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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Amsterdam Pirates downs Neptunus to qualify for Play-Offs
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
L&D Amsterdam Pirates won 6-2 vs. Curaçao Neptunus on Tuesday-evening (June 16) in a make-up game to become the second team to qualify for the Play-Offs.
The game was the final one to be played in the first half of the regular season and was played while the second half already had started (last Thursday).
Tonight's game was originally scheduled for Friday-evening, May 29, but then rained out.
Due to the participation in the European Cup Tournaments by both Amsterdam and Neptunus, the game was initially re-scheduled for Tuesday, June 9.
But it was then moved to tonight, as last week's date came only two days after completion of the tournaments.
By winning tonight, Amsterdam not only qualified for the Play-Offs, it also moved from third to first place to become the winner of the first half of the season.
Amsterdam and Neptunus ended in a tie, but as Pirates has won two of the three games played against the Rotterdam-squad, it finishes in first place.
And with that, Amsterdam now also is the leader in the Overall Standings, which will decide home field advantage during the Play-Offs as well as the amount of points each team takes with them to the final round.
On June 2, Corendon Kinheim won a make-up games against Vaessen Pioniers to complete a 3-game sweep.
With that, Kinheim moved into second place and would have qualified for the Play-Offs when Amsterdam ended up losing tonight.
But now, it was Kinheim that was left empty-handed, as it was eliminated.
Kinheim now has to secure a spot in the top-four in the second half of the season.
On May 30, Neptunus had become the first team to qualify for the Play-Offs.
With tonight's clinching of Pirates, this means that last year finalists in the Holland Series are the first to reach the Championship Round again.
They will be joined by the two best teams of the second half of the regular season.
With the playing of tonight's make-up game, both Amsterdam and Neptunus now have to adjust their starting rotations for the upcoming series.
Besides that, the two teams also will meet each other again on the next three Tuesday-evenings.
These games were originally scheduled for August 6-9, but have been moved up, as in that weekend Neptunus will meet UnipolSai Bologna (Italy) in a best-of-three final for the European Champions Cup.
Neptunus announced that lefthander Diegomar Markwell will be the starting in the opener of the next series coming Thursday.
And, based on four-five days rest, this could lead to Markwell being the starter on each of the Tuesday-games, while righthander Rob Cordemans (who started tonight) can be the starter for Amsterdam in those games.
When that happens, it of course will secure the spectators of three interesting match-ups.
For-the-record, earlier today, Neptunus-pitcher Kenny Van Den Branden's wife gave birth to their son.
(June 16)
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In order to qualify for the Play-Offs in the first half of the regular season, Amsterdam Pirates needed to win tonight's game, which was the final one of the first half.
And that is what the squad of Head Coach Charles Urbanus did.
The win was the second of a 3-game series against Neptunus in the first half and so, Amsterdam moved ahead of the Rotterdam-squad to finish in first place.
Kinheim had moved into second place after winning its 3-game series vs. Pioniers, but now dropped to third place because of the Amsterdam-victory.
And with that, Kinheim was eliminated in the first half, but gets a second chance in the second half of the season.
Amsterdam Pirates set the tone tonight right away in the first inning, scoring two runs on three doubles off of starter Orlando Yntema.
With one out, Michael Duurmsa doubled, then Nick Urbanus struckout.
With two outs, Kenny Berkenbosch and Remco Draijer hit back-to-back doubles to give Amsterdam an early lead.
With Draijer on second base, the inning ended when Yntema also struckout Bas Nooij.
Amsterdam added its third run in the third at bat.
Roelie Henrique led off with a single, then Michael Duursma bunted the ball towards the mound.
Yntema fielded the ball and turned for the force out at second base, but instead the ball hit umpire Martijn Bosschaart on his back and so everyone was safe and Duursma was credited with a sacrifice bunt.
Next, the two runners advanced on sac-bunt by Nick Urbanus and a grounder by Kenny Berkenbosch brought in Henrique to make it 3-0.
Neptunus collected only three hits off of Rob Cordemans in its first five innings.
After having retired the side in the first inning, Cordemans walked lead-off hitter b>Stijn van der Meer in the second inning.
A flyout followed, then Cordemans ended the at bat by striking out Christian Diaz and Benjamin Dille.
In the third, the veteran righthander gave up a lead-off single to Gyenuar Lopez, followed by three flyouts.
In the fourth, Gianison Boekhoudt singled with one out, but was forced out to end the inning.
And in the fifth, Benjamin Dille opened with a single, but again three flyouts followed.
Amsterdam then took more distance by scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
with one out, Michael Duursma struckout, but reached on a wild pitch.
With two outs, he moved to second base on a single by Kenny Berkenbosch and the two runners scored when Remco Draijer followed with a 2-run triple.
That brought Bas Nooij into the batter's box.
With a 2-1 count, Yntema threw a high wild pitch, which past Home Plate Umpire Winfried Berkvens.
It not only enabled Draijer to score, it also led to the ejection of Yntema.
As there was no one warming up in the bullpen at that time, Kevin Kelly entered the game from the dug-out and took over with a 3-1 count.
He walked Nooij with the walk being credited to Yntema, then ended the inning by striking out Jesse Aussems.
But Pirates now had a 6-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, Neptunus reached second base for the first time.
Dwayne Kemp led off with a single and Gianison Boekhoudt walked with one out, but then Rien Vernooij grounded into an inning-ending double play.
In the seventh, Benjamin Dille singled with one out, stole second and advanced on a grounder, but stranded on third base.
Neptunus then got on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning off of Daan Hendrix, who took over the pitching for Cordemans.
Stijn van der Meer and Dwayne Kemp opened with singles to put runners at the corners.
After Kemp had stolen second base, Raily Legito grounded in the first Rotterdam-run, then Gianison Boekhoudt followed with a runscoring single to make it 6-2.
But that was to be all for Neptunus tonight.
In the bottom of the eighth, Amsterdam got two baserunners with two outs off of reliever Berry van Driel, but they both were left behind.
In the top of the ninth, Urving Kemp singled with one out for Neptunus, but two outs followed.
And so, Amsterdam not only celebrated the victory, it also had clinced a spot in the Play-Offs and finished the first half of the season in first place.
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| L&D Amsterdam Pirates - Curaçao Neptunus 6-2 |
| R | H | E |
| Curaçao Neptunus | 000 | 000 | 020 | - | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| L&D Amsterdam Pirates | 201 | 030 | 00X | - | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| pitchers Neptunus | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Orlando Yntema, L (4-1) | 4.2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Kevin Kelly | 2.1 (*) | 2 | 2 | - | - | - |
| Berry van Driel | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | - | - |
| (*) - Kelly took over the pitching in the 5th inning with a 3-1 count on the batter |
| pitchers Pirates | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Rob Cordemans, W (4-1) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | - | - |
| Daan Hendrix | 2 | - | - | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Umpires: HP-Winfried Berkvens, 1B-Rob Has, 3B-Martijn Bosschaart.
Official Scorer-Huub Nelissen.
Play-by-Play Scorer-Dieks Bannink.
Public Address Announcer-Leo Markies.
Time-2:34 hr.
Game Notes:
Game originally scheduled for Friday, May 29, but then cancelled due to rain.
Re-scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, but then moved to tonight as Amsterdam Pirates and Neptunus had just completed their participation in the European Cup Tournaments.
Orlando Yntema (Neptunus) ejected in bottom 5th inning by HP Umpire Winfried Berkvens for throwing a high (wild) pitch; Yntema was relieved with a 3-1 count on the batter.
Weather conditions at game time: Partly cloudy, 15,1° C (59,2° F), northern wind 6 kmh (3 mph), humidity 57%.
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Copyright © 1997-2015 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.
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