 UVV wins on day full of emotions
Nederlands
    HAARLEM / AMSTERDAM / ROTTERDAM / VLEUTEN (Neth.) -
How should we label Sunday, April 29?
The headline states 'day full of emotions' and it certainly was a day that had to do with several emotions.
UVV is mentioned in the headline, as it won 7-2 vs. AamigoO ADO Lakers in a game that probably was the lone game that had no peculiar moments.
There were a lot of emotions in Haarlem, where Ramiro Balentina of Corendon Kinheim was hit in the face by a pitch and sustained several fractures.
The game continued, there was a bench-clearing, an ejection and in the end, DOOR Neptunus won the game 7-1.
In Amsterdam, there were question marks why Vaessen Pioniers changed its dominating pitcher with two outs in the ninth inning, while pitching a shutout vs. L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
Pioniers won the game, 6-1.
In Rotterdam, Mr. Cocker HCAW turned a 3-0 deficit into a 6-3 lead vs. Sparta-Feyenoord in a game that was halted in the seventh inning by the umpires after remarks from some spectators.
The status of this game is now in the hands of the Dutch Federation's Board.
And in Vleuten, UVV won 7-2 vs. AamigoO ADO Lakers in a game that can be labeled as 'normal'.
But of course, that game also had its emotions, as ADO now has lost its last four games.
Corendon Kinheim vs. DOOR Neptunus
In Haarlem, DOOR Neptunus, which lost 2-1 the day before to Corendon Kinheim, today won 7-1.
But the loss surely will have been the least of worries for Kinheim, as its catcher Ramiro Balentina sustained a severe injury in the first inning when he was hit in the face by a pitch of Neptunus-starter Bobby Carrington.
Balentina was transported to the hospital and it was reported after the game that he a several fractures in the cheekbone/jaw-area and in his nose.
Surgery was not possible yet and he will undergo a further check-up next Tuesday.
The incident immediately brought back memories to the last (and only other) severe injury a batter sustained after being hit by a pitch in the face.
On August 10, 1986, American Dave Bisceglia of Giants Diemen was hit in the face by a pitch of Jan Hijzelendoorn of Amstel Tijgers.
Bisceglia also had to be transported to the hospital where a fractured cheekbone was diagnozed.
Bisceglia completely recovered and played again for Giants the next season, as his injury occured towards the end of the season.
There a big difference between the game of almost 26 years ago and today's.
Back then, Home Plate Umpire Ton Bodaan and his colleagues Vincent Hazel and John Barrett halted the game after the incident, which occured in the top of the seventh inning.
Today, the game continued and was completed.
The 1986 game was completed a month later.
It also resulted in remarks concerning the high total of hit batters to date this season.
Including the Neptunus vs. Sparta-Feyenoord game of April 5 that was declared void and today's halted game between Sparta-Feyenoord and HCAW, 43 games have been played so far.
In these games, 99 batters were hit by a pitch.
The team's that have the most hit batters are ADO Lakers (21), Pioniers (17), Pirates (14) and Neptunus (13).
HCAW has the most pitchers that hit batters (20), followed by Neptunus (17) and ADO Lakers (14).
Players who were hit the most are Bas Nooij (Pirates) and Ludwin Obispo (ADO), who both were hit six times, followed by Michael Duursma and Mark-Jan Moorman (both Pioniers), who were hit five times.
When this rate continues, the season will end with a record of 386 hit batters!
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...Ramiro Balentina...
(© Photo: Kinheim) |
In the game in Haarlem, Neptunus opened the score in the first inning when Dwayne Kemp led off with a triple off Kinheim-starter Nick Veltkamp and scored on a following grounder by Rafaël Jozefa.
Next, Raily Legito was hit by a pitch, but then was caught stealing.
In the home of the first, Kinheim left the bases loaded after the incident to Balentina.
With one out, Neptunus-starter Bobby Carrington walked Mervin Gario and Dirk van 't Klooster, who then moved on a double-steal.
Carrington then struckout Bryan Engelhardt.
Next, Ramiro Balentina was hit by a pitch in his face.
He was able to leave the field by himself, but shortly thereafter was transported to the hospital.
Rachid Engelhardt took over as pinch-runner, but then a flyout ended the at bat.
To make things even more special, Ramiro Balentina was Bobby Carrington's catcher and teammate last season when both played for Sparta-Feyenoord.
Balentina then finished the season as the team's best hitter with a .321 average.
Neptunus added a run in the second inning when Rien Vernooij doubled with one out and scored on a 2-out double by Adrian Anthony.
After leaving some runners in the third and fourth inning, Neptunus doubled its lead in the fifth.
Dwayne Kemp led off with a walk, stole second base and advanced on a passed bal, then scored on an one-out single by Raily Legito, who then stole second and third base and scored on an error after a pitching change.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, things heated up.
Björn Henrichs led off with a double and scored on an one-out double by Remco Draijer.
Next, Carrington also hit Mervin Gario with a high inside pitch.
It was reported that an exchange of words followed, triggering a bench clearing.
Kinheim's designated hitter Bryan Engelhardt was ejected.
Afterwards, Kinheim's Head Coach Eelco Jansen stated: ,,I find it very strange that one of Neptunus was ejected''.
After the game resumed again, Bobby Carrington was replaced by Kevin van Veen, who got a flyout from Dirk van 't Klooster, then walked Niels van Weert, who batted for Engelhardt.
But a strikeout followed, meaning Kinheim left the bases loaded again.
Neptunus added three more runs in the eighth inning.
Benjamin Dille led off with single, which brought in a new pitcher.
A single by Rien Vernooij and a wild pitch followed, then a single by Lennart Koster brought in two runs.
Koster later scored himself on a sac-fly by Dwayne Kemp.
Mervin Gario today went 0-for-3, meaning his 11-game hitting streak ended.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News wishes Ramiro Balentina all the best, a quick recovery and a speedy return to the field!
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L&D Amsterdam Pirates vs. Vaessen Pioniers
At Amsterdam, American righthander Joey Evans dominated for Vaessen Pioniers in what became a 6-1 victory vs. L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
But with two outs in the ninth, Evans was relieved which raised several eyebrows.
Pioniers scored all six runs off Amsterdam-starter Jos de Jong, who gave up eight basehits.
In the first inning, he hit lead-off hitter Michael Duursma with a pitch with two strikes, who then went on to score on a 2-out single by Dè Flanegin.
The second run was added in the next at bat.
Zerzinho Croes (fielder's choice) then advanced on a sac-bunt by Jefferson Muzo and scored when Michael Duursma singled.
Another run followed in the third inning.
Mark-Jan Moorman was hit by a pitch, moved on a sac-bunt by Norbert Lokhorst and a single by Dè Flanegin, then scored when Kevin Dirksen also singled.
Leading 3-0, Pioniers doubled the lead by scoring three runs in the fourth.
Jefferson Muzo led off with a single and stole second base.
The bases were then loaded when Michael Duursma singled and Mark Duursma was hit by a pitch.
A double play-grounder by Mark-Jan Moorman then produced a run and Norbert Lokhorst followed with a single that led to another run.
Nick Stuifbergen was brought in to relief Jos de Jong, but was greeted with a stand-up RBI-double by 40-year old veteran Dè Flanegin, who was 4-for-4.
Hereafter, Stuifbergen retired seven of the next eight batters he faced, before being relieved by Jurrian Koks, who threw the seventh and eighth inning and was supported with a double play.
Rik Geestman retired the side in the ninth.
But in the meantime, the Pirates-offense, which hit 44 basehits in its last four games, was unable to produce off Joey Evans, who dominated from the beginning and lifted his record to 3-0.
In the first inning, he gave up an one-out single to Roelie Henrique, who was then caught stealing.
In the second inning, Sidney de Jong led off with a single, then Jesse Aussems walked with two outs.
But then, Evans retired the next 17 batters in order, including nine with a (swinging) strikeout!
With one out in the eighth inning, Evans walked Jesse Aussems, but he stranded at first base.
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...Roelie Henrique is caught stealing...
...by Michael Duursma in 1st inning...
(© Photo: www.reni-foto.nl) |
In the bottom of the ninth inning, a foul-out accounted for the first out, then Roelie Henrique singled, which was only the third Amsterdam-basehit of the day.
Moments later, Henrique was forced out on a grounder by Vince Rooi.
And so, Evans needed only one more out to throw a complete game shutout.
But suddenly, Pioniers' Head Coach Robert Klaver came to the mound, asked for the ball and brought rookie Bayron Cornelissen in to finish the game.
Cornelissen walked Sidney de Jong, then gave up a single to Percy Isenia that scored Rooi, meaning Evans was now credited with an earned run.
The game ended when Isenia was forced out on a grounder by Kenny Berkenbosch.
There was some amazement why Evans, who had thrown only 95 pitches at the time, was relieved.
Head Coach Robert Klaver explains: ,,My Pitching Coach Dave Draijer and I had talked about it and we wanted to see Bayron Cornelissen in a situation like this.
He is a talented young pitcher, who already has two saves, but we also wanted him to see pitch against a stronger offensive team.
You know me, I'm someone of statistics and traditions and when it was later in the season, I would have left my starting pitcher in.
But it's still early in the season, Joey already has thrown a lot of innings, he is leading the league in this and we need our other pitchers also later in the season in several situations, so that's why we brought in Bayron.
We planned to do it with one out, but there were two outs quickly and decided to bring him in after that.''
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Sparta-Feyenoord vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW
At Rotterdam, Sparta-Feyenoord and Mr. Cocker HCAW finally were able to play today after the previous two games on Thursday and Saturday both rained out.
But in the end, today's game was halted in the middle of the seventh inning by the 2-man umpiring crew after remarks from some spectators besides the Sparta-Feyenoord dug-out.
The game, in which HCAW led 6-3, is now upheld and it's status has to be determined by the Dutch Federation's Board.
There are several possibilities, but first it has to be determined who is the guilty party in this.
Amongst the options is that the game can be declared valid, meaning it ends in a 6-3 win for HCAW.
Another option is that it has to be completed from the moment it was suspended.
Sparta-Feyenoord was off to a good start as it scored three runs in the first inning off American Kyle Putnam.
He walked lead-off hitter Kevin van Nederpelt, then hit Anthony Vrolijk with a pitch.
An error on a grounder by Theodore van Heijningen then produced the first run.
Van Heijningen was back in the line-up for Sparta-Feyenoord after having missed last weekend's games, as he was stricken with the flu.
Next, Michiel Ruiter walked, then Brian Raap doubled in a run, which was followed by a runscoring wild pitch.
But these were to be Sparta-Feyenoord's lone runs.
In the second inning, Gregory Gustina (who was today's DH) walked and that marked the end for Putnam, who was replaced by Sander Helmendach.
In the five innings he pitched before the game was halted, Helmendach only gave up a 2-out triple to Raap in the sixth inning.
Sparta-Feyenoord added two new players to its roster today: Jason Leonora and Brynner Daal.
The latter already had practiced with the team for some weeks and comes from Curaçao, while Leonora was added to the main squad from the Rookie-team.
HCAW got two runs back in the third inning.
With two outs, Glenn Romney walked and scored on an RBI-double by Linoy Croes, who was 3-for-4, scored twice and had two RBI's.
He then stole third base and scored on a following error.
HCAW tied the score in the sixth when Kody Hightower led off with a single, stole second base and scored on a 2-out double by Dylan de Mello.
In the top of the seventh inning, HCAW took a 6-3 lead by scoring three runs and was on to its first win since April 7.
Jorin van Amstel led off with a walk and Ken Rinkema followed with a single.
With one out, a single by Linoy Croes also led to an outfield-error and gave HCAW two runs.
Sparta-Feyenoord's starter Elton Koeiman was then replaced by Reynaldo Sarmiento Caro, who is the announced starter for Tuesday's game.
He gave up a single to Kody Hightower that made it 6-3, but then followed with two strikeouts.
After completion of the top of the seventh, umpires Roy van de Wateringen and Martijn Bosschaart halted the game and left the field, due to remarks from some spectators.
The two umpires returned to the field after a 22-minute interruption, but then stopped the game completely, as Sparta-Feyenoord didn't comply to instructions the umpires had given.
Reports now has to be filed by the umpires and the two teams that will determine the status of this game.
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UVV vs. AamigoO ADO Lakers
At Vleuten, the only game were nothing special was reported from was that between UVV and AamigoO ADO Lakers.
Or it must be the fact that two more ADO-batters were hit by a pitch to increase their league-lead to 21.
UVV won the game 7-2 and moved up to sixth place, while ADO Lakers now has lost four games in a row.
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...Former big leaguers Maurice Cranston (second from left)...
...and Mike Ocon (seated with white wooden shoes)...
...attended today's game...
(© Photo: Frans van Elst) |
ADO opened the score off Orlando Yntema in the first inning.
Gregory Hassell, who returned into the line-up after a 4-game suspension, led off with a single, but later was picked off second base.
But then Ludwin Obispo, the league's leading hitter, singled and went on to score when Phil Ortez doubled.
With the hit, Obispo extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
In the second inning, ADO got the bases loaded with one out.
Enrique Tromp led off with a double, then Irving Redan walked with one out and next batter Gino Hersilia was hit by a pitch.
But then Hassell grounded into an inning-ending double play.
UVV came alongside in the home of the third inning when
Jirka Bliek led off with a double, advanced on a single by Brian Biezen and scored on a double play-grounder by Norbert Jongerius.
UVV added two runs in the fourth inning.
With one out, Giovannie Samboe, Ryan Murphy and Stijn van der Meer all singled to bring in the go-ahead run.
The bases were loaded when Shurty Tremus walked, then a passed ball led to a new run.
With two outs, the bases were re-loaded when Biezen also walked, but the three runners were left behind.
In the top of fifth, ADO got its first two batters on base.
Gregory Hassell led off with a double, then Ludwin Obispo was hit by a pitch for the sixth time this season.
But a double play and foul-out ended the at bat.
UVV reacted with two runs in its fifth.
Austin Weymouth led off with a walked and scored on a double by Danny Rombley, who later scored on a force play-grounder by rookie Stijn van der Meer, who now has hit safely in nine of the 10 games he has played this season, including the last six in a row.
ADO got one run back in the seventh when Gino Hersilia singled and scored on a single by Phil Ortez, but UVV scored two of its own in the bottom of the seventh at bat.
Danny Rombley then walked and scored on a sac-fly by Giovannie Samboe, while Ryan Murphy doubled and scored on a sac-fly by Shurty Tremus.
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...Giovannie Samboe singles and scores the go-ahead run for UVV in the fourth inning...
(© Photos: Frans van Elst) |
(April 29)
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