In the first three innings of tonight's game, both teams were held scoreless.
Storks-starter Twan Naessens only ran into some problems in the second inning.
HCAW-starter Luuk ter Beek got runners into scoring position in each of the first three innings, but didn't gave up runs.
Naessens retired the side in the first inning, then got the bases loaded with one out in the second at bat.
Arthur Bonevacia led off for HCAW with a single.
With one out, Kevin Dirksen walked and Patrick Bok singled to load the bases.
Naessens recovered and struckout the next two batters to end the early threat.
Ter Beek got two baserunners with two outs in his first inning.
He then walked Luuk Visser and gave up a single to Ibrahin Redan, but a flyout ended the at bat.
In the next inning, Storks got another runner at second base.
Brian van der Vlist led off with a single.
After Ter Beek struckout the next batter, he walked Kelvin Knape, but these runners also stranded.
In the third inning, Storks got its third and fourth runner in scoring position.
This time, with one out, Luuk Visser and Ibrahin Redan both singled, which led to runners on second and third base.
A flyout and strikeout followed and so, Storks left two more runners behind.
In the top of the fourth inning, Twan Naessens got some more support from his defense when he got three baserunners.
Rodney Daal led off with a double, but was then eliminated on a following grounder by Kevin Dirksen.
HCAW got runners at the corners when next batter Patrick Bok singled.
With two outs, another HCAW-runner was eliminated at the basepaths, as Dirksen was caught stealing in a rundown between third base and the plate in a double steal-situation.
Moments later, Storks opened the score with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Lead-off hitter Jurnest Virginie reached on an error, but he was then eliminated in a pick-off.
With one out, Kelvin Knape and Sydney Hoeverts (who made his debut tonight) both singled.
The two successfully executed a double steal, then Knape scored on a grounder by Joel Hernandez.
Shortly thereafter, Hoeverts scored the next run on a passed ball.
HCAW was retired in order by Twan Naessens in the top of the fifth, but then struck with a 5-run rally in the sixth at bat on four basehits.
Naessens first walked Berend Ruben and Arthur Bonevacia, who then both scored when Rodney Daal followed with a double, which tied the score.
That led to a pitching change, as Nick Winkel took over.
In previous series, Winkel was one of the starters, but in this series, he had no starting assignment.
Winkel began with a strikeout, but then gave up a runscoring single to Patrick Bok that put HCAW ahead.
On the throw to the plate, Bok advanced to second base and when that was followed by an error, he moved to third base.
Moments later, he scored on a single by Arthur Lugtmeijer, who had just entered the game in the bottom of the fifth as new catcher for HCAW.
Lugtmeijer moved to third base on a following single by Pascal Zegwaard, then scored the fifth run in the inning on a wild pitch.
HCAW took more distance by adding two runs in the seventh.
With one out, Arthur Bonevacia singled and with two outs, Kevin Dirksen walked.
With this, both reached base for the third time.
Both scored when Patrick Bok followed with a double, which was hit fourth basehit in the game.
HCAW scored another run in the ninth off of William Sowers, who had taken over the pitching in the eighth.
In the ninth, Arthur Bonevacia and Rodney Daal led off with a single.
The latter was forced out on a grounder by Kevin Dirksen, which gave HCAW runners at the corners.
A double steal-attempt followed.
Dirksen was caught stealing, but at the same time, Bonevacia scored to lift the lead to 8-2.
After scoring twice in the fourth inning, Storks was held scoreless in the remainder of the game.
The team got a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the fifth after HCAW had rallied for five runs, which gave the team a 5-2 lead.
Luuk Visser and Ibrahin Redan both singled to reach base for the third time.
With one out and first base open, it was decided to set up a force play by walking rookie Brian van der Vlist intentionally.
Luuk ter Beek followed with a strikeout, then a grounder ended the inning.
Ter Beek retired the side in the sixth which ended with an ejection.
Stephen Henson struckout, argued somewhat and was ejected by Home Plate Umpire Winfried Berkvens.
John Michael Halley, one of the pitchers, replaced Henson as short stop in the seventh inning.
Reliever Gio de Graauw took over the HCAW-pitching in the seventh inning.
The righthander did great, as he retired the next nine batters in a row, the last eight with a strikeout!
And that earned him his third save of the season, as he threw the final three innings of the game in a winning situation.
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HCAW turns opener against Storks around in 6th inning
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
HCAW turned a deficit around in the sixth inning and went on to win 8-2 against Silicon Storks on Thursday (August 20) in the opener of their 3-game series.
HCAW trailed 2-0 after five innings, but then rallied for five runs in the sixth to turn the game its way.
Sydney Hoeverts (Storks) makes his debut in the Dutch big league.