(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Remainder of halted game Neptunus vs. HCAW scrubbed
Nederlands
   ROTTERDAM / BUSSUM / NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
The remainder of the halted third game between Curaçao Neptunus and HCAW, which was to be played tonight (Wednesday, September 30), was scrubbed earlier in the day.
On Tuesday-evening, the game was halted due to heavy rain with one out in the top of the fourth inning with HCAW leading 1-0.
The remainder was re-scheduled for tonight.
The game was originally schedule for last Saturday, but then rained out also.
Earlier today, HCAW filed a complaint against the re-scheduling, stating it would create an overload for its players, as the team has been active since last Thursday and also has another game scheduled for coming Thursday, making it an 8-day period.
The KNBSB granted the request and now has to look into the situation, as a decision has to be taken regarding the status of the game.
A new date to play the remainder of the game has not yet been announced.
The Neptunus vs. HCAW game can be of influence in the final standings in the Top-4 Pool to determine first and second place, which are important for home-advantage in the Holland Series.
The original opener of the 3-game series was halted on Thursday-evening in the top of the second inning when a foul ball destroyed a lamp in one of the light-towers.
At that moment, Neptunus had runners on first and third base with no outs in a scoreless game.
The remainder of that game was re-scheduled for Friday-evening.
As it was not possible to fix the light-installation in Bussum earlier that day, the game was moved to the site of Neptunus in Rotterdam, but then was cancelled due to rain and field-conditions.
On Saturday, the original second game of the series (which is today's game), which was to be played in Rotterdam, also rained out.
That game was then re-scheduled for Tuesday-evening, but then was halted due to rain in the fourth inning.
On Sunday, Neptunus recorded a small 3-0 shutout-win.
The halted game that began on Thursday was finally completed on Monday-evening.
Neptunus won 9-2 to qualify for the Holland Series, which begins on October 10.
On Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, HCAW will play a 3-game make-up series against L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
That almost surely will decide which of these two teams will be come the second finalist.
Next week, Pirates also has two make-up games scheduled against Curaçao Neptunus.
That means that the remainder of tonight's Neptunus vs. HCAW game will be played either on Friday or somewhere after the weekend, as the Holland Series begins on October 10, as mentioned.
Also today, the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) announced that the additional so-called 'Cup-Competitions' have been cancelled.
After completetion of the Top-4 and Bottom-4 Pools, two Cup-competitions were to be played.
The two best teams of the Top-4 qualify for the best-of-seven Holland Series to determine the championship.
The numbers 3 and 4 of this Pool, as well as the four teams from the Bottom-4 Pool were to play a Cup-competition, being joined by the two best teams from the second highest league ('Overgangsklasse').
The remaining teams of the 'Overgangsklasse' also would play a 'Cup-competition'.
These two additional 2-week competitions were added to the postseason in June and were set up to give all teams some additional games in this abbreviated season and also to generate some additional incomes.
However, on Monday-evening, the Dutch Government announced stricter measures against the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
One of the measures is that all sports games (professional and amateur) will be played without spectactors, effective 6 PM, Tuesday, September 29.
As no spectators can attend the game, there will be no extra incomes for the clubs, only costs.
Besides that, there are several games in both divisions that were cancelled either due to positive corona-cases or weather conditions.
The KNBSB discussed the situation with the clubs and the outcome was that there was insufficient support from players and coaches to play at the end of the season under unpredictable weather conditions, no spectators and no incomes.
In the 'Overgangsklasse', which has its final scheduled games coming weekend, nine games have yet to be made up.
These are now re-scheduled for the following two weeks.
With that, there will be no room to play the extra games, which also would generate some additional incomes for the clubs in this pool.
And so, it was also decided to cancel both 'Cup-competitions'.
With that, the season has ended for Hoofddorp Pioniers, DSS/Kinheim and Quick Amersfoort.
The other five big league-teams have some games left on their schedule.
As mentioned, beginning on Thursday, L&D Amsterdam Pirates plays a 3-game series against HCAW.
Pirates then will play two make-up games coming week against Curaçao Neptunus.
Coming Saturday, Silicon Storks and Twins Oosterhout will make-up a rained out game in the Bottom-4 Pool.
(September 30)
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Top-4 Pool.