 Pioniers first to reach Holland Series; ADO in last place
Nederlands
    HAARLEM / ROTTERDAM / BUSSUM / VLEUTEN (Neth.) -
Vaessen Pioniers became the first team to qualify for the Holland Series on Thursday, August 25 when it won 4-3 in 10 innings vs. Corendon Kinheim, which was eliminated for the final in the previous weekend.
Reigning champion DOOR Neptunus shutout L&D Amsterdam Pirates 7-0 to open their final series of the Play-Offs, which will decide the second finalist.
ADO finished in last place of the Play-Downs after losing 6-1 vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW and now will play a best-of-five series against the champion of the 'Overgangsklasse' to secure their big league-status for next season.
Also tonight, UVV won 6-3 vs. Sparta-Feyenoord.
Corendon Kinheim vs. Vaessen Pioniers
At Haarlem, Vaessen Pioniers broke an 1-1 tie against Corendon Kinheim by scoring three runs in the tenth inning and hold onto the lead, despite giving up two runs moments later.
With the win, Pioniers became the first team to qualify for this years Holland Series, which opens on Saturday, September 3.
For Pioniers, this will be its fifth trip to the championship final and its first since 2009.
Pioniers opened the score in the first inning when Michael Duursma led off with a double and scored on a following single by his brother Mark Duursma.
But hereafter, the Hoofddorp-team was unable to add more runs off Kinheim-starter David Bergman.
The righthander struckout nine and didn't ran into problems until the tenth inning.
Kinheim came alongside in the fifth inning off Mika de Lincel when Bryan Engelhardt hit a 2-out homerun.
After having score only one run in the previous nine innings, Pioniers suddenly rallied for four runs in the 10th inning tie-break.
The two tie-break runners then advance on a sac-bunt by Michael Duursma, which led to an intentional walk to load the bases.
After a strikeout, Nik Gumeson singled to bring in a run.
Nick Stuifbergen was then brought in as new pitcher, but he gave up a 2-run single to Mark-Jan Moorman that made it 4-1.
In the home of the 10th inning, Kinheim reacted with two runs.
First, the two tie-break runners advanced on a wild pitch, then a walk loaded the bases.
With one out, Kinheim scored when Bryan Engelhardt walked, then a wild pitch with two outs led to another run, but Czech reliever Jan Řeháček (who entered the game in the eighth) then finished with a strikeout to seal the win.
DOOR Neptunus vs. L&D Amsterdam Pirates
At Rotterdam, DOOR Neptunus shutout L&D Amsterdam Pirates 7-0, as Diegomar Markwell went the distance and threw a 5-hitter.
Neptunus rallied for four runs in the second inning off starter Jos de Jong when the Amsterdam-defense committed three errors, leading to two unearned runs.
Tom Brice led off with a single, then an error on a force play-grounder with one out led to two runners.
A single by Sape Wagenaar (followed by an error) then led to the first run, followed by a 2-run double by Shaldimar Daantji (which was followed by another error).
A single by Dwayne Kemp then made it 4-0.
Neptunus added a run in the fourth inning on an RBI-single by Daantji, then scored two more runs in the seventh inning on a 2-run single by Brice.
Amsterdam came closest to a run in the fifth inning, but then left the bases loaded.
Mr. Cocker HCAW vs. ADO
At Bussum, Mr. Cocker HCAW won 6-1 vs. ADO, which therefore finished in last place in the Play-Downs and will face the champion of the 'Overgangsklasse' in a best-of-five for promotion/relegation.
After both teams had scored one run in the first inning, HCAW took a 2-1 lead in the third inning on a basesloaded grounder by Adrian Anthony.
HCAW then took more distance by scoring twice in the sixth inning on a double by Dirimo Enrique Chavez and a single by Lennart Koster.
Singles by Mitchel Koot (7th inning) and Michael Pluijmers (8th inning) then made it 6-1.
Kyle Ward, who started for HCAW, threw six innings and struckout nine batters to become the winning pitcher.
UVV vs. Sparta-Feyenoord
At Vleuten, UVV trailed 3-0 after the first inning, but went on to win 6-3 vs. Sparta-Feyenoord.
In the first inning, Sparta-Feyenoord scored three runs with two outs off Orlando Yntema.
Brian Biezen doubled with one out, then scored on a 2-out single by Anthony Vrolijk.
A double by Freddy Rudolph later made it 3-0.
UVV rallied for five runs with two outs in the fifth inning.
After Bobby Carrington started with two strikeouts, he walked a batter, then hit the next one with a pitch, followed by a single that loaded the bases.
A double by Jirka Bliek then led to two runs and a single by Danny Rombley tied the score.
Next, Fausto Álvarez Rizo also singled to bring in two more runs and make it 5-3.
A single by Glenn Romney increased the lead to 6-3 in the eighth when UVV also left the bases loaded.
(August 25)
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