Today's game was started by two pitchers who made their first start of the season.
Righthander Donny Breek was the starter for Amsterdam Pirates, while righthander Bobbie Gnade started for HCAW.
Both got some baserunners in the first inning and gave up runs.
The difference was that Breek gave up only one, while Gnade gave up five.
In the top of the first inning, Jeandro Tromp led off the game for HCAW with a double and he scored when Patrick Bok followed with a single.
And so, Donny Breek faced an early 1-0 deficit after having thrown only seven pitches.
But the righthander recovered strongly and struckout three of the next four batters.
HCAW-starter Bobbie Gnade was less successful, as he faced ten batters, who combined on six basehits and scored five runs.
Gilmer Lampe led off with a single.
With one out, Pirates not only came alongside, but also took the lead when Denzel Richardson hit a 2-run homerun.
Hereafter, Gnade walked Kalian Sams and Kenny Berkenbosch, then gave up a runscoring single to Rashid Gerard.
Another run was added when next batter Niels van Weert also singled.
Pirates got the bases loaded when Jair van Borkulo delivered the next single.
Hereafter, it was Sebastiaan van der Horst, who accounted for the fourth consecutive single to bring in the fifth run.
This was his first basehit in the highest league for Van der Horst, who today made his first start.
He appeared in four games in the regular season.
With the bases still loaded, the inning ended when Lampe grounded into a double play.
HCAW narrowed the deficit to 5-3 by scoring twice in the top of the second inning.
Donny Breek retired the first two batters, but then walked Pascal Zegwaard and gave up a single to Jeandro Tromp.
Both scored on a following double by Patrick Bok, but Breek then closed with his fifth strikeout.
In the top of the third inning, Naut Kragt took over the Pirates-pitching and retired the side, striking out two batters in his first appearance in the Top-4 Pool.
Pirates appeared to do some more scoring in the second inning, but was held scoreless.
Sharlon Schoop led off with a single and Denzel Richardson walked.
Schoop then moved to third base on a flyout.
He stranded there, as a line drive from Kenny Berkenbosch was caught by third baseman Leandro Anasagasti, who then completed a double play by eliminating Richardson at first base.
But in the bottom of the third inning, Pirates rallied for four runs to raise the lead to 9-3.
Rashid Gerard led off with a single and with one out, Jair van Borkulo reached on an infield-hit.
That was followed by a throwing error, which enabled Gerard to advance to third base.
Moments later, he scored on a single by Sebastiaan van der Horst.
When the bases got loaded after a walk for Gilmer Lampe, a pitching change followed.
Arij Fransen took over, but he saw all three runners score.
The first on a sacrifice fly by Sharlon Schoop, the other two on triple by Denzel Richardson.
The inning ended when Richardson tried to score on a wild pitch, but was eliminated at the plate.
And so, the majority of the scoring in today's game had been done in the first three innings, as twelve runners had crossed home plate.
In the next six innings, the two teams scored only three more runs combined.
The first of these runs was scored in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kenny Berkenbosch homered for Pirates with one out.
Naut Kragt, who had retired the side in the third, also did so in the fourth, adding two more strikeouts.
In the fifth, the righthander gave up a lead-off single to Jeandro Tromp, but he was forced out when next batter Patrick Bok grounded into a double play.
Kragt then closed with his fifth strikeout.
As starting pitcher Donny Breek hadn't thrown the required five complete innings, Kragt was credited with the win by the Official Scorers.
Tom de Blok became the next Pirates-pitcher in the top of the sixth.
The first two batters he faced both reached base.
Arthur Bonevacia led off with a single, then Berend Ruben walked.
This time, it was De Blok who was supported with a double play and he then closed with a strikeout.
After being held scoreless for four innings, HCAW scored its third run today in the top of the seventh.
Bob van der Meer led off with a single and Pascal Zegwaard walked.
The two advanced on a wild pitch, then Van der Meer scored on a grounder by Jeandro Tromp.
With Zegwaard on third base, Tom de Blok struckout the next two batters.
Pirates was held scoreless in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning.
Arij Fransen retired the side in the fifth.
With two outs in the next at bat, the righthander walked Roelie Henrique (who had entered defensively in the top of the sixth) and pinch-hitter Emilson Haswell, but they were left behind.
In the seventh, Jasper Elfrink took over the HCAW-pitching.
He retired the side, including two strikeouts.
After HCAW was retired in order by new pitcher Mike Groen in the top of the eighth (one strikeout), Pirates scored its eleventh run moments later.
Gilmer Lampe led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk, then moved to third base on a following single by Sharlon Schoop.
Lampe then scored his third run today when a grounder by Max Clarijs ended in an error.
With one out, Pirates got the bases loaded when Emilson Haswell singled.
Hereafter, the HCAW-defense turned its third double play in the game.
In the top of the ninth, Matz Schutte became the fifth Pirates-pitcher.
And he faced two colleagues in this inning.
Schutte began with a strikeout, but then walked (pitcher) Luuk ter Beek, who had entered the game in the eighth as second baseman.
After a grounder accounted for the second out, Schutte faced pitcher Nick Keur, who was inserted as pinch-hitter.
Keur flied out to end the game.
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Amsterdam Pirates closes series vs. HCAW with comfortable win
AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
L&D Amsterdam Pirates closed the 3-game series against HCAW on Sunday-afternoon (October 4) with a comfortable 11-4 win.
For Pirates, this was its sixth consecutive win, for HCAW, this was its seventh loss in a row.
On Saturday, Pirates won 5-1 in a 6-inning rain-shortened game to qualify for the Holland Series, which opens on Saturday, October 10.
In the Championship Final, the reigning champion again will meet Curaçao Neptunus.
Top-4 Pool.