Chris Pfau dominated on the mound today for Pioniers.
The lefthander allowed only three runners of Neptunus to get into scoring position.
Only one of them reached third base.
Pfau struckout six batters and needed 117 pitches to got the distance for the home-team.
Neptunus got a chance to open the score in the top of the first inning.
Pfau walked lead-off hitter Stijn van der Meer, but he was forced out on a following grounder by John Polonius.
With two outs, Pfau also walked Gianison Boekhoudt, but Neptunus left two runners behind when a pop-fly by Dudley Leonora was caught in foul territory by catcher Jaison Gijsbertha.
Neptunus got its next runner in scoring position in the fifth inning.
In the second inning, Darryl Collins singled with one out for Neptunus.
But he was caught stealing after a pick-off by Chris Pfau, who then retired the side in the third and fourth inning.
Neptunus-starter Orlando Yntema needed more pitches (120 in seven innings).
He got hit first baserunner in the first inning when Max Draijer singled, but the inning ended when short stop John Polonius then caught a line drive from Joey Eeman.
In the second inning, Pioniers got runners on first and second base with one out.
However, no runs were scored due to erroneous baserunning.
With one out, Duco Nuijten singled and Nathan Berkel was hit by a pitch.
But hereafter, a rare double play followed on a grounder by Jaison Gijsbertha.
That didn't result in a traditional double play that ended on first base.
Berkel was first forced out at second base, while Nuijten advanced to third base.
Instead of throwing the ball to first base to complete the double play there, second baseman Dwayne Kemp threw it to short stop John Polonius, as Nuijten had overran third base.
Moments later, Nuijten was tagged out which ended the inning.
Pioniers then opened the score in the third inning on four consecutive singles.
The team scored only once, but it could have been more.
With one out, Mark Smit and Victor Draijer singled, which gave the team runners on first and third base.
Max Draijer followed with another single that brought in Smit.
Next, the bases got loaded when Joey Eeman also singled.
With one out and three runners on base, Orlando Yntema struckout the next batter, then got a force play-grounder from Duco Nuijten that ended the at bat and the run-scoring threat.
Pioniers got another scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fourth.
Nathan Berkel led off with a single, then advanced on a bunt by Jaison Gijsbertha.
However, Gijsbertha was ruled out for running outside the baseline and with that, Berkel had to return to first base.
With one out, Berkel was forced out on second base on a following grounder by Jorrit Penseel, who advanced on a single by Mark Smit, but the two runners were left behind.
Yntema then retired the side in the fifth and sixth inning.
Neptunus got far less scoring opportunities.
In the top of the fifth, Neptunus had Shaldimar Daantji (fielder's choice) on first base with two outs when Coco Johnson singled.
With that, Daantji became the second Neptunus-runner to get in scoring position.
But he also stranded on second base when a flyout followed.
In the sixth inning, Neptunus got its lone runner on third base.
With one out, Dwayne Kemp doubled and stole third base.
But hereafter, Chris Pfau followed with a strikeout and a flyout ended the at bat.
Kemp was the last runner that got into scoring positiion for Neptunus.
After Pfau had retired three Neptunian batters in the top of the seventh, Pioniers added an insurance run moments later.
Jorrit Penseel led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk.
With one out, he scored the second Pioniers-run on a double by Victor Draijer, the Best Hitter of regular season.
Draijer stranded on second base, as a strikeout and flyout ended this at bat.
In the bottom of the eighth, Pioniers got one more runner off of new pitcher Misja Harcksen.
With two outs, he gave up a single to Nathan Berkel, but he stranded on first base.
Neptunus got two more baserunners in the final two innings.
In the eighth, Coco Johnson led off with a single, but three flyouts (one each for the three outfielders) followed.
With two outs in the ninth, Dashenko Ricardo walked.
He also was left behind on first base, as a grounder ended the game.
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Hoofddorp Pioniers shuts out Neptunus in attractive game
HOOFDDORP (Neth.) -
Hoofddorp Pioniers shutout Curaçao Neptunus 2-0 in the second game of their 3-game series in the Top-4 Pool on Saturday (September 19).
Neptunus, which won 19 of its 21 regular season-games, also had its hands full with Pioniers in its final series of the competition.
The first game then ended in a 6-6 tie after nine innings.
Neptunus then won the second game with an 11-5 score, but scured the win late with a 5-run rally in the eighth inning.
Pioniers then won the third game with a 2-1 score in what was the final game of the regular season.
Top-4 Pool.