Neptunus set the tone by scoring twice in the first inning off of veteran pitcher Riccardo De Santis.
With one out, Benjamin Dille and Raily Legito singled, then the bases got loaded when Gianison Boekhoudt walked.
The second out was recorded when Christian Diaz popped up, resulting in an infield fly.
But hereafter, Stijn van der Meer drilled the ball into leftfield for a 2-run single.
Afterwards, Van der Meer was named Most Valuable Player of the final.
,,We immediately scored twice in the first inning and that put the pressure on their pitcher'', Neptunus Head Coach Evert-Jan 't Hoen reacted afterwards.
Looking back to the day before when Neptunus forced a third game, 't Hoen said:
,,That was difficult, as their pitcher was throwing very well.
We really had to gather the points then.''
In the previous seven years, Neptunus failed to advance to the deciding series.
't Hoen: ,,In tournaments, you only play one final game.
Mostly, the best pitchers then face each other and that makes the difference in such a game.
A best-of-three is fairer, as you get another chance.
Today, we had the best of the two pitchers in this game.''
Belgian pitcher Kenny Van Den Branden pitched a great game for Neptunus.
The righthander gave up only four basehits in the six innings he pitched and struckout six batters.
With a 2-0 lead, Van Den Branden gave up the first Italian run in the third at bat.
Back in the first inning, Juan Carlos Infante had led off the game with a single, but with two outs, he was caught stealing.
In the second inning, Alex Sambucci singled with two outs, but was left behind.
In the third, Bologna got one run back, but stranded two runners.
Alessandro Grimaudo and Juan Carlos Infante lef off with singles to put runners on first and third base.
Infante was then forced out on a grounder by Claudio Liverziani, which brought Grimaudo to score.
Hereafter, Cèsar Javier Suárez Vezga walked and he and Liverziani got both in scoring position after a wild pitch, but Van Den Branden then ended the inning with a strikeout.
Van Den Branden then struckout the side in the top of the fourth inning.
Moments later, in the bottom of the fourth inning, with already two outs, Neptunus struck with five runs to take a decisive 7-1 lead.
Christian Diaz led off with a single, then Stijn van der Meer followed with a bunt-single.
The two moved on a sacrifice bunt by Rien Vernooij, then a force play was created by giving an intentional walk to Shaldimar Daantji that loaded the bases.
Hereafter, De Santis struckout Urving Kemp, but his brother Dwayne Kemp followed with a 2-run single.
It marked the end for De Santis, who was relieved by Dominican-born Italian Salomon Marinez.
The righthander was greeted with a runscoring single by Benjamin Dille, followed by a 2-run double by Raily Legito that increased the lead to 7-1.
It led to another pitching change, as Pietro Paolo Cadoni took over.
He ended the inning when Gianison Boekhoudt flied out.
In the remainder of the game, Neptunus was held scoreless, but held onto the comfortable lead.
Cadoni retired the side in the fifth, then got two baserunners in the sixth.
Shaldimar Daantji led off with a walk, but was forced out on a grounder by Urving Kemp.
Hereafter, Dwayne Kemp singled and Luca Panerati took over the pitching for Bologna.
The two Kemp-brothers stranded as two groundouts ended the inning.
After giving up Bologna's run in the third inning, Neptunus-starter Kenny Van Den Branden dominated, as he retired the side in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning.
He retired the last ten batters he faced in a row.
In the seventh inning, Kevin Kelly took over for Van Den Branden and also struckout the side, just as the Belgian hurler did in the fourth.
In the eighth, with two outs, Kelly walked Paolino Ambrosino, who then stole second base, but was left behind.
In the ninth inning, Bologna was able to do something back, scoring twice off of new pitcher Berry van Driel.
The righthander gave up a lead-off double to Suárez, followed by a runscoring single by Alessandro Vaglio.
Hereafter, Alex Sambucci also singled, but he was forced out on a grounder by Francesco Fuzzi.
With runners on first and third base, a wild pitch enabled Vaglio to score for Bologna.
Van Driel followed with a strikeout, then a groundout ended the inning and the game to secure the victory.
After eleven years, the European Cup was back in Rotterdam!
,,This feels great.
A great accomplishment.
Kenny pitched a great game and everyone contributed in today's victory''', Evert-Jan 't Hoen stated afterwards.
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Neptunus wins European Champions Cup!
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Curaçao Neptunus registered a comfortable 7-3 win on Sunday (August 9) vs. UnipolSai Bologna (Italy) in Game 3 of the best-of-three final to win the European Champions Cup.
Leading 2-1, Neptunus struck with five runs in the fourth inning to take a decisive lead.