The game at 'De Slotbosse Toren', the home of Twins, was well-visited and was played under sunny weather conditions.
The stakes of the game were clear.
The Hawks had to win to even the best-of-five series, while Twins of course wanted the win again to take a 2-0 lead.
In the first five innings, both starting pitchers held the game in balance, giving up no runs.
Belgian righthander Ben Van Nuffel started for Twins, while Quinn Tramm took the mound for The Hawks.
It was The Hawks that got some scoring opportunities, but failed to open the scoring, stranding three runners in scoring position.
Twins left one runner in scoring position in the first five innings.
In the first inning, Van Nuffel was supported with a double play which ended with some words back and forth.
The Hawks-centerfielder Jules Peters, who was forced out on second base, had to be treated for a minor injury, but was able to continue.
In the second inning, The Hawks got the bases loaded with two outs.
Tim Roodenburg was then hit by a pitch and both Amir Daou and Gregory Trinidad walked.
Van Nuffel then had a strong finish, as he struckout Julian Goins to end the inning.
...The Twins Slugger waves to a young fan...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
In the top of the third inning, Twins' third baseman Anthony Vrolijk made a nice catch on a foul-fly by Odion Gouverneur to start the at bat.
With two outs, Stephen Henson singled, but he was left behind.
Van Nuffel then retired the side in the fourth inning that ended with a nice running catch by centerfielder Nick Peels.
With one out in the fifth, he walked Julian Goins, who then stole second base, but also stranded in scoring position.
Tramm retired the side in the first inning, which ended with a great defensive play by short stop Stephen Henson.
In the bottom of the second inning, the home team got its first two batters on base.
Berry van Donselaar led off with a single and Mick Molenaar walked.
Two foul-outs followed, then Tramm struckout Irving Redan to end the inning.
In the third, Tramm walked Bart Hanegraaff with two outs, but he was left behind.
And in the fourth, the righthander walked Christopher Ge.
However, he took off from first base a bit too soon, got into a rundown and was tagged out.
Tramm then retired the side in the fifth.
And that set the scene for a suspenseful sixth inning in which nine runs were scored.
In the top of the sixth, The Hawks struck with four runs.
Stephen Henson led off with a bunt-single, then Steven Wharwood followed with a double down the rightfield-line.
Next, Twins' third baseman Anthony Vrolijk made a great play on a hard grounder by Brian Raap and retired him at first base.
The Hawks then opened the score on a sacrifice fly by Tim Roodenburg.
Moments later, Wharwood scored the second run on an infield-hit by Amir Daou, which led to a pitching change.
Belgian starter Ben Van Nuffel (7 strikeouts, 4 hits) was relieved by Canadian Cody Chartrand, but he was greeted with a runscoring double by Gregory Trinidad that made it 3-0.
Trinidad advanced on a following single by Julian Goins, which led to some discussions whether or not it was a foul ball.
After the four umpires discussed the situation, the hit was ruled no foul ball and with that, The Hawks had runners on first and third base.
Odion Gouverneur followed with a single single that lifted the lead to 4-0.
Hereafter, a groundout ended the inning, but the team from Dordrecht appeared to have a comfortable lead.
...The game in Oosterhout was well-visited...
(© Photo: Marco Stoovelaar) |
That changed in the next 25 minutes, as Twins answered with five runs of its own to turn the game around in its favor.
With one out, Bart Hanegraaff walked and Anthony Vrolijk was hit by a pitch.
Hereafter, designated hitter Berry van Donselaar, who last season played for The Hawks, drilled the ball down the rightfield-line for a 2-run double that narrowed the deficit to 4-2.
After a flyout accounted for the second out, Christopher Ge walked and Stijn Janssens singled to load the bases.
Tramm, who now was clearly in problems, then walked Irving Redan that led to the next run.
That brought out The Hawks-interim Head Coach Paul Roodenburg to the mound to make a pitching change.
While standing near the mound, he got into a discussion with Home Plate Umpire Martijn Bosschaart, resulting in the ejection of Roodenburg, who earlier in the game also had argued.
After a brief delay, Kevin van Veen took over the pitching and he faced pinch-hitter Tair Vrutaal.
The impressive batter connected well on a 2-and-1 pitch and drove the ball into centerfield for a 2-run single to give Twins a 5-4 lead!
A pop-up ended the inning, but the game now had completely turned around.
The Hawks was unable to change that in the remaining three innings.
In the top of the seventh, Twins' rightfielder Bart Hanegraaff made a great catch on a drive by Steven Wharwood for the second out.
Hereafter, Brian Raap singled, but he stranded.
In the bottom of the seventh, it was the rightfielder of The Hawks, Amir Daou, who made a great catch on a drive by Berry van Donselaar, catching the ball just in front of the fence.
In the top of the eighth, veteran pitcher Remco Gorisse took over the pitching for Twins and was supported with a double play.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kevin van Veen retired the side.
And so, Twins was three outs away from taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Belgian Matthew Latta took the mound for Twins to close the game.
He gave up a lead-off single to Odion Gouverneur.
Next, with an 0-2 count, Jules Peters bunted foul, caught by third baseman Bob van der Meer, who had taken over there in the seventh inning.
Hereafter, Stephen Henson was not granted a time-out and got to an 1-2 count.
And argument followed with Home Plate Umpire Martijn Bosschaart and Henson also was ejected.
Berend Ruben took over as pinch-hitter and struckout with the at bat being credited to Henson.
Latta then also struckout Steven Wharwood to end the game and secure the come-from-behind victory.
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Twins comes from behind to take 2-0 lead vs. The Hawks
OOSTERHOUT (Neth.) -
Twins has taken a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Play-Off vs. Mampaey The Hawks by winning 5-4 on Sunday (September 20).
Twins now needs only one more victory to win the series and promote to the Dutch big league.