In a quick-paced game, L&D Amsterdam Pirates and HCAW kept each other in balance for ten scoreless innings.
The game was valid after only 61 minutes.
In two hours and seventeen minutes, the teams had played nine complete innings.
At that moment (it was 9:46 PM), the other games were somewhere around the sixth inning.
Starting pitchers Scott Prins (Pirates) and Lars Huijer (HCAW) did very well and held their opponent scoreless.
Prins struckout nine batters and gave up only three basehits in the 8 1/3 inning he pitched.
Huijer threw ten innings, struckout seven batters and gave up five basehits.
That the two kept each other in balance was not only underscored by the quick pace of the game, but also the total of pitches they threw.
Prins threw 63 pitches in his first five innings, Huijer threw one less in that same span.
Not that much runners got into scoring position and initially, it was Pirates that got three runners in scoring position, as opposed to only by HCAW.
In the end, HCAW left seven runners behind, Pirates stranded nine.
HCAW recorded six basehits, Amsterdam Pirates five.
The difference in the game was a costly error in the top of the eleventh inning, which in the end led to a 5-run rally for HCAW.
There were three earlier Pirates-errors, but these could not be capitalized by HCAW.
And although the error was costly, Pirates got some scoring opportunities in the regular nine innings, but was unable to do some scoring.
In the first eight innings, HCAW got five baserunners and only one of them was able to get into scoring position, which was done in the first inning by the first batter.
HCAW's lead-off hitter Brendly Martina reached on a throwing error in the top of the first inning and stole second base.
After a pop-fly and flyout accounted for two outs, Martina also tried to steal third base, but was eliminated there on a throw by catcher Sicnarf Loopstok.
There was a scary moment in the top of the second inning.
With one out, Quintin de Cuba hit a comeback line drive that hit Pirates-starter Scott Prins on the right backside of his head behind his ear.
After being attended (and getting a box from De Cuba), the righthander had luckily sustained no injuries and was able to stay in the game.
Prins followed with his first of nine strikeouts and retired the next six batters in a row.
In four of the next six innings, Prins would face only three batters and would not allow another runner in scoring position until the ninth inning.
From the third through eighth inning, he would allow only three batters to reach base.
With one out in the fourth, Jeandro Tromp reached on an error, but was caught stealing.
With two outs in the sixth, Prins hit Brendly Martina with a pitch, but he stranded on first base.
And with two outs in the eighth, Max Draijer reached on the third Pirates-error, but also was left behind on first base.
With that, the comeback-basehit by De Cuba in the second was the lone basehit Prins allowed in his first eight innings!
In its first eight innings, Amsterdam Pirates got seven baserunners off of HCAW-starter Lars Huijer and left three of them behind in scoring position.
Pirates got a runner on base in each of the first four innings (three times the lead-off hitter), getting into scoring position once.
Huijer faced three batters in one inning twice.
Pirates also got its lead-off hitter on base in the first inning, as Delano Selassa led off with a single, but he was eliminated when next batter Sharlon Schoop grounded into a double play.
In the second inning, it was Sicnarf Loopstok who led off with a single, but he stranded on first base.
With two outs in the third, Selassa recorded another single and also was left behind on first base.
In the fourth, Pirates got its third lead-off hitter on base.
Denzel Richardson singled, then became the first Pirates-runner to get into scoring position via a stolen base (with one out).
Richardson was unable to advance on a following grounder to short, then was left behind when Lars Huijer made the out at first base himself on a comeback-grounder by Roelie Henrique.
In the bottom of the sixth, Pirates got its lead-off hitter on base for the fourth time when Delano Selassa walked.
He was moved to second base via a sacrifice bunt by Sharlon Schoop, but a strikeout and groundout followed.
With one out in the seventh, Roelie Henrique was hit by a pitch on his knee and needed some attention.
After having taken his position at first base, he was eliminated when next batter Rashid Gerard hit Huijer's second delivery in an inning-ending double play.
With two outs in the eighth, Selassa hit his third basehit of the game.
He became the third runner to get into scoring position (and the second time himself) when he stole second base, but a flyout ended the at bat.
In the top of the ninth inning, HCAW got a chance to open to score as it got the bases loaded.
Scott Prins struckout lead-off hitter Brendly Martina to record his ninth strikeout, then gave up only his second basehit when next batter Victor Draijer hit the ball into centerfield.
When next batter Jeandro Tromp also singled, it ended the evening for Prins.
He was relieved by Mike Groen, who got the bases loaded when he walked Kevin Dirksen.
With three runners on base, Groen then struckout Quintin de Cuba, as well as Jair van Borkulo.
The latter didn't agree with the strikeout-call, went into an argument with Home Plate Umpire Niek Elshof and got ejected.
The Pirates-offense was retired in order in the bottom of the ninth by Lars Huijer, who got two more comeback-grounders.
The righthander got eight comeback-grounders, including one sacrifice bunt.
He got seven assists and on one of them, he turned a double play.
And so, the game went into extra innings.
Mike Groen struckout the side in the top of the tenth, while Pirates got another runner in scoring position off of Lars Huijer, who had returned to the mound for his tenth inning.
Lead-off hitter Roelie Henrique struckout, but reached on a passed ball.
He moved to second base via a sacrifice bunt by Rashid Gerard, but then could not advance on a grounder to third by next batter Kenny Berkenbosch.
Hereafter, Huijer walked Nicola Garbella, who had entered the game in the eighth as pinch-hitter, then became the new rightfielder in the ninth.
But with runners on first and second base, Huijer closed by striking out Delano Selassa.
In the top of the eleventh inning, HCAW struck with a 5-run rally, which easily could have been another scoreless inning.
Brendly Martina led off with a double, then HCAW got runners at the corners when Victor Draijer reached on a bunt-single.
To set up a force play, next batter Jeandro Tromp was walked intentionally and that strategy almost worked.
With three runners on base and no outs, Mike Groen struckout Kevin Dirksen.
The righthander then got what was to be a force play-grounder towards second base from pinch-hitter Jair Bogaerts.
However, what appeared to become a throw to the plate ended in a fielding error by second baseman Rachid Engelhardt, who had taken over the position in the ninth after having been the starting rightfielder.
Martina scored and it kept the bases loaded.
Groen followed by striking out Julian Goins, who had taken over the catching after Jair van Borkulo was ejected.
The strikeout would have been the third out and no runs would have been scored.
But now, there were two outs and HCAW had the bases loaded.
The Bussum-team then added another run was Jules Cremer walked, which was followed by a pitching change.
Nicola Garbella, who had come in to play in rightfield, took over the pitching.
However, the Italian righthander was greeted with a baseclearing, 3-run double by Max Draijer that lifted the lead to 5-0 and decided the game.
A flyout ended the at bat, but HCAW had taken a comfortable lead.
It was expected that Lars Huijer would have returned to the mound in the eleventh inning in case it would have still been a scoreless game, despite already having thrown 128 pitches.
In his ten innings, the righthander got some nice support from his defense (which made no errors), including a line drive caught just above the ground by short stop Bob van der Meer, some nice catches by rightfielder Victor Draijer, a nice play on a hard grounder by second baseman Brendly Martina and two double plays.
But now, with a 5-0 lead, HCAW went to the bullpen and Nick Keur took over from Huijer.
The lefthander got three baserunners, but Pirates was unable to score.
Keur walked lead-off hitter Sharlon Schoop, but he was forced out on a following grounder by Denzel Richardson.
Hereafter, Sicnarf Loopstok also walked.
Keur recovered and struckout next batters Rachid Engelhardt and Roelie Henrique to end the game.
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HCAW opens Play-Offs with extra inning win vs. Amsterdam Pirates
AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
HCAW opened the best-of-five Play-Offs against reigning champion L&D Amsterdam Pirates on Thursday-evening (August 18) with a 5-0 win, but recorded the five (unearned) runs in the eleventh inning.
Last Saturday, in Game 2 of the Wild Card Bottom Series, HCAW also needed an extra win to complete the 2-0 sweep against DSS/Kinheim to advance to the Play-Offs.
Amsterdam Pirates already secured its spot in the Play-Offs by finishing in first place in the Top-4 Pool, which was the second half of the regular season.
4-minute injury-delay in top 2nd inning; Pitcher Scott Prins (Amsterdam Pirates) hit on head by comeback line drive; 1 out, no baserunners, no score.