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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Robert Bos) Neptunus rallies in 8th inning to decide 2nd game vs. Hoofddorp Pioniers Nederlands HOOFDDORP (Neth.) - Curaçao Neptunus trailed after two innings, had two rallies, but decided the game in the eighth inning to win 11-5 in the second game against Hoofddorp Pioniers on Saturday (September 5). On Thursday-evening, the series-opener ended in a 6-6 tie. That game ended after nine complete innings, due to the 10:30 PM curfew-rule. Today, Neptunus trailed 2-1 after two innings, then scored four runs in the third at bat. With a 6-4 lead, Neptunus decided the game with a 5-run rally in the top of the eighth. Neptunus collected 16 basehits, including three by John Polonius, two of them a double. Polonius scored three runs and batted in five, but also committed three defensive errors. Except for Dashenko Ricardo, eight of the nine starting players recorded at least one basehit, seven of them hit at least two. Pioniers recorded eight basehits today, including two by Mark Smit and Nathan Berkel. The latter homered and batted in two runs. Pioniers-rightfielder Victor Draijer was 1-for-5 today. With that, he extended his hitting streak to 19 games since the start of the season. Before today's game, Draijer's batting average was .521, but that dropped to exactly .500. Not included in the streak and his batting average are the stats of last weekend's halted game against Quick Amersfoort. The remainder of that game has been scheduled for coming Tuesday, but it has still not yet been confirmed whether or not the game will be completed. No game-officials have been assigned yet, meaning the status of the game apparently has not yet been determined. The game was halted by rain with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but then was halted by the umpiring crew when nothing was done to prepare the playing field. Hoofddorp Pioniers had hoped to play today's game at the main-field of its complex in Hoofddorp. Instead, it was played at Field #2, where the team had played all its day home-games this season, due to maintenance work to the main-field. However, it now has been confirmed that the team will play the remainder of its home-games this season at the main-field after this weekend. (September 5)

Neptunus opened the score in the top of the first inning off of Pioniers-starter Scott Prins when, with one out, John Polonius and Dwayne Kemp hit back-to-back doubles. But in the bottom of the first inning, Pioniers answered with two runs off of Kaj Timmermans, who initially was scheduled to start Game 3 on Sunday. But that was changed shortly after the announcement was made, as he switched places with Orlando Yntema, who now will start the third game instead of today's. Timmermans gave up a lead-off single to Mark Smit, who then scored the tying run when Victor Draijer followed with a double. With this basehit, Draijer extended his hitting streak to 19 games. However, it was to be his lone basehit, which resulted in his batting average dropping 21 points. But after today, Draijer still leads the league with a .500 batting average. And he still can become the first player to hit .500 (or higher) since 1984. After next batter Max Draijer walked, a sacrifice bunt by Joey Eeman gave Pioniers runners on second and third base. Victor Draijer then scored the go-ahead run on a grounder by Nathan Berkel. Neptunus re-took the lead with a 4-run rally in the top of the third. Coco Johnson and Stijn van der Meer opened with singles, then both scored when John Polonius followed with his second double in the game to put Neptunus ahead. Polonius advanced on a wild pitch, then scored on a single by Dwayne Kemp. Next batter Gianison Boekhoudt also singled. Moments later, during a double-steal attempt, Boekhoudt was caught stealing, but Kemp advanced to third base. He then scored the fourth run in the inning on a grounder by Dashenko Ricardo. Neptunus added another run in the fourth. The team got the bases loaded when Gregory Muller led off with an infield-hit, then Jarreau Martina walked and an error on a sacrifice bunt by Coco Johnson put the third batter on base. With one out, Muller scored when John Polonius also walked. But three runners were left behind. Kaj Timmermans retired the side in the second inning (two strikeouts). Pioniers left a runner behind on second base in the third, but then got a run back in the fourth when Nathan Berkel led off with a homerun. Pioniers narrowed the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth, but got more scoring opportunities in this at bat. Joey Eeman and Nathan Berkel (bunt) lef off with singles. Next batter Duco Nuijten also bunted, but his attempt for a sacrifice bunt turned into a force out at third base. Jaison Gijsbertha followed with a runscoring single and moments later, Nuijten stole third base. But hereafter, Gijsbertha's pinch-runner Daan Kuit was elimimated when Jorrit Penseel grounded into a double play. Nick Loos took over the Pioniers-pitching in the seventh and retired the side. But in the eighth, Neptunus decided the game with a 5-run rally. Loos got the bases loaded quickly when Gregory Muller, Jarreau Martina and Coco Johnson all singled. Stijn van der Meer then delivered a 2-run double and John Polonius added a 2-run single. With his basehit, Polonius reached base for the fifth time in this game. He moved to third base when an outfield-error followed an one-out single by Gianison Boekhoudt. Angelo Wicklert took over the pitching hereafter, but he saw Polonius score the fifth run in this at bat on a sacrifice fly by Dashenko Ricardo. And with that, Neptunus now led 11-4. Pioniers got one run back in the bottom of the eighth off of new pitcher Jiorgeny Casimiri. He walked lead-off hitter Max Draijer, who moved to third base on a throwing error on a grounder by Joey Eeman. Draijer scored when Eeman was forced out on a grounder by Duco Nuijten. Aaron de Groot closed the game for Neptunus by pitching the ninth inning. The first two batters he faced reached base. Jorrit Penseel led off with a single, then an error on a grounder by Raul Jacobs gave Pioniers runners at the corners. After Jacobs had stolen second base, De Groot retired the next three batters to end the game.

...Left: Complying with the social distance-rules, Official Scorers Brigitta Zaal and Stefan Slinger do their duties in the... ...temporary scorebox at Field #2 of the Pioniers-complex; Sitting at right (on second row behind the scorers) is... ...Announcer Jason Houtkamp, not visible (only his cap) is Scoreboard Operator Jeroen Kok... ...Right: Pioniers Head Coach Mervin Gario has a talk with Home Plate Umpire Winfried Berkvens... ...Scott Prins and Kaj Timmermans were the starting pitchers for Pioniers and Neptunus... ...Left: Gianison Boekhoudt makes contact, but flies out in the 1st inning... ...Right: 1B Duco Nuijten catches a foul-fly in the 1st inning, as watched by 1B Umpire Efrem Silvania... ...Victor Draijer hits a double in the 1st inning to extend his hitting streak to 19 games... ...Centerfielder Coco Johnson sees the ball land on the warning track... ...Left: Raul Jacobs flies out in the second inning... ...Right: John Polonius reaches 3rd base on a wild pitch in the 3rd inning... ...Left: Dwayne Kemp hits a 2-run single in the third inning... ...Right: Gianison Boekhoudt has been tagged out (caught stealing) by 2B Raul Jacobs in the 3rd inning... ...Left: Mark Smit dives to the base while 1B Dudley Leonora tags him, as watched by Umpire Efrem Silvania in 3rd inning... ...Right: Nathan Berkel led off the 4th inning for Pioniers with a homerun... ...Left: John Polonius steals 2nd base while 2B Raul Jacobs waits for the ball in the 6th inning... ...Right: Jaison Gijsbertha hits a runscoring single in the 6th inning... ...Left: Daan Kuit dives back to 1st base during a pick-off attempt in the 6th inning... ...Right: Moments later, Kuit is forced out at 2nd base by short stop John Polonius... ...Today's Umpires: Winfried Berkvens (HP), Efrem Silvania (1B) and Jos van Eijsden (3B)... ...Nick Loos and Angelo Wicklert pitched in relief for Hoofddorp Pioniers... ...Jiorgeny Casimiri and Aaron de Groot pitched in relief for Neptunus... ...Left: Leftfielder Gregory Muller makes a sliding catch on a line drive by Victor Draijer in the 7th inning... ...Right: Jorrit Penseel reaches 2nd base on an error while 2B Dwayne Kemp looks on in the 9th inning... (© All Photos: Robert Bos)

Hoofddorp Pioniers - Curaçao Neptunus 5-11 R H E Curaçao Neptunus 104 100 050 - 11 16 3 Hoofddorp Pioniers 200 101 010 - 5 8 2 pitchers Neptunus inn. SO BB H R ER Kaj Timmermans, W (5-0) 7 4 1 7 4 4 Jiorgeny Casimiri 1 2 1 - 1 - Aaron de Groot 1 1 - 1 - - pitchers Pioniers inn. SO BB H R ER Scott Prins, L (4-1) 6 2 3 10 6 6 Nick Loos 1.1 - - 6 5 4 Angelo Wicklert 1.2 - - - - - Homerun: Pioniers: Nathan Berkel (2)(4th,solo,0 outs,off Timmermans). Box Score Play-by-Play Standings Scores Schedule Team Rosters Umpires: HP-Winfried Berkvens, 1B-Efrem Silvania, 3B-Jos van Eijsden. Official Scorer-Stefan Slinger. Play-by-Play Scorer-Brigitta Zaal. Technical Commissioner-Paul Bokern. Public Address Announcer-Jason Houtkamp. Scoreboard Operator-Jeroen Kok. Starting Time-1:09 PM. Time Played-2:38 hrs. Site-Field #2, ETO Ballpark, Sportpark Pioniers, Park21, Hoofddorp. Game Notes: Game played on Field #2 of the Pioniers-complex in Hoofddorp, due to maintenance work at the main-field. This game was scheduled for Saturday, July 11 in the original schedule, but was annulled on July 2 by the KNBSB when it announced the new schedule after measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19) were eased. Weather conditions at game time: Cloudy, 18° C (64,4° F); wind direction west-northwest; wind speed 27 kmh (16,8 mph); wind force 4 Bft; humidity 67%.

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