 Balentina returns; Top-3 wins
Nederlands
    HAARLEM / HOOFDDORP / ROTTERDAM / BUSSUM (Neth.) -
The current top-3 in the Dutch big league won its game on Saturday.
But the best news today was the return of Ramiro Balentina into the line-up of Corendon Kinheim.
On April 29, he broke several facial bones after being hit by a pitch, but less than two weeks later, Balentina is playing again.
In his first game back, Balentina went 0-for-4, but Kinheim won 5-1 vs. AamigoO ADO Lakers.
DOOR Neptunus won only 1-0 vs. Vaessen Pioniers, while L&D Amsterdam Pirates shutout Sparta-Feyenoord 10-0.
UVV won 8-3 vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW.
Corendon Kinheim vs. AamigoO ADO Lakers
At Haarlem, Corendon Kinheim won 5-1 vs. AamigoO ADO Lakers, which hit only two basehits off of three pitchers.
Only two weeks after being hit by a pitch in his face, Ramiro Balentina, today returned into Kinheim's line-up.
Balentina, who broke his nose and sustained other factures in the jaw-area, already re-joined the team earlier in the week to participate in practice and today played with a facial mask.
It was initially expected that Balentina would be out for at least six weeks, but he is recovering fine.
In his first game back, Balentina was the designated hitter, struckout in his first two at bats, but then grounded out and lined out in his next at bats.
Kinheim opened the score in the third inning by scoring twice.
After a lead-off walk for Niels van Weert, two force play-grounders followed.
With René Cremer on first base, Mervin Gario walked, then both scored on a triple by Dirk van 't Klooster.
The lead was doubled in the next at bat.
Quintin de Cuba led off with a double, who then advanced on a single by Remco Draijer, who stole second base.
The two runners then scored on a single by Niels van Weert, who himself stranded on second base.
In the home of the fourth, ADO got one run back, which was scored thanks to the only two basehits the team hit in this game.
With one out, Kinheim-starter David Bergman gave up a single to Ludwin Obispo, who then scored on a 2-out triple by Rudy van Heydoorn.
In the remaining five innings, only two more ADO-batters would reach base, both on a walk.
Kinheim was held scoreless in the fifth and sixth inning, but then added a run in the seventh.
With two outs, René Cremer (bunt) and Mervin Gario singled and advanced on a passed ball.
Cremer then scored when an error was made on a grounder by Dirk van 't Klooster.
For Kinheim, Pim Walsma took over the pitching in the eighth and retired the side, including two strikeouts.
Arshwin Asjes threw the ninth inning and also retired the side.
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Vaessen Pioniers vs. DOOR Neptunus
At Hoofddorp, one run was enough for DOOR Neptunus to beat Vaessen Pioniers on Saturday-afternoon.
The game remained scoreless for five innings.
Neptunus hit only three basehits in these at bats and reached second base only twice.
In the second inning, Rien Vernooij (fielder's choice) was on first base with two outs when he advanced on a wild pitch, but was left there.
In the third at bat, Dwayne Kemp singled and advanced on a grounder, but also stranded on second base.
In the fifth, Shaldimar Daantji singled with two outs, but was forced out.
The first ten batters of Pioniers were retired in order by Neptunus-starter Diegomar Markwell, who then walked Mark Duursma.
But he was forced out on a grounder by Gyenuar Lopez, who was then picked off moments later.
In the fifth inning, Markwell gave up an one-out single to Dè Flanegin, but he later was forced out to end the inning.
Neptunus then scored the lone run of the game in the sixth inning.
Rafaël Jozefa led off with a double, moved on a grounder by Raily Legito and scored on a single by Jeffrey Arends.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Pioniers came close to the tying run.
Lead-off hitter Zerzinho Croes reached second base when his hit ended in an outfield-error.
With one out, he moved to third base on a single by Michael Duursma, but a double play then ended the at bat.
Pioniers got another scoring opportunity in the seventh inning.
With one out, Jourick Blanco singled and with two outs, Norbert Lokhorst also singled, but the two stranded when Kevin Dirksen grounded out.
In the top of the eighth inning, Raily Legito singled with two outs, but was the last runner for Neptunus.
In the home half of the at bat, Pioniers reached base again off reliever Berry van Driel
With one out, Jefferson Muzo singled, but was picked off, then Michael Duursma doubled.
But he stranded on second base when his brother Mark Duursma lined out.
Dushan Ruzic retired the side in the ninth inning to earn a save.
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...Rightfielder Lennart Koster attempts to catch...
...a double by Michael Duursma in the 8th inning... |
...Jefferson Muzo is picked off first base...
...in the eighth inning... |
| (© Photos: www.reni-foto.nl) |
Sparta-Feyenoord vs. L&D Amsterdam Pirates
At Rotterdam, L&D Amsterdam Pirates collected 12 basehits to win 10-0 vs. Sparta-Feyenoord.
All nine players in Amsterdam's batting order hit at least one basehit.
And eight of the nine players, except for Kenny Berkenbosch, scored at least once.
Pirates opened the score in the first inning.
Wesley Connor led off with a single and advanced to third base on an one-out double by Sidney de Jong.
With two outs, Connor and De Jong scored on a single by Kenny Berkenbosch.
Percy Isenia singled in Roelie Henrique (who had singled with one out) in the third inning, then the fourth run was added in the fourth inning.
Bas de Jong struckout, but reached on a passed ball, then moved on a sac-bunt by Jesse Aussems and scored when an outfield-error followed a single by Rashid Gerard.
Amsterdam then broke open the game with a 6-run rally in the fifth inning, with five runs being scored with two outs.
With one out, Sidney de Jong walked and Percy Isenia doubled.
De Jong then scored on a grounder by Kenny Berkenbosch.
A double by Vince Rooi then led to the next run.
Moments later, Rooi scored on a single by Bas de Jong, who played again after being sidelined the last games with a rib-muscle injury.
The bases were loaded when Jesse Aussems singled and Rashid Gerard reached on an error.
A single by Wesley Connor then produced two runs and Gerard scored moments later on a wild pitch to make it 10-0.
Jos de Jong went the distance for Amsterdam, struckout seven batters and gave up only three basehits.
Emerson Paulo led off for Sparta-Feyenoord in the first inning with a double, but De Jong then retired the next eight batters.
He then faced Paulo again, who this time singled and stranded on first base.
In the sixth inning, De Jong gave up a 2-out single to Anthony Vrolijk, who was left on second base.
Besides giving up three hits, De Jong walked two batters, which were the only other two runners for the home team.
The last six batters in Sparta-Feyenoord's batting order went 0-for-16, with the last five not reaching base at all.
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Mr. Cocker HCAW vs. UVV
At Bussum, UVV trailed 2-1 after three innings, but went on to win 8-3 vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW.
UVV opened the score in the second inning when Giovannie Samboe led off with a single, moved on a walk and a sac-bunt, then scored on a grounder by Shurty Tremus.
HCAW reacted with two runs in its second at bat off Duko Jansen.
Kevin Gerard led off with a single, then Jim Froberg singled with one out.
Both then scored when Juriën Overman doubled.
After a scoreless third at bat, UVV took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning.
Giovannie Samboe led off with a walk and Jirka Bliek singled with one out.
A grounder by Shurty Tremus then tied the score and UVV took the lead when Brennan Nijhof followed with a single.
HCAW came alongside in the home of the fourth when Dylan de Mello was hit by a pitch, stole second base and scored on a 2-out double by Seb Visser.
But from the fifth inning on, UVV took charge of the game.
Facing new pitcher Sander Helmendach, UVV scored twice in the fifth.
Helmendach took over for Robin Schel, who started instead of the announced Kaj Timmermans, a player from HCAW's Rookie Team, who was to make his big league-debut.
Helmendach walked lead-off batter Austin Weymouth, then an error followed on a grounder by Stijn van der Meer and a wild pitch moved the two runners.
With one out, Giovannie Samboe was walked intentionally to set up a force play.
This was indeed what happened, as Weymouth was forced out at home on a grounder by Ryan Murphy, but then Helmendach walked Jirka Bliek and Shurty Tremus, resulting in two runs, before a strikeout ended the at bat, leaving three runners.
UVV added a run in the eighth inning off Jeffrey Kreisel, also a player from the Rookie Team, but he did make his big league-debut.
With one out, Austin Weymouth doubled and scored on a single by Stijn van der Meer.
This led to a new pitching change and American short stop Kody Hightower took over.
He gave up two additional runs in the ninth, which were scored on a single by Austin Weymouth.
After scoring in the fourth inning, HCAW was held to only two more basehits by three relievers.
Jeroen de Haas, who threw the sixth and seventh inning, struckout five batters.
Sedley Karel and Derek Tarapacki both added one strikeout to make it a total of 12 by the four pitchers used by UVV.
Line Score, Box Score & Play-by-Play
Standings, Schedule & Scores
...Winning pitcher Duko Jansen... |
...Jirka Bliek scores on a single by Brennan Nijhof... |
| (© Photos: Frans van Elst) |
(May 12)
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