L&D Amsterdam Pirates vs. Curaçao Neptunus (semi-final)
Kevin Kelly got the start today for Neptunus and he faced Dennis Burgersdijk, who took the mound for Amsterdam Pirates.
Kelly has been used in relief only this season by Neptunus and also pitched in relief this week.
That includes 1 2/3 inning in Thursday-evening's come-from-behind narrow escape victory against T&A San Marino to reach the semi-final.
Burgersdijk made his first appearance of the tournament and has been one of the regular starters for the Amsterdam-squad this season.
Burgersdijk retired the side in the first inning, then Amsterdam opened the score in its first at bat.
Nick Urbanus led off with a double, moved on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Duursma, then scored on a wild pitch.
Hereafter, Gilmer Lampe singled and stole second base, but two grounders followed, leaving the runner behind on second base.
In the second inning, Gianison Boekhoudt led off with a single for Neptunus.
With one out, he was eliminated in a double play after Rien Vernooij lined out to second baseman Nick Urbanus.
Burgersdijk then retired the side again in the third inning on three grounders to short stop Michael Duursma.
Amsterdam was retired in a row by Kelly in the second inning, but then added a run in the third.
Max Clarijs led off with a single and moved on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Urbanus.
Hereafter, Michael Duursma walked, but Gilmer Lampe flied out.
A grounder by Remco Draijer towards first base then appeared to become the final out, but first baseman Rien Vernooij made an error, which loaded the bases.
Next batter Danny Rombley then singled in a run.
That kept the bases loaded and led to a pitching change, as Berry van Driel took over.
Amsterdam stranded three runners when Linoy Croes flied out.
Neptunus had been limited to only one baserunner in the first three innings, but rallied for four runs with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.
Dwayne Kemp led off with a single, then the bases got loaded when Stijn van der Meer walked and Raily Legito was hit by a pitch.
With one out, Kemp was forced out at the plate on a grounder by Christian Diaz.
But hereafter, Rien Vernooij cleared the bases with a 3-run triple and scored himself on a following single by Dashenko Ricardo to make it a 4-2 score.
Daan Hendrix then took over the Amsterdam-pitching and got a force play-grounder that ended the at bat.
Amsterdam came close to getting one run back in its fourth at bat.
Kenny Berkenbosch then led off with a double, moved on a sac-bunt, but stranded on third base.
Neptunus then also left a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth inning.
Shaldimar Daantji led off with a double, but two outs followed.
Raily Legito then walked and that led to another pitching change.
Lefthander Kyle Ward was brought in as replacement for Hendrix and he closed the at bat.
In the bottom of the fifth, Amsterdam narrowed the deficit to 4-3.
Michael Duursma led off with a double and advanced on a single by Gilmer Lampe.
Next batter Remco Draijer then grounded into a double play, but that enabled Duursma to score.
In the sixth inning, both teams scored once.
Christian Diaz led off for Neptunus with a single and Rien Vernooij walked.
The two moved on a sac-bunt by Dashenko Ricardo, then a force play was created by giving an intentional walk to Daniel Fernandes.
A force play indeed followed, as Fernandes was eliminated at second base on a grounder by Shaldimar Daantji, but that also led to a run, making it a 5-3 score.
In the bottom of the sixth, Linoy Croes led off for Pirates with a single and Kenny Berkenbosch doubled.
The latter was then eliminated in a rundown on a grounder by Rashid Gerard, but in the meantime, Croes scored.
The inning ended when pinch-hitter Jesse Aussems grounded into a double play.
...Linoy Croes homered in the 8th inning for Pirates...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
After Kyle Ward had retired the side in the top of the seventh inning, Amsterdam scored again in the home half of the at bat and re-took the lead.
Nick Urbanus led off with a double.
It was his second lead-off double in the game and the sixth time in seven innings that Amsterdam had its lead-off hitter on base with a basehit (two singles, four doubles).
Moments later, Urbanus moved on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Duursma.
This time, it was Neptunus that went to the bullpen again, as Bayron Cornelisse was brought in as reliever for Van Driel.
He was greeted with a single by Gilmer Lampe that brought in Urbanus and tied the score at 5-5.
Lampe advanced on a following grounder by Remco Draijer, then scored the go-ahead run on a single by Danny Rombley.
Hereafter, Cornelisse got the bases loaded when he walked Linoy Croes and Kenny Berkenbosch.
Croes on four straight pitches, Berkenbosch after having him on an 0-2 count.
However, the three runners stranded when the inning ended with a grounder by Rashid Gerard, but Amsterdam had re-taken the lead, 6-5.
In the top of the eighth inning, it was Neptunus that got is lead-off hitter on base for the fifth time in this game, as Christian Diaz led off with a walk.
He moved into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Rien Vernooij.
That led to the next pitching change, as Tom de Blok took over for Ward, who had missed his regular start a week ago due to a slight irritation in his elbow.
After a flyout accounted for the second out, Neptunus got another baserunner when De Blok walked Daniel Fernandes.
With runners on first and second base and two outs, Randolph Oduber was inserted as pinch-hitter, but the former pro was called out on strikes to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Amsterdam staged a deciding 5-run rally to take more distance.
Jesse Aussems became the seventh Amsterdam lead-off hitter to reach base, as his grounder to second baseman Dwaye Kemp ended in a throwing error.
Aussems then scored when Nick Urbanus followed with his third double in the game.
That led to another pitching change.
Loek van Mil was brought in to replace Cornelisse and he got a grounder for the first out.
But the tall righthander then gave up a runscoring single to Gilmer Lampe, that made it 8-5.
After Remco Draijer flied out, the Amsterdam-squad added three important insurance runs.
Lampe stole second base, then scored on a single by Danny Rombley, which was followed by a 2-run homerun by Linoy Croes, that lifted the lead to 11-5!
In the top of the ninth inning, Stijn van der Meer reached base for Neptunus with one out when second baseman Nick Urbanus made an error on his grounder.
Van der Meer advanced on a following grounder and then it was Gianison Boekhoudt, who hit the ball over the leftfield-fence for a 2-run homerun to make it an 11-7 score.
That was to be it, as next batter Christian Diaz grounded out to end the inning and the game.
Neptunus was dethroned as Cupholder and Amsterdam Pirates had reached the final!
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Amsterdam Pirates in final European Champions Cup; Neptunus dethroned
RIMINI (Italy) -
L&D Amsterdam Pirates has reached the all-deciding, winner-takes-all Final of the European Champions Cup by winning 11-7 against Cupholder Curaçao Neptunus on Friday-afternoon (June 3).
In the attractive semi-final between the two Dutch teams, Neptunus took a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning after having trailed 2-0.
Amsterdam then re-took the lead in the seventh.
The Amsterdam-squad decided the game with a 5-run rally in the eighth inning, highlighted by a 2-run homerun by Linoy Croes, which lifted the lead to 11-5.
A 2-run homerun by Gianison Boekhoudt gave Neptunus two more runs in the ninth, but the Rotterdam-squad couldn't avoid dethroning.
Amsterdam Pirates reaches the Final of the European Champions Cup.