Today's game went the way of Twins Oosterhout until the ninth inning.
Up to that moment, Twins had recorded only three basehits, but two of them were homeruns, accounting for a 3-0 lead.
There were not many scoring opportunities in the first eight innings for both teams, as starting pitchers Sora Sakashita (Twins Oosterhout) and Scott Prins (Hoofddorp Pioniers) both had a fine outing.
The two didn't gave way much.
In these eight innings, Pioniers got into scoring position only four times off of Sakashita.
With two outs in the first inning, the Japanese righthander gave up a single to Max Draijer and when that was followed by an outfield-error, he ended up on second base.
But he was left there.
After Draijer's single, Sakashita retired nine batters in a row.
He then walked Joey Eeman with one out in the fourth, but he stranded on first base.
Pioniers got into scoring position for the second time in the fifth inning.
Again, the team reached base with two outs.
Daan Kuit and Raul Jacobs then both singled, but Sakashita closed by striking out Mark Smit.
In the sixth inning, Victor Draijer led off with a double to extend his hitting streak to thirteen games.
But with one out, he was eliminated by Sakashita on a comeback-grounder by Joey Eeman.
In the seventh inning, Pioniers got its first batter on base for the second time.
That was done by rookie Duncan Beljaards, who made his debut and led off with a walk.
His stay on the bases was brief, as he was caught stealing moments later.
Beljaards is a familiar name in Dutch baseball.
Duncan Beljaards is the son of Pioniers Assistant Coach Raymond Beljaards.
He also is the cousin of former big league-pitchers Patrick Beljaards and Richard Beljaards and outfielder Denny Beljaards.
Duncan's uncle Sjaak Beljaards (father of Patrick and Richard), is a longtime groundscrew-member of Kinheim and the Haarlem Baseball Week.
With one out in the eighth, Mark Smit doubled for Pioniers, but two flyouts followed.
And so, Pioniers had not reached third base until the ninth inning.
Twins Oosterhout reached base far less than Pioniers, but nevertheless scored three runs off of Scott Prins.
The righthander trailed 2-0 after having thrown only five pitches!
Twins' lead-off hitter Tyriq Kemp flied out on his first delivery of the game.
With one out and an 0-2 count, Prins hit Rayshelon Carolina with his fourth pitch.
His next pitch to Diamond Silberie ended up over the fence in leftfield for a 2-run homerun.
Prins recovered and struckout Jason Halman, then Shurman Marlin grounded out, but Twins had opened the score.
In the next five at bats, Twins got only three baserunners, but all were eliminated on the basepaths.
With one out in the second inning, Brian Biezen walked, but was caught stealing moments later.
With two outs in the third, Prins hit Rayshelon Carolin again with a pitch, but he was caught stealing after a successful pick-off.
In the fourth, Diamond Silberie led off with a single, but he was eliminated in an inning-ending double play.
Prins retired the side in the fifth and sixth inning.
After Silberie's basehit in the fourth inning, the righthander retired ten batters in a row.
But with two outs in the seventh inning, he gave up a homerun to Shurman Marlin that gave Twins a 3-0 lead.
Prins closed with a strikeout, then retired the side again in the eighth in which he struckout his seventh and eighth batter.
With Twins leading 3-0, the top of the ninth inning began.
Sora Sakashita had done his work and Twins went to the bullpen to complete the game.
But the ninth inning began with two crucial errors that would lead to four unearned runs and the loss.
Raf Cocu took the mound for Twins in the ninth.
He walked lead-off hitter Joey Eeman.
Hereafter, a pop-fly by Duco Nuijten ended in two errors.
First, third baseman Diamond Silberie dropped the ball, then catcher Jason Halman made a throwing error.
That led to runners on second and third base.
Cocu then struckout Duncan Beljaards, but got the bases loaded when he walked pinch-hitter (and Head Coach) Mervin Gario.
A run was then scored on a grounder by Daan Kuit, which would have been the third out when the pop-fly had been caught.
Next, the bases got loaded again when Cocu walked Raul Jacobs.
The righthander then also walked Mark Smit, which brought in the second run, narrowed the deficit to 3-2 and kept the bases loaded.
It also led to a pitching change, as Pastor Enrique Martínez Chavez took over.
He had to face Victor Draijer, the league's best hitter.
Draijer delivered a runscoring single that tied the score.
With the bases still loaded, Martínez walked next batter Max Draijer and that gave Pioniers a 4-3 lead.
A grounder ended the at bat, three runners were left behind, but Pioniers unexpectedly had turned the game its way!
Twins got a chance to come alongside in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Scott Prins walked lead-off hitter Tyriq Kemp and was relieved by Nathan Diaby.
He saw Kemp advance to second base via a sacrifice bunt by Rayshelon Carolina.
Diaby then struckout Diamond Silberie and got a game-ending flyout from Jason Halman to earn his first save of the season.
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Hoofddorp Pioniers rallies in 9th inning to win vs. Twins Oosterhout
OOSTERHOUT (Neth.) -
Hoofddorp Pioniers turned a deficit into a victory on Sunday (August 23) thanks to a rally in the ninth inning that led to a 4-3 win in the finale of their 3-game series againt Twins Oosterhout.
With the win, Pioniers completed a sweep.
The team recorded two big wins in the first two games.
On Thursday, Pioniers opened with a comfortable 13-2 victory in seven innings.
On Saturday, Pioniers had a productive start and went on to record another big victory.
This time, Pioniers won 12-1, also in seven innings.
Duncan Beljaards (Hoofddorp Pioniers) makes his debut in the Dutch big league.