful week and performed optimal both on as off the field.
This game had been a real final, but have played so very well the entire week.''
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Amsterdam Pirates wins European Champions Cup!
RIMINI (Italy) -
L&D Amsterdam Pirates has won the European Champions Cup for the first time in club-history!
In an almost 4-hour thriller (which ended well after mignight), Amsterdam Pirates won 5-4 in ten innings against Italian host Pirati dei Rimini.
Trailing 1-0, Amsterdam scored three runs in the fifth inning, but Rimini came alonsgide in the bottom of the eighth.
In the top of the 10th inning, Amsterdam scored twice to re-take the lead, thanks to an error and runscoring double by Kenny Berkenbosch, who was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
An error led to an Italian run in the bottom of the tenth inning, but with a runner on first base, reliever Tom de Blok closed the game with a strikeout to secure the win!
Nick Urbanus was the Best Hitter of the event.
Amsterdam Pirates wins the European Champions Cup for the first time in club-history.