(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen & Marco Stoovelaar)
 Game 5 Holland Series rains out; Game moved to Monday
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
Game Five of the best-of-seven Holland Series, which was to be played on Sunday-afternoon (October 2), was cancelled by the umpiring crew due rain and field conditions.
The game had been re-scheduled for Monday-evening in Amsterdam, starting at 7:30 PM.
Defending champion Curaçao Neptunus leads the Championship Final against L&D Amsterdam Pirates 3-1 and is one victory away from capturing its fourth consecutive Championship-title.
When a sixth game is needed, that will be played coming Saturday at the site of Neptunus in Rotterdam.
That also will be the site in case a seventh game is needed.
The Final opened last weekend in Rotterdam.
Amsterdam Pirates won the opener on Saturday in twelve innings, coming from behind to win 6-5.
On Sunday, Neptunus won 8-5 to even the Series.
The third game initially was scheduled to be played on Thursday-evening, but then was cancelled due to rain around 4 PM.
It had been raining steadily throughout the day in Amsterdam, resulting in the field become unplayable.
The game was moved to Friday-evening and Neptunus won 7-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the Series.
On Saturday, Neptunus scored four runs in the first two innings, then was held scoreless in the remainder of the game, but won 4-3 to take a 3-1 lead in the Final.
On Sunday, the fifth game was scheduled to start at 1 PM, one hour earlier than planned, due to live TV-coverage.
Through the night, it already had rained for some hours, but in the morning, the sky cleared and the groundscrew worked hard to prepare the field.
In the meantime, while the field was covered, players prepared for an eventual game in the indoor facility at the Pirates-complex.
However, there was some steady rain again around 11 AM and more rain was expected.
In order to give the groundscrew more time to prepare the field, the umpiring crew, after consulting the two Head Coaches, decided around noon to postpone the start from 1 PM to not earlier than 3 PM.
During the delay, more rain showers hit the area, which made it almost clear that no game would be played today.
It was reported that both Head Coaches wanted to wait even longer when possible and start the game around 7 PM.
Unfortunately, the field had become unplayable, making it risky for the players.
With that, the umpiring crew decided just before 3 PM to cancel the game definitively and postpone it to Monday-evening.
It is the second rainout during this Series.
Last Thursday, Game 3, also to be played in Amsterdam, rained out.
That game was moved to and played on Friday-evening.
(October 2)
 Game 4 - Narrow win Neptunus; one victory away from title! (October 1)
Game 3 - Neptunus takes lead in Holland Series by winning Game 3. (September 30)
3rd Game Holland Series rains out; moved to Friday. (September 29)
Game 2 - Neptunus scores early to even Holland Series. (September. 25)
Game 1 - Amsterdam Pirates strikes first in Holland Series. (September 24)
Standings Holland Series
Final Standings Play-Offs
Final Overall Standings
Schedule & Starting Pitchers
Team Rosters
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Game Five best-of-seven Holland Series.