(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Twins Oosterhout completes Top-4; Second half Pools set
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM -
The two Pools are set for the second half of the regular season in the Dutch big league.
The second half opens on Thursday, June 16.
Last weekend, there was one spot remaining in the Top-4 and that would come from the 3-game series between Twins Oosterhout and DSS/Kinheim.
In the opener on Thursday-evening, Twins nipped DSS/Kinheim 1-0 in Oosterhout.
Two days later, on Saturday, the teams faced each other again in Haarlem and this time, Twins won 7-4.
Trailing 7-1, DSS/Kinheim came back into the game with a rally in the eighth inning and the Haarlem-team scored three runs.
However, the rally ended abruptly after a risky move.
On a short single into leftfield, a runner was waved home from second base, but he was eliminated at the plate.
Instead of keeping the bases loaded with two outs and a pitcher under pressure, the inning now ended.
Twins then hold onto the 7-4 lead and with that, the team secured its spot in the Top-4.
For DSS/Kinheim, the loss meant that the team will play in the Bottom-5 Pool in the second half.
On Sunday, the third game of the series rained out and will be made up on Tuesday-evening (June 7) in Oosterhout.
The outcome will decided fifth and sixth place in the big league.
When DSS/Kinheim wins, it will finish in fifth place.
With a loss, the team will end up in a tie with RCH Memorie Sieraden.
But as RCH won the head-to-head 3-game series 2-1, it will then finish in fifth place and DSS/Kinheim in sixth.
In the upcoming weekend, no games are scheduled.
This brief interruption has to do with the participation of reigning champion L&D Amsterdam Pirates and Curaçao Neptunus in the European Champions Cup-tournament.
That event will be organized Tuesday, June 7 through Saturday, June 11, at the site of Bonn Capitals in Bonn (Germany).
In the second half, the top-four from the first half will play 18 more games (six games against each other).
The bottom-five teams will continue in their own pool, playing twelve games (three games against each other).
The teams will take the head-to-head results from the first half against the teams they face in the second half with them to these new pools.
Because of these head-to-head results, L&D Amsterdam Pirates will begin the second half as the leader in the Top-4 Pool.
The team will share the first place with Curaçao Neptunus, as both teams have the same amount of points, which it earned in the first half.
However, as Pirates won the head-to-head series 2-1, it will open in first place and Neptunus in second.
HCAW, which was the league-leader from the start of the season until last Thursday, opens the second half in third place.
By sweeping HCAW in the final series, Neptunus finished in first place in the first half.
Because of its series-win against DSS/Kinheim, RCH Memorie Sieraden will open the Bottom-5 Pool as leader, whatever the result of Tuesday-evening's make-up.
These are the standings for the second half of the season.
All games are part of what is the regular season, which means that all individual awards that are handed out to the best players of the season will be based on the statistics and accomplishments in the first and second half combined.
| HOOFDKLASSE 2nd HALF - TOP-4 | |
| (Regular Season Second Half (Top-4) opens on Thursday, June 16) |
| STANDINGS MAJOR LEAGUE 2nd HALF (TOP-4) | G | W | L | T | PNT | GB | PCT. | RUNS | OPP | HOME | ROAD | DAY | NIGHT | STREAK |
| 1 | L&D AMSTERDAM PIRATES (nr. 3 1st half) | 9 | 6 | 3 | - | 12 | - | .667 | 41 | 27 | 4 - 1 | 2 - 2 | 4 - 3 | 2 - 0 | W 3 |
| | CURAÇAO NEPTUNUS (nr. 1 1st half) | 9 | 6 | 3 | - | 12 | - | .667 | 40 | 34 | 2 - 2 | 4 - 1 | 2 - 2 | 4 - 1 | W 13 |
|
| 3 | HCAW (nr. 2 1st half) | 9 | 5 | 4 | - | 10 | 1 | .556 | 37 | 31 | 3 - 2 | 2 - 2 | 4 - 1 | 1 - 3 | L 3 |
| 4 | TWINS OOSTERHOUT (nr. 4 1st half) | 9 | 1 | 8 | - | 2 | 5 | .111 | 23 | 49 | 0 - 4 | 1 - 4 | 1 - 5 | 0 - 3 | W 2 |
| HOOFDKLASSE 2nd HALF - BOTTOM-5 | |
| (Regular Season Second Half (Bottom-5) opens on Thursday, June 16) |
| STANDINGS MAJOR LEAGUE 2nd HALF (BOTTOM-5) | G | W | L | T | PNT | GB | PCT. | RUNS | OPP | HOME | ROAD | DAY | NIGHT | STREAK |
| 1 | RCH MEMORIE SIERADEN (nr. 5 or 6 1st half) | 12 | 8 | 4 | - | 16 | - | .667 | 86 | 55 | 3 - 3 | 5 - 1 | 6 - 3 | 2 - 1 | W 1 |
| | DSS/KINHEIM (nr. 5 or 6 1st half) | 12 | 8 | 4 | - | 16 | - | .667 | 106 | 75 | 4 - 2 | 4 - 2 | 5 - 4 | 3 - 0 | L 3 |
|
| 3 | HOOFDDORP PIONIERS (nr. 7 1st half) | 12 | 7 | 5 | - | 14 | 1 | .583 | 99 | 55 | 4 - 2 | 3 - 3 | 6 - 3 | 1 - 2 | L 3 |
| 4 | QUICK AMERSFOORT (nr. 8 1st half) | 12 | 5 | 7 | - | 10 | 3 | .417 | 57 | 98 | 2 - 4 | 3 - 3 | 4 - 5 | 1 - 2 | W 3 |
| 5 | SILICON STORKS (nr. 9 1st half) | 12 | 2 | 10 | - | 4 | 6 | .167 | 44 | 109 | 0 - 6 | 2 - 4 | 1 - 7 | 1 - 3 | L 15 |
The ranking in the second half will determine the pairings of the three best-of-three Wild Card Play-Offs that will follow.
The two best teams of the Top-4 Pool will face each other in the best-of-three Wild Card Top Series (August 11-14) and also secure a spot in the two best-of-five Play-Offs (August 18-28) that will decide which two teams will advance to the Holland Series (first game September 15).
The teams that finish in third and fourth place in the Top-4 Pool will play in one of the two best-of-three Wild Card Bottom Series (August 11-14).
The two best teams from the Bottom-5 Pool will first play a best-of-three Wild Card Qualifier (August 4 -7) to decide whom they will meet in the Wild Card Bottom Series.
The winners of the Wild Card Bottom Series then also advance to the Play-Offs, the losing teams will play a best-of-five Play-Off (August 18-28) for fifth and sixth place.
(June 6)
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