Neptunus opened the score in the first at bat.
Starter Elton Koeiman retired the side in the top of the first inning, then was supported with a run in the home half.
But in that half, Amsterdam also lost its second baseman.
In the bottom of the first, rookie Darryl Collins led off with a single and moved when Benjamin Dille also singled off of starter Kyle Ward.
The two runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Stijn van der Meer.
While approaching first base, Van der Meer made contact with the left arm of second baseman Niels van Weert, who made the out, taking over first base.
The collision resulted in an awkward bending backwards of his arm.
Van Weert clearly was in pain and had to leave the game, as it initially was feared that he might have broken his left elbow.
Luckily, in the hospital, it was diagnosed that the injury was much less than feared.
No fractures were found and there also was no damage to tendons or ligaments, meaning Van Weert's elbow 'just' might have been stretched out, but he definitively will be out for awhile.
After the injury-delay, Victor Draijer took over at second base.
When the game resumed, Collins scored the first run on a single by Dwayne Kemp.
Hereafter, a double play ended the at bat.
Amsterdam Pirates immediately came alongside in the top of the first inning.
With one out, Kenny Berkenbosch reached on an infield-hit, then scored the tying run with two outs on a double by Rashid Gerard.
For Amsterdam, the run-production stopped there.
In the remainder of the game, the team was limited to only two additional basehits.
Amsterdam got into scoring position two more times, but was held scoreless.
...Stijn van der Meer makes contact with...
...the left arm of 2B Niels van Weert...
...on his sacrifice bunt in the 1st inning...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Kyle Ward retired the side in the second and third inning.
Amsterdam then got into scoring position in the top of the fourth.
In that at bat, Gilmer Lampe entered the game as pinch-hitter.
Due to the traffic jam, he arrived in Rotterdam in the second inning, resulting in the starting line-up to be adjusted two times before the start of the game.
Now, Lampe led off and reached base on a walk, then was awarded second base on a balk.
Hereafter, Kenny Berkenbosch lined the ball to short stop Stijn van der Meer, which was caught, then dropped.
The four umpires got together, then it was ruled that the ball was caught.
That triggered a discussion whether or not Van der Meer had caught the ball, but the call was upheld and so, Berkenbosch was the second out in the inning.
Hereafter, a pop-fly ended the inning and Lampe stranded on second base.
Moments later, in the bottom of the fourth, Neptunus rallied for three runs and that decided the game.
Stijn van der Meer led off with a single and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Dwayne Kemp.
The bases got loaded when Ward walked Gianison Boekhoudt and gave up an infield-hit to Dudley Leonora.
Next hitter Gregory Muller singled down the leftfield-line to bring in two runners and put Neptunus ahead, 3-1.
Shaldimar Daantji followed with another runscoring single to make it a 4-1 score.
That led to a pitching change.
Robin Schel, also a lefthander, took over from Ward and did great in the remainder of the game.
Schel allowed only one more Neptunus-batter to reach base
With runners on first and second base in the fourth, Schel retired the next two batters.
He then retired the side in the next two innings.
With two outs in the seventh, after having retired ten batters in a row, Schel walked Darryl Collins, but he stranded on first base.
Trailing 4-1, Amsterdam got close to a run in the top of the fifth.
Rashid Gerard led off with a walk.
With one out, he was waved home on a double by Victor Draijer, but was eliminated at the plate.
Draijer advanced to third base on the throw, but stranded there when his brother Remco Draijer fouled out.
...3B Coach Randell Hannah looks on from the dug-out...
...Hannah filled in as Head Coach for Amsterdam Pirates...
...on Saturday and today...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Elton Koeiman then retired the side in the sixth and seventh inning.
With one out in the eighth, the righthander gave up a single to Victor Draijer, which ended his afternoon on the mound.
Loek van Mil took over and retired the next two batters.
Amsterdam got its final baserunner in the top of the ninth inning.
With one out, Kalian Sams was on a full count when he fouled off a pitch.
That led to an injury for both catcher Gianison Boekhoudt and Sams himself.
With his backswing, Sams hit Boekhoudt on his helmet.
The catcher went after the foul pop-fly (which was uncatchable), then knelt on his knees.
Boekhoudt was looked after briefly, but then returned to the catcher's box.
Sams went on to check on Boekhoudt, then walked back to the Amsterdam dug-out himself.
He was attended to his right arm, but appeared to continue.
However, just before stepping back to the plate, Sams hesitated and again grabbed his right wrist, which he hurt while making the swing.
That brought out Pitching Coach Rob Cordemans, who briefly talked with the powerhitter.
He then talked with Acting Head Coach (and 3B Coach) Randell Hannah and made a signal to the dug-out that Sams was leaving the game out of precaution.
On Saturday and today, Hannah filled in for Charles Urbanus, who was unable to be with his team due to an infection.
On Sunday-evening, it was reported that the injury of Sams was minor.
With a full count, Rodney Daal took over the at bat of Sams as pinch-hitter.
He fouled off the first pitch he saw, then reached when the next delivery ended in ball-four.
The walk was credited to Daal.
The inning (and the game) then ended when a foul-out and strikeout followed.
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Neptunus wins to force fifth game in Holland Series
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Curaçao Neptunus broke an 1-1 tie in the fourth inning against L&D Amsterdam Pirates by scoring three runs and went on to win 4-1 on Sunday-afternoon (September 30) in Game 3 of the best-of-seven Holland Series.
Amsterdam Pirates opened the Series on Thursday-evening with a convincing 8-2 victory against the reigning champion.
On Saturday, Amsterdam shutout Neptunus 7-0 to win its second game.
With today's win, Neptunus forced at least a fifth game.
Game 3, best-of-seven Holland Series; Amsterdam Pirates leads, 2-1.