Hoofddorp Pioniers faced an early 3-1 deficit after the first inning, but good pitching and solid defense then held Neptunus scoreless in the remainder of the game.
After narrowing the score to 3-2, Pioniers scored three runs in the fifth to turn the game around, then added a 4-run rally in the seventh to record a convincing victory and win the Urbanus Tournament for the fourth time overall and for the first time since 2012.
Pioniers outhit Neptunus, 12-11.
Defensively, the Hoofddorp-team made no errors, while Neptunus committed four.
Pioniers opened the score in the top of the first inning off of starter Kaj Timmermans with an unearned run.
With one out, Raul Jacobs reached on an error, then stole second base.
With two outs, Duco Nuijten was hit by a pitch.
Moments later, Jacobs and Nuijten executed a double steal.
Shortly thereafer, Jacobs scored the first run on a wild pitch.
Neptunus answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning off of starter Lars Broersen.
With one out, the righthander gave up a double to Stijn van der Meer, then walked John Polonius and got the bases loaded when Dwayne Kemp singled.
Gianison Boekhoudt followed with a 2-run single to put Neptunus ahead and another run was added on a single by Dudley Leonora.
With runners on first and second base, the at bat ended with two flyouts.
In the remainder of the game, Neptunus was held scoreless by six pitchers and got only three more runners in scoring position.
In the bottom of the third and fourth inning, the Pioniers-defense turned a double play.
In the third, John Polonius led off for Neptunus with a walk, but then was eliminated in a double play on a grounder to short stop Duco Nuijten by Dwayne Kemp.
Gianison Boekhoudt and Dudley Leonora followed with singles, but were left behind.
In the fourth, it was Gregory Muller who led off with a walk.
He also was eliminated in a double play, which started on grounder by Quintin de Cuba to first baseman Jorrit Penseel.
Kaj Timmermans encountered no problems in the second and third inning.
The righthander retired the side of Pioniers in the second.
With one out in the third, he got two baserunners when Jaison Gijsbertha singled and Mark Smit reached on an error, but they were left behind.
In the top of the fourth, Pioniers got one run back off of new pitcher Berry van Driel, who made his first appearance.
The veteran righthander began with a strikeout, but then walked Thom Hoogkamer and Jair Bogaerts.
The latter was forced out on a grounder by Jeldwin Orman, but that brought Hoogkamer to third base.
He then scored on an infield-hit by Jorrit Penseel to make it a 3-2 score.
When next batter Duncan Beljaards walked, Pioniers got the bases loaded, which led to a pitching change.
Misja Harcksen took over and got an inning-ending flyout, meaning three runners were left behind.
In the top of the fifth inning, Pioniers struck and turned the game around.
Misja Harcksen gave up lead-off singles to pinch-hitter Bodhi de Vreede and Raul Jacobs, which led to runners on first and third base.
De Vreede scored the tying run on a grounder by Tyler Boersma, which brought Jacobs to third base.
Hereafter, Jacobs scored the go-ahead run on a grounder by pinch-hitter Bram Stoovelaar.
It was tried to eliminate Jacobs, but an error was made and so, everyone was safe.
With two outs, Stoovelaar scored the next run on a double by Jair Bogaerts to make it a 5-3 score in favor of Pioniers.
In the sixth inning, Pioniers left runners behind on second and third base off of Harcksen.
With one out, Duncan Beljaards and Jaison Gijsbertha singled and advanced on a 2-out single by Raul Jacobs, which loaded the bases.
A grounder by Tyler Boersma then ended in a force out and ended the at bat.
In the top of the seventh inning, Pioniers took more distance with a 4-run rally.
With one out, Pioniers got the bases loaded when Angelo Wicklert singled, Jair Bogaerts walked and Jeldwin Orman also singled.
Next batter Jorrit Penseel then delivered a single, which brought in Wicklert and Nathan Berkel, who ran for Bogaerts.
Penseel was forced out on a grounder by Duncan Beljaards, but when that was followed by a throwing error in an attempt to complete a double play, Orman scored.
With two outs, Beljaards stole second base, then scored on two consecutive wild pitches.
With the bases now empty, both Jaison Gijsbertha and Bodhi de Vreede walked, which brought in new pitcher Elton Koeiman.
The veteran righthander saw the two runners moved on a wild pitch, then got the bases loaded when Raul Jacobs walked, but a flyout ended the at bat.
But Pioniers now had a comfortable 9-3 lead.
Neptunus also got a runner into scoring position again in the sixth and seventh inning, but was unable to score.
In the sixth, off of new pitcher Nick Winkel, Dashenko Ricardo doubled with two outs and was awarded third base on a balk, but was left behind.
In the seventh, Quintin de Cuba led off for the home-team with a single, but with one out, he was forced out on a grounder by Roger Bernadina.
He moved into scoring position when Stijn van der Meer singled.
Sem Lauf then was inserted as new pitcher and he got an inning-ending flyout.
Neptunus was retired in order in the eighth by Reangelo Willems.
The team got its final baserunner in the bottom of the ninth off of closer John Michael Halley.
The righthander began with a strikeout, then gave up a single to Gregory Muller.
But hereafter, Quintin de Cuba grounded to second baseman Raul Jacobs, who threw the ball to short stop Bram Stoovelaar, which started a game-ending double play that was completed by first baseman Jorrit Penseel.
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Hoofddorp Pioniers defeats Neptunus to win Urbanus Tournament
ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Hoofddorp Pioniers recorded a convincing 9-3 victory against Curaçao Neptunus on Sunday (April 25) in Rotterdam to become the winner of the 39th edition of the In Memoriam Charles Urbanus, Sr. Tournament.
Playing at home in Bussum, organisor HCAW's final game against L&D Amsterdam Pirates ended in a 4-4 tie.
Before today, it already had been decided that Amsterdam Pirates would finish in fourth place.
The other three teams could end up in a tie.
However, due to the tie, HCAW was eliminated and ended up in third place.
With that, the game between Neptunus and Pioniers would be decisive, as the winner would also win the tournament based on the head-to-head result.
For Neptunus, this was its first loss of the exhibition season.
Before today, the team gave up only ten runs in four games, but now gave up nine.
Hoofddorp Pioniers wins Urbanus Tournament for the fourth time.