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Updated: October 8, 2010
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Grand Slam/Marco Stoovelaar

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Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2010 by Marco Stoovelaar


Fourth Division: 11 pools, 9 champions
Nederlands
ZWOLLE / ENSCHEDE / HUIZEN / DIEMEN / AMSTERDAM / HOOFDDORP / HELLEVOETSLUIS / ZWIJNDRECHT / BOXMEER / VENRAY / OOSTERHOUT / WAALRE / VELDHOVEN (Neth.) - In the Fourth Division, there are eleven different pools this season. As is the case in the Second and Third Division, all pools in this Division are also regionally aligned. In total 93 different teams played in this Division.

The champions of all eleven pools will promote to the Third Division, while all teams in last place relegate to the Fifth Division.

So far, nine of the eleven champions are known. In the Fourth Division E and Fourth Division M, the championship isn't decided yet.

What the last places are concerned, also all but two pools have been decided. The lone pools which have yet to be decided are the Fourth Division C and Fourth Division D.



Fourth Division A

ZWOLLE - In this pool, eight teams played from the northern part of the country, including four from the province of Groningen, two from Friesland and one each from Drenthe and Overijssel. A ninth team, SHOCK withdraw from the league.

After completion of the regular season (each team played 14 games) on August 31, the league was divided into two 4-team pools. The top-4 met each other to decide the championship, while the bottom-4 played for relegation.

Blue Hawks was the league-leader when the season ended with a 12-2 record, holding a 2-point lead over WHSC-2 and a 4-point lead over The Blokes-2. In the Top-4 pool, Blue Hawks won all three scheduled games. The team from Zwolle, which was the most southern city in this pool, opened with a 15-2 win vs. Knights-2, then won 14-8 the next week vs. The Blokes-2. WHSC-2 from Winschoten also won their first two games, opening with a 5-3 vs. The Blokes-2, then won 7-6 the next week vs. Knights-2. This meant that the last game of the season, between Blue Hawks and WHSC-2, also was the decisive one. On Sunday, September 19, the two teams met at the site of Blue Hawks in Zwolle.

Blue Hawks collected several basehits and this, combined with some errors, led to a comfortable 10-1 lead. Towards the end of the game, WHSC-2 managed to come back somewhat and scored four runs to narrow the deficit to 10-5. But pitcher Jason Kollen, who went the distance for Blue Hawks, threw a good game and didn't allow anymore runs, as he was also supported with some fine defensive plays by short stop Yan-Kei Lo. Blue Hawks, which is led by playing coach Erwin Wijenberg, won the game 10-5 to capture the title and promoted to the Third Division.

In the Relegation Pool, Northern Stars-2, which finished in last place in the regular season, avoided relegation in the last game of the season. The team from Leeuwarden, as well as Caribe-3 from Groningen, both lost their first two games in this pool, before facing each other on Sunday, September 19. Northern Stars won 11-9, meaning Caribe relegated.

The games played on September 19 were the last in this pool, meaning the season in the Fourth Division A has ended.

(photo copyright Blue Hawks)



Fourth Division B

ENSCHEDE - This pool was compiled of eight teams, coming from the provinces of Overijssel and Gelderland. In this division, all teams played a 21-game schedule.

On Sunday, September 26, league-leader Tex Town Tigers-2 led by only one point over WSB-3, before meeting this team on this day. Tex Town Tigers, which is coached by Neco Chohlis, won the game convincingly 12-1 to capture the title in the Fourth Division B.

Last Sunday, October 3, the new champion closed its season with a 17-3 victory vs. Eagles, which finished in last place and therefore relegated.

Tex Town Tigers finished the season with a 18-2-1 record and scored 291 runs, while allowing only 79.

Besides the match-up between Tex Town Tigers-2 and Eagles last Sunday, Animals won 4-2 vs. ESCA Arnhem Rhinos and these were the last two games played this season in this pool.

(photo copyright Tex Town Tigers)



Fourth Division C

HUIZEN - The Fourth Division C was formed by nine teams coming from the provinces of Utrecht, the southeastern part of Noord-Holland and one from Flevoland. In this pool, all teams played 16 games.

De Zuidvogels-2, which was led by playing coach Steve Kinney, became unreachable on Sunday, August 29 when it shutout Falcons-2 8-0 and so the team from Huizen captured the championship title in the Fourth Division C. Because of heavy rain, the game was stopped after five innings. A week later, September 4, De Zuidvogels closed its season with a 10-4 loss vs. Mets, which ended a 13-game winning streak, to finish with a 14-2 record.

For De Zuidvogels, the season ended on September 4, but at that moment there were still eleven games scheduled in this league. Domstad Dodgers-4, which was the closest contender of De Zuidvogels for the title, had still four games remaining on August 29, but that wasn't enough for the team from Utrecht to catch the league-leader.

At the bottom of the standings, Green Hearts from Montfoort and Nieuwegein Diamonds-2 from Nieuwegein ended in a tie and it was a third team, HCAW-4, that was responsible for this. On Sunday, September 19, Nieuwegein lost to Mets, meaning Green Hearts could have taken a 2-point lead, but was beaten themselves 10-9 by HCAW. The next week, September 26, Nieuwegein could have taken a decisive lead when it faced HCAW, but again the team from Bussum won, this time 3-1 in the last game of the regular season, meaning Nieuwegein and Green Hearts finished in a tie for last place. The two teams now will play an one-game tiebreaker on Saturday, October 9 to decide the relegation. The game will played at the site of Mets in Schoonhoven.

(photo copyright De Zuidvogels)



Fourth Division D

DIEMEN - In the Fourth Division D, ten teams played, mostly coming from the Amsterdam-area. Six teams were coming from Amsterdam itself, with two coming from Amstelveen and one from Badhoevedorp and Zaandam. These ten teams played an 18-game schedule.

On August 29, DVH from Amstelveen was the league-leader, three points ahead of Vatos and eight ahead of De Boekaniers, which at that moment also still had the chance of finishing in a first-place tie by winning their remaining four games, while DVH of course had to loose their remaining games. However, De Boekaniers were eliminated this day, as DVH and Vatos played a 4-4 tie, meaning DVH became unreachable for the 'Bucs', which is an independent club, but also part of the Amsterdam Pirates-organisation.

Vatos moved within one point of DVH when it won 6-1 on September 4 vs. Quick Amsterdam-2, but the next day, DVH shutout De Meteoor 6-0 to take a 3-point lead again. For DVH, the season was over with this game, but Vatos still had two games remaining. By winning these two, Vatos could claim the title. And that is what they did. On September 11, Vatos (which is a Mexican word standing for 'buddy's' or 'friends') first registered a big 18-0 shutout win vs. DVH-2.

The decision in this pool then fell on Saturday, September 25 when Vatos nipped De Meteoor 4-3 to move into first place. Vatos trailed 2-0 in the first inning, came alongside, but faced a 3-2 deficit in the fifth. They then scored two runs on two wild pitches to take a 4-3 lead, which also became the final score.

Vatos, which is an Amsterdam-based club but plays its home games on the site of TIW-Survivors in Diemen, ended the season with a 14-2-2 record.

At the bottom of the standings, there are still some important games to be played regarding the relegation-situation. Badhoevedorp is currently in ninth place, one point ahead of DVH-2, which is in 10th and last place. Coming Sunday, October 10, Badhoevedorp meets De Meteoor (7th place), while DVH-2 is playing against De Boekaniers (3rd place). DVH currently has an 8-game losing streak and registered its last win on July 4 vs. AMVJ-US. Badhoevedorp had to wait three weeks to play this game, as it played its last game on September 19. Back then, they faced DVH-2 and won 12-10 in what was the first game of a double-header. After completion of this game, DVH-2 faced another oppponent (Boekaniers), but also lost that game. In the following two weeks, DVH-2 had to play two other games, before facing De Boekaniers next Sunday, when the season will close.

(photo copyright Vatos)



Fourth Division E

AMSTERDAM / HOOFDDORP - Ten teams from the province of Noord-Holland formed the Fourth Division E, who played an 18-game schedule. An eleventh team, DSS-3 withdraw from this pool.

The championship in this pool will be decided coming Sunday, October 10 when second placed Hoofddorp Pioniers-5 meets Sullivan's Green Devils in an away-game at Monnickendam.

At the moment, Amsterdam Pirates-3 is the league-leader, having an one point lead over Pioniers. Last Sunday, October 3, Pirates closed its season with a 2-2 tie vs. Sullivan's Green Devils, which ended a 14-game winning streak. Pirates also opened the season with a tie, then lost two in a row, before winning the next 14 games in a row. The two points Pirates lost in the tie (each team gets one point for a tie, two for a win) can now become very costly. Pirates ended the season with a 14-2-2 record.

Pioniers currently has a 6-game winning streak. On June 11, Pioniers and Green Devils first met this season with the game ending in an 8-8 tie. When the upcoming game also finishes in a tie, it means that Pirates-3 and Pioniers-5 are sharing first place and then an one-game tie-breaker is needed to decide the championship. On April 18, Pioniers defeated Pirates 25-9 in their first match-up of the season. In their second confrontation, on June 27, Pirates won 11-7.

The Herons-2 finished in 10th and last place after having won only one of its 18 games this season. The team won its lone game on June 20, beating Double Stars-4, 6-2.



Fourth Division F

HOOFDDORP - In the Fourth Division F, ten teams played, who were all coming from the Haarlem-area. Five teams are based in Haarlem itself, with the others coming from Hoofddorp (1), Lisse (1), Santpoort (1), Uithoorn (1) and Voorschoten (1). The teams played an 18-game schedule.

On Sunday, September 19, there were three teams in contention for the championship. Hoofddorp Pioniers-4 led the league, having a 2-point lead over Thamen-2 and 3-point lead over The Flags. On this date, the team of Hoofddorp Pioniers-4 had only eight players available for their home game against The Flags, but despite therefore playing with an automatic out won the 8-inning contest and therefore become unreachable for the other two and captured the title in this pool. One of the players on the roster of The Flags is Dutch big league-umpire Peter Gulickx.

A week later, on Sunday, September 26, Pioniers, which is coached by former National Team-pitcher Robin van Doornspeek, won 11-6 vs. Thamen-2, which finished in second place.

At the bottom in this pool, Onze Gezellen-4 finished in 10th and last place, winning only two of their 18 games.

Two final scores are not listed in the official listings, but when these games were played, the season is over in this pool.

(photo copyright Hoofddorp Pioniers)



Fourth Division G

HELLEVOETSLUIS - The Fourth Division G is compiled of eight teams from the Rotterdam-area and one from The Hague. A tenth team, Vlaardingen Holy-2, withdraw from this league. The nine teams in this pool played a 16-game schedule.

On Sunday, August 29, Hellevoet Athletics from Hellevoetsluis and Blue Hitters from Puttershoek were tied for first place with a 12-2 record and faced each other in what would be a decisive game for the championship. On June 6, Blue Hitters won the first game between the two teams 7-4, but on August 29, the Athletics defeated the Blue Hitters with the same score, 7-4, to take sole possession of first place.

A week later, on Sunday, September 5, Hellevoet Athletics played their last game of the season, which a road game at Neptunus-2. Hellevoet won the game 6-3 to win the championship and promote to the Third Division. Next year, the club will move to a new complex, but that might not come before June. Initially, the new site would be ready in April, but because of the heavy rain of a few weeks ago, work had to be postponed.

There are two games still to be played in this pool. One of them is scheduled for next Sunday, October 10 when Neptunus-2 is playing vs. Sparta-Feyenoord-2. No new date has been announced yet for the game between HitManics vs. Zwijndrecht-2, which rained out on August 29. This game might not be re-scheduled, as HitManics from Delft already finished in ninth and last place, having won only one game, which came on April 25.

(photo copyright Hellevoet Athletics)



Fourth Division H

ZWIJNDRECHT - In the Fourth Division H, seven teams from the area of The Hague played together with one team from Zwijndrecht (which won the title). A ninth team, Birds-4, withdraw from this pool. The eight teams in this pool played a schedule of 14 games.

On Sunday, August 8, Zwijndrecht-3 was in first place holding an 8-point lead over both Biënto and Storks-3. Only Biënto, which had four games left at that moment, had a chance to come alongside Zwijndrecht, as Storks had only three games remaining and was eliminated. But on August 8, Zwijndrecht ended the championship race by winning convincingly 17-2 vs. VUC.

Zwijndrecht then had to wait almost a month to play their next game, which came on Sunday, September 5 vs. Wassenaar-2 and ended in a 13-4 win. On Sunday, September 19, Zwijndrecht played its last game and lost 10-9 to Biënto, which finished in second place, seven points behind. For Zwijndrecht, this was only its second loss of the season. Coincidentally, the team also lost its first game of the season, when it was beaten 15-1 by Blue Birds-3. Playing in this team from Delft is big league Official Scorer Harry Wedemeijer.

What is remarkable about the championship team of Zwijdrecht is that it's average age is 50 years old! Over the years, this team has participated in tournaments in the USA, Cuba, France and Curaçao and includes former big league-players Marcel Benningshof (who hit for-the-cycle in a game this season) and Marcel de Bruijn, but also Gerard Vaandrager, who is the former President of the Organizing Committee of the World Port Tournament, is one of the players.

Birds-3 finished in eighth and last place in this pool, winning one game. That victory was registered on Opening Day on April 11 when they beat Wassenaar-2, 10-7. But then 10 losses followed, followed by a tie on September 5 and then two more losses.

(photo copyright Bram de Muijnck, Zwijndrecht)



Fourth Division K

BOXMEER / VENRAY - In the Fourth Division K, seven teams played, all coming from the southeastern part of the country. These teams played an 18-game schedule.

The decision for the championship in this pool fell on Saturday, October 3. On that day, Royals-3 shutout cardinals-2 16-0 in an away-game to win the title and promote to the Third Division.

Royals was founded in 2009 after a merger between Keystone Stealers from Boxmeer and Red Caps Venray from Venray, but the new club still lists both cities as its 'home', despite the fact that the cities are located in two different provinces.

In what would be the championship game, Royals rallied for 10 runs on six hits in the second inning, then added six runs in the fourth inning. Winning pitcher Bas Hendriks struckout eight batters and gave up only two hits.

Coming Sunday, October, 10, Royals will close the season at Gryphons-3. Currently, the record of Royals is 15-2.

Gemert finishes in seventh and last place with an 1-17 record. In sixteen of these losses, Gemert gave up 10 or more runs. The lone win was a 20-18 victory on September 26 vs. Royals-2 (which finished seventh), which ended a 16-game losing streak from the start of the season.



Fourth Division M

OOSTERHOUT / WAALRE - Nine teams from the southwest of the country played in the Fourth Division M. The nine teams played a 16-game schedule.

Coming Sunday, October 10, this pool can end in a tie for first place. Currently, league-leader Twins-3 (from Oosterhout) holds a 2-point lead over DVS-2 (from Waalre), which has one game left. On Sunday, Twins is playing at home vs. Boosters, while DVS is playing at Het Zeeuwse Honk. Boosters (from Roosendaal) and Het Zeeuwse Honk (from Terneuzen) currently share sixth place. Twins and DVS also won their first match-ups against their opponents of next Sunday. On April 25, DVS won 7-3 vs. Het Zeeuwse Honk, while Twins nipped Boosters 13-12 on July 11.

A remarkable feat is that Twins-4, which closed its season on October 3 and finished in third place, leads the league with 191 runs scored, followed by DVS (151) and league-leader Twins-3 (135). On October 3, Twins-4 won 25-4 vs. Het Zeeuwse Honk (which is nicknamed Pirates), which on that day played a double-header, facing Twins-3 later on the day, resulting in a 7-4 loss.

Seven Hills from Zevenbergen finished in ninth and last place and officially has one game left on its schedule, a rainout on August 29 vs. The Stags. However, a new date for this game is not listed (yet).



Fourth Division N

VELDHOVEN - The Fourth Division N was the smallest pool in this league. It was formed by five teams. Four of them are coming from the southeastern part of the Netherlands, while the fifth is coming from Belgium. These five teams played a 16-game schedule.

On Sunday, September 12, All In from Veldhoven led the league, having only a 2-point lead over close contender Maastricht from the beautiful and cozy capital with the same name in the province of Limburg. At that moment, both teams had still two games remaining.

On September 12, Maastricht lost 16-11 to Nuenen-3, while All In had the weekend off in this 5-pool league. A week later, on Sunday, September 19, All In decided the championship by winning 15-13 vs. Sharks in an exciting game. While being a home game for All In, the match-up was played on the site of Sharks in Tongeren (Belgium), 109 km south of Veldhoven, but located close to Maastricht. The game was played in Belgium, as the first contest between the two teams, which of course was a home game for Sharks, was played in Veldhoven. That game, which was the opener of the season, could not be played at the site of Sharks, as it was unplayable due to rain, so it was decided to move this game (and therefore also the September 19 game).

In the decisive game, All In was leading 8-2 after three innings, but then the Belgian opponent came back to take a 13-11 lead in the fifth inning of the 6-inning contest. In the home of the sixth, Bas Donders homered to tie the score, then All Inn went on to win 15-13. Jair Gomez, Luuk Bazelmans and Laszlo van Lieshout also homered for All In, which is coached by former Dutch big leaguer and former National Team-pitcher Ed Tromp, who is assisted by Rembert Ascencion. All In prepared well for this competition, as they held a trainingcamp on Aruba before the start of the season.

For All In, this was the first baseball championship in the history of the club, which was founded in September 1979.

Head Coach Ed Tromp (photo left), who leads the team since 2008, can look back to an impressive career, which included 10 seasons in the Dutch big league, playing for HCAW, Neptunus, Sparta and Quick Amersfoort. Tromp, who also played in the Italian and French competitions, played in 54 international games for the Dutch National Baseball Team (participating in two World Championships and three European Championships) also coached in the big league.

(photos copyright All In)



(October 8)

Previous report Rookie League (September 28)
Previous report First Division (September 28)
Previous report Second Division (September 28)
Previous report Third Division (September 29)
Update First, Second, Third Division (October 4)

Coming up: the situation in the Fifth Division


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