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Updated: August 6, 2017
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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)

Neptunus ends season with productive afternoon
Nederlands

HAARLEM (Neth.) - Curaçao Neptunus closed the regular season on Sunday (August 6) with an 11-2 victory at DSS. Neptunus won the opener on Thursday with a 9-2 score, then won 13-5 on Saturday.

It was a productive afternoon for Neptunus. The team collected 21 basehits, but scored 'only' eleven runs. Fourteen runners were left behind.

Five of the Neptunian hits, including a homerun, were recorded by Christian Diaz, who the leading hitter in the Dutch big league in the past two seasons. With his five basehits, Diaz raised his average to .359 to finish in sixth place this season. Diaz became the lone player in the regular season to have hit five basehits in one game. Last season, there were three players who accomplished the feat. Dashenko Ricardo (Neptunus) and Nick Urbanus (L&D Amsterdam Pirates) both hit five, while Vince Rooi (HCAW) hit six basehits.

...Benjamin Dille...
...Best Hitter 2017...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen)
Neptunus' second baseman Benjamin Dille was 2-for-3 to become the league's best hitter with a .448 batting average. Before today, it already had become clear that Dille was to be the best hitter, even when he would have hit 0-for-6. Dille's .448 average is the highest since Lars Koehorst (HCAW) was the Best Hitter with a .468 average in 1999. Dille became the first Belgian player to win the title and the first foreign player to have the highest batting average since American Steven Russell (HCAW) in 1993.

It marks the third consecutive season that the best hitter of the league comes from Neptunus. Before that, the best hitter played for L&D Amsterdam Pirates, as Bas de Jong led the league three years in a row (2012-2014). It is the first time that Neptunus has three consecutive Best Hitters. It had two in a row in 1991-1992 with Marcel Kruyt and Eric de Bruin. Neptunus also had two consecutive Best Hitters in 2005-2006 with Dirk van 't Klooster and Raily Legito. The record is four, which was set in 1963-1966 by Sparta with Hamilton Richardson winning four batting titles in a row.

When the awards are handed out after completion of the Holland Series somewhere in October/November, Neptunus-catcher Gianison Boekhoudt will receive the award for Most Homeruns, as he closed the season with a league-leading eight.

After Thursday's games, the top-10 of best hitters was formed by players from Neptunus and Amsterdam Pirates only. Today, after completion of the regular season, there are eight players from these two teams that finished in the top-10. Both teams have six players each in the top-15 of best hitters. In the weekend, two players from Hoofddorp Pioniers moved into the top-10, being Jeffrey Arends (7th place) and rookie Joey Eeman (9th place).

(August 6)

Complete schedule




On Saturday, the score was tied at 5-5 after four innings. Neptunus took the lead in the fifth and added more runs in following innings.

Today, Neptunus took an early 3-0 in the top of the first inning off of starting pitcher Sander Helmendach. Stijn van der Meer led off with a triple and scored on a following single by Benjamin Dille. With one out, Dwayne Kemp also singled. A double by Christian Diaz and a single by Daniel Fernandes then lifted the lead to 3-0.

Neptunus got a chance to add another run in the second inning. With one out, Shaldimar Daantji reached on an error. Hereafter, Stijn van der Meer walked. Daantji took off from first base on the final pitch (which ended in ball four). Probably not realizing that the batter walked, catcher Levine Gabriëls threw the ball to second base when Daantji 'stole'. The throw ended up in centerfield, enabling Daantji to move to third base. The runners stranded on first and third base, as a pop-up and strikeout followed.

Neptunus added a run in the fourth when Daantji homered into deep leftfield. The bases then got loaded when Stijn van der Meer walked and both Benjamin Dille and Gianison Boekhoudt reached on an infield-hit. The three were left behind when a flyout ended the at bat.

DSS also got into scoring position right away in its first at bat off of starter Kevin Kelly. He walked lead-off hitter Kevin Nieveld, who then stole second base. With one out, he advanced on a grounder, then Omar Williams walked. But DSS left the runners behind on first and third base.

Kelly retired the side in the next two innings (three strikeouts), but then gave up a run in the fourth. With two outs, Tino van Erk singled and scored all the way from first base on a single by Djewi Appelman.

Neptunus rallied for four more runs in the top of the sixth off of new pitcher Robyn Clara. With one out, Benjamin Dille walked, then his pinch-runner Den Seelbach moved on a single by Dwayne Kemp and scored on a following single by Christian Diaz. The bases got loaded when Daniel Fernandes walked and all three runners scored when Gregory Muller connected for a 3-run double to increase the lead to 8-1.

Neptunus reached base again in the next two innings, but didn't score. With one out in the seventh, Den Seelbach reached on an infield-hit, which was his first big league basehit. For Seelbach, this was his first at bat since making his debut in the season-opener on April 20 against L&D Amsterdam Pirates and then struckout in his lone at bat. In the eighth, Daniel Fernandes and Gregory Muller singled with one out and moved on a grounder, but then stranded.

In the ninth inning, Neptunus scored three runs to lift the lead to 11-1. Stijn van der Meer led off with a single and scored on an one-out grounder by Gianison Boekhoudt. Dwayne Kemp then walked and scored when Christian Diaz homered, which was his fifth basehit in the game.

After scoring its first run in the fourth inning, DSS reached base in each of the next innings, but added only one more run.

In the fifth, Levine Gabriëls and Thomas Bos led off with walks, but the next three batters were retired. In the sixth, Tino van Erk walked with one out, but Neptunus then turned a double play.

In the seventh, Misja Harcksen took over the pitching from Kevin Kelly. He saw Gabriëls reach on an error with one out and gave up a 2-out single to Kevin Nieveld, but then closed with a strikeout.

With one out in the eighth, Bayron Cornelisse reached on an infield-hit for DSS and moved to second base when a throwing error followed, but then was left behind on third base. Cornelisse, who is a relief pitcher (he made two starts in the last two series), entered the game in the sixth as a pinch-hitter. He then flied out and took over in leftfield. For Cornelisse, this were his first two big league at bats since 2009. He made his debut in that season, playing for Hoofddorp Pioniers and he then also recorded his first basehit.

DSS scored its last run of the regular season in the bottom of the ninth inning off of Berry van Driel, who took over the pitching for Neptunus. The righthander got two quick outs, but then gave up a double to Tommy van de Sanden and a single to Kevin Nieveld. Van de Sanden then scored when Odion Gouverneur also singled, but a force out then ended the inning and the game.



DSS - Curaçao Neptunus 2-11
RHE
Curaçao Neptunus300104003-11212
DSS000100001-272
pitchers Neptunusinn.SOBBHRER
Kevin Kelly, W (5-3)675211

Misja Harcksen22-2--

Berry van Driel11-311

pitchers DSSinn.SOBBHRER
Sander Helmendach, L (0-8)5131244

Robyn Clara0.2-3344

Kevin Nieveld3.111633

Homeruns: Neptunus: Shaldimar Daantji (3)(4th,solo,off Helmendach), Christian Diaz (2)(9th,2-run,off Nieveld).
Box Score
Play-by-Play
Final Standings
Scores
Schedule
Team Rosters
Umpires:
HP-Winfried Berkvens, 1B-Rudsel Schoobaar, 3B-Peter de Haan.
Official Scorer-Huub Nelissen.
Play-by-Play Scorer-Jeanette van Drunen.
Technical Commissioner-Guus Slauerhof.
Public Address Announcer-Yvonne de Vries.
Scoreboard Operator-Edward van Dijck.
Starting Time-2:00 PM.
Time Played-3:02 hrs.
Site-Pim Mulier Sportpark, Haarlem.

Game Notes:
Weather conditions at game time: Partly cloudy, 20,1° C (68,2° F); wind direction west-southwest;
wind speed 21 kmh (13,8 mph); wind force 4 Bft; humidity 56%.



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