Vaessen Pioniers vs. L&D Amsterdam Pirates
Pioniers decided the game by scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning off of starting pitcher Dennis Burgersdijk.
Regular first game-starter Kevin Heijstek is currently sidelined, recovering from a leg-injury he sustained in the final of the European Champions Cup last Saturday in Rimini (Italy).
With one out, five consecutive batters of Pioniers reached base.
Mervin Gario and Max Draijer both walked, then scored when Quintin De Cuba followed with a double.
Hereafter, Burgersdijk made a fielding error towards the first base-line on a grounder by Austin Weymouth.
With De Cuba on third base, Weymouth stole second base.
A following passed ball accounted for the third run.
The score was lifted to 4-0 on a bad-hop single by Shurman Marlin, which might have been playable for first baseman Patrick Bok, but he lost the ball in the setting sun.
In the bottom of the second inning, Pioniers got the bases loaded with no outs, but failed to add a run.
Zerzinho Croes led off with a walk and advanced to third base on a single by Mervin Gario, who then stole second base.
Next batter Max Draijer then popped up the ball towards second baseman Nick Urbanus, who caught the ball, but then dropped.
With that, the bases got loaded, but hereafter, Burgersdijk and the Amsterdam-defense recovered.
Short stop Michael Duursma caught a line drive by Quintin De Cuba, then Urbanus caught an infield-fly by Austin Weymouth.
Burgersdijk closed with a strikeout for Shurman Marlin.
In the remainder of the game, the Amsterdam-pitching would give up only one more run and five basehits.
Offensively, Amsterdam was silenced by righthander Lars Huijer, who struckout six batters and gave up nly four hits in the eight innings he pitched.
With one out in the first inning, Huijer gave up a single to Michael Duursma, but hereafter, he retired eight consective batters.
With two outs in the top of the third, he walked Nick Urbanus.
Moments later, Urbanus took off to steal second base and appeared to slid in safely, but was ruled out by 3B Umpire André Eijpe, which ended the inning.
In the fourth, Amsterdam scored its lone run in the game.
With one out, Danny Rombley singled, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Remco Draijer, then scored on a single in rightfield by Kenny Berkenbosch.
When rightfielder Glenn Bakker led the ball go by him, Berkenbosch was able to advance to third base, but stranded there.
Huijer then retired the side in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Pioniers added a run off of reliever Daan Hendrix.
Quintin De Cuba led off with a walk, moved on an one-out grounder and scored on a following single by Glenn Bakker.
While the ball was on its way towards the plate, Bakker tried to advance.
The ball was interrupted by third baseman Rashid Gerard, who then eliminated Bakker at second base.
But in the meantime, De Cuba had scored before the third out was made.
In the top of the eighth inning, Amsterdam got a chance of doing something back.
Rashid Gerard led off with a walk, but two outs followed.
The bases then got loaded when Nick Urbanus singled and Michael Duursma walked, but a force out ended the at bat.
In the ninth, Maickel Rietel took over the pitching for Pioniers.
He gave up a lead-off single to Remco Draijer (who stole second base), but retired the next three batters to close the game.
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Pioniers wins second half-opener against European champion Amsterdam
HOOFDDORP (Neth.) -
Vaessen Pioniers opened the second half of the season on Thursday-evening (June 9) with a 5-1 victory against L&D Amsterdam Pirates, which won the European Champions Cup last Saturday in Rimini (Italy).
Theo Geerman Acting Head Coach of Pioniers to fill for Dè Flanegin, who sat out an one-game suspension.