After a scoreless first inning, Neptunus opened the score with one (unearned) run in the second at bat off of starter Evan Simons.
With two outs, Urving Kemp walked and stole second base, then scored when a fly by Shaldimar Daantji was missed in the outfield.
A walk followed, but Neptunus then left two runners.
In the bottom of the second inning, The Hawks rallied for three runs with two outs off of Floris Timmer.
Julian Goins led off with a single and stole second base, but two flyouts followed.
A single by Brian Raap and walk for Gino Hersilia then loaded the bases.
The Hawks came alongside when next batter Chris Willliams was hit by a pitch.
Moments later, Raap scored the go-ahead run while the catcher attempted a pick-off at first base.
The bases were re-loaded when Odion Gouverneur walked.
The next run was then added when Stephen Henson singled, but the inning ended when Williams was eliminated at the plate when he also tried to score.
After Neptunus stranded two runners in the top of the third, The Hawks again scored three runs in its third at bat and so, a surprise appeared to be in the making.
In the third, The Hawks again scored its three runs with two outs.
The Hawks then got the bases loaded when Amir Daou walked, Steven Wharwood singled and Brian Raap also walked.
That led to a pitching change, as Kevin Kelly was brought in to relief Timmer.
However, The Hawks added two more runs the simple way, as Gino Hersilia was hit by a pitch and Chris Williams walked, leading to automatic runs and a 5-1 lead.
A single by Odion Gouverneur brought in the next run, but the home team then stranded three runners when a groundout ended the at bat.
In the remainder of the game, The Hawks was held scoreless.
Despite that, the 6-1 lead appeared to be comfortable for the moment.
But that quickly changed and the lead vaporized in the fourth inning when Neptunus rallied for 12 (!) runs.
In the top of the fourth, Neptunus not only scored 12 runs, it also collected 12 basehits.
The first six batters reached base safely, all via a basehit.
Urving Kemp led off with a double and Shaldimar Daantji singled.
Stijn van der Meer then singled in a run and Dwayne Kemp followed with a 2-run double.
Hereafter, Benjamin Dille also singled in a run to narrow the deficit to 6-5.
Tim Roodenburg then took over the pitching, but was greeted with single by Gianison Boekhoudt.
A sacrifice fly by Rien Vernooij accounted for the tying run.
And so, we not only had a complete new ballgame, from this point on it also belonged to Neptunus.
Christian Diaz then singled and Adrian Anthony walked, followed by a 2-run ground-rule double by Urving Kemp (his second double in the at bat) to give Neptunus an 8-6 lead.
Later in the at bat, Neptunus added five more runs, thanks to a sac-fly by Shaldimar Daantji, single by Benjamim Dille, 2-run single by Gianision Boekhoudt and single by Rien Vernooij to make it 13-6.
The inning finally ended when Vernooij was forced out on second base.
With that, he was both the first and third out in this at bat.
Neptunus was then retired in order in the fifth inning by Roodenburg, but the Rotterdam-squad then staged a new 9-run rally in the sixth at bat.
This time, Neptunus collected eight basehits.
With two runners on base, pinch-hitter Mourik Huijser delivered a 2-run double to start this rally.
A runscoring single by Rien Vernooij and RBI-double by Christian Diaz led to a new pitching change.
Kevin van Veen took over, but gave up a runscoring double to Adrian Anthony.
An error, a 2-run double by Stijn van der Meer and runscoring single by Dwayne Kemp lifted the lead to 22-6.
The scoring wasn't done yet, as Neptunus scored three more runs in the seventh.
With one out, José Moreno became the new pitcher for The Hawks.
He gave up a ground-rule double to Rien Vernooij, who, while walking between first and second base, had to return to first base, as he had missed touching it.
Gyenuar Lopez then singled and the two runners scored on a triple by Adrian Anthony, who then scored himself on a sac-fly by Urving Kemp.
In its final four at bats, The Hawks hit only two more basehits, but never got into scoring position again.
|
Neptunus trails 6-1, but wins big, 25-6
DORDRECHT (Neth.) -
Curaçao Neptunus trailed 6-1 after three innings on Saturday (June 27) at Mampaey The Hawks.
Not only was a surprise in the making, it would also give The Hawks its first home victory of the season.
Last year, the team won only one regular season-game at home.