Neptunus-starter Diegomar Markwell got three grounders in the top of the first inning.
In the second inning, the veteran lefthander saw Amsterdam Pirates come to a 4-run rally.
Markwell encountered problems with his control in the top of the second, as he walked the first three batters, Kalian Sams, Rashid Gerard and Niels van Weert.
And so, Pirates got the bases loaded with no outs.
Of the 14 pitches Markwell threw to these three batters, only two were called as a strike.
Markwell then recovered somewhat, as he struckout (looking) next batter (and rookie) Jair van Borkulo on five pitches.
But hereafter, Max Clarijs connected for a 2-run double, Roelie Henrique followed with a sacrifice fly and Delano Selassa added a runscoring double.
The inning ended when Selassa attempted to steal third base, but was caught there.
Veteran-righthander Rob Cordemans started for Amsterdam Pirates.
He gave up three basehits in the first inning, but kept Neptunus scoreless.
Stijn van der Meer led off with a single, then John Polonius grounded into a double play.
With two outs, Dwayne Kemp and Gianison Boekhoudt both singled.
They were left behind, as Cordemans closed by striking out Dashenko Ricardo.
In the bottom of the second inning, Neptunus scored three runs to narrow the deficit to 4-3.
Dudley Leonora led off with a single.
With one out, he stole second base, then Darryl Collins walked.
The two runners scored when Coco Johnson followed with a double.
The American outfielder advanced to third base on the throw to the plate and later scored on a single by Stijn van der Meer.
A grounder by John Polonius led to Van der Meer being forced out at second base and the inning ended with a pop-fly from Dwayne Kemp.
In the next three innings, no runs were scored, but it was Pirates that got a few chances to take some more distance.
With one out in the top of the third inning, Gilmer Lampe doubled, but was left behind on second base.
Diegomar Markwell retired the side in the fourth, but ran into more problems in the fifth.
With one out, Delano Selassa singled and Sharlon Schoop walked.
That ended the evening for Markwell, who was replaced by Aaron de Groot.
After a flyout, he got the bases loaded when he walked Kalian Sams.
However, the three runners were left behind, as De Groot closed by striking out Rashid Gerard.
Rob Cordemans did much better, as he retired the side in the third, fourth and fifth inning.
With that, the righthander retired ten batters in a row since the second inning (including three strikeouts).
After Aaron de Groot had retired the side in the top of the sixth, Shairon Martis took over the Amsterdam-pitching in the bottom of the sixth.
However, the former Major Leaguer ran into problems and gave up three runs.
This was not entirely his fault, as a crucial error was involved, which made all three runs unearned.
Martis walked lead-off hitter Gianison Boekhoudt, who was forced out on a bunt by Dashenko Ricardo.
Hereafter, Dudley Leonora grounder out and a following grounder by Shaldimar Daantji appeared to be the third out.
Instead, it ended in an error, which enabled Ricardo to score the tying run.
Next batter Darryl Colins walked and Coco Johnson followed with his second 2-run double that put Neptunus ahead, 6-4.
Neptunus got the bases loaded in the seventh, but was held scoreless.
With one out, Martis walked Gianison Boekhoudt, then Mike Groen took over the Amsterdam-pitching.
The righthander got the bases loaded when he walked Dashenko Ricardo and gave up a single to Dudley Leonora.
Groen followed with a strikeout and a grounder ended the inning, meaning three runners were left behind.
Neptunus then added an insurance run in the eighth inning off of Tom de Blok.
With one out, he walked Stijn van der Meer and gave up a single to John Polonius.
The two runners advanced on a wild pitch and with first base now open, a force play was set up by walking Dwayne Kemp intentionally.
The force play-grounder didn't come and instead, De Blok uncorked another wild pitch that enabled Van der Meer to score the seventh run for Neptunus.
With runners on second and third base, De Blok struckout Gianison Boekhoudt and got an inning-ending grounder from Dashenko Ricardo, but Neptunus now led 7-4.
Amsterdam Pirates was unable to turn the game around again.
The team got only one baserunner in its final four at bats.
After Aaron de Groot had retired the side in the sixth, he walked lead-off hitter Roelie Henrique in the seventh.
A strikeout and a foul pop-fly then accounted for two outs, but thereafter, De Groot was relieved by Kevin Kelly.
He saw Henrique steal second base, but closed with a strikeout.
Kelly retired the side in the eighth and ninth inning and with that, the righthander retired all seven batters he faced tonight to earn a save.
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Neptunus strikes late to win Top-4 opener against Amsterdam Pirates
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Curaçao Neptunus opened the Top-4 Pool on Thursday-evening (September 10) with a 7-4 come-from-behind victory against reigning champion L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
Last season, a best-of-five Play-Off format was used with the number one of the regular season meeting the number four.
In the other Play-Off, the nummers two and three met.
The two winners then advanced to the Holland Series.
Top-4 Pool.