The first four innings went by quickly, as it took only 49 minutes to complete them.
But then, the game was interrupted by the infamous sun-delay, which can only happen at the site in Bussum.
When it is a clear evening, the batter, catcher and home plate umpire are bothered by the bright sun when it sets.
Something, a delay takes 15 minutes, but the record stands at more than 90 minutes!
In the first four innings, not much happened.
HCAW came in to scoring position just once, while Pioniers got only one baserunner.
And so, the first four innings belonged to starting pitchers Jim Ploeger (HCAW) and Lars Huijer (Pioniers).
Jim Ploeger walked Max Draijer with two outs in the first inning, but he stranded on first base.
The lefthander then struckout the side in both the second and third inning!
In the fourth, he gave up a lead-off infield-hit to Mervin Gario, but he was caught stealing.
Hereafter, Max Draijer again walked, but Ploeger closed with two more strikeouts to bring his total to nine.
Lars Huijer held HCAW hitless in his four innings before the delay.
The righthander retired the first nine batters in a row, then saw Roelie Henrique reach on an error to start the bottom of the fourth inning.
He was then forced out on a grounder by Dylan Koster, who became the first runner in scoring position when he stole second base.
Next batter Vince Rooi walked, but a force out and strikeout followed to end the inning.
And then, the long waiting began for the sun to set.
In the end, the game was delayed for one hour and 12 minutes before it was resumed again.
The delay was one of the longest at the HCAW-site.
Last season, the longest delay was one hour and 16 minutes.
In 2015, there were two delays of longer than one hour, one of 1:15, the other of 1:09.
Tonight's Home Plate Umpire Stenar van Groningen Schinkel also was involved in the two delays in 2015 (he was behind the plate during the 1:09 delay).
John Beltman, who was the 1B Umpire tonight, was a crewmember of Van Groningen Schinkel during the 1:15 delay two years ago.
After the long delay, Steven van Groningen took over the pitching for HCAW, succeeding the fine throwing Ploeger.
Van Groningen walked lead-off hitter Sander Paap, who then moved on a sacrifice bunt by Rossini Frolijk, but was left behind.
Despite the long interruption, Lars Huijer returned on the mound for Pioniers in the bottom of the fifth.
With one out, he gave up a triple to Raoell Kortstam, who then scored the first run in the game on a following single by Sven Jongejans.
After Van Groningen had retired the side in the top of the sixth, HCAW got two baserunners in the home half of this inning.
With two outs, Kevin Dirksen walked and Rossini Frolijk singled, but a force play followed.
Pioniers came alongside in the top of the seventh inning.
Quintin De Cuba led off with a single and advanced to third base when next hitter Shurman Marlin also singled.
He tried to move up to second base in this situation, but was eliminated there on a throw from leftfielder (and former Pionier) Kevin Dirksen.
Moments later, De Cuba scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
Glenn Wassink took over from starter Lars Huijer in the bottom of the seventh and retired the side (two strikeouts).
Pioniers then got into scoring position again in the top of the eighth.
With two outs, Brennan Nijhof reached on an infield-hit and stole second base.
He then moved to third base when Mervin Gario also reached on an infield-hit.
This led to a battery change, as both pitcher Steven van Groningen and catcher Sven Jongejans were replaced.
With runners on first and third base, Oscar Meuris took over on the mound, while Rowan van Hoek became the new catcher.
Gario then stole second base, but Meuris closed the at bat with a strikeout.
With that, the score stayed at 1-1.
In the bottom of the eighth, HCAW got one final chance to do some scoring.
This would be the last at bat, as the 10:30 PM curfew-rule has been reached.
Roelie Henrique led off with a single off of Wassink, who then followed with a strikeout.
The inning and the game ended when first baseman Shurman Marlin made an unassisted double play on a line drive by Vince Rooi.
And so, the game ended with an 1-1 tie.
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HCAW vs. Pioniers game ends in tie after long delay
BUSSUM (Neth.) -
The game between HCAW and Hoofddorp Pioniers ended in an 1-1 tie on Thursday-evening (June 1).
The game ended after eight complete innings as the 10:30 PM curfew-rule had been reached.
The series continues on Saturday in Hoofddorp.
one hour, 12 minute sun-delay at the beginning of the top of the 5th inning with a 0-0 score.