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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Rob Schuurman & Dornbirn Indians) Twins Oosterhout and Quick Amersfoort on top in exhibition-season Nederlands AMERSFOORT / BUSSUM / HAARLEM / OOSTERHOUT (Neth.) / COLOGNE (Germany) - On a cold Sunday-afternoon (March 20), seven of the nine Dutch big league-teams came into action in the exhibition-season. L&D Amsterdam Pirates only played on Saturday, while Silicon Storks had no games scheduled this weekend. HCAW played its second game at home against Bonn Capitals from Germany. After the first game on Saturday ended in a 3-3 tie, today HCAW recorded a 5-1 victory. Hoofddorp Pioniers also played its second game against a German opponent. In Cologne, the team faced Cologne Cardinals and recorded two convincing wins. On Saturday, Pioniers won 11-1, today 9-2. Twins Oosterhout hosted Curaçao Neptunus today and recorded its second win in two days with a 5-1 score. With the win, Twins is the unbeaten leader in the exhibition-season, while Neptunus is the lone team without a victory. Quick Amersfoort played against First Divisionist The Herons/Alcmaria Victrix and again recorded a big victory, this time 15-5 to become the second unbeaten team in the exhibition-season. DSS/Kinheim today played at home against RCH-Pinguïns and lost 12-1. Coming weekend, the first of the traditional annual tournaments are scheduled and all nine teams will come into action. RCH-Pinguïns organizes its sixth edition of the Ringvaart Tournament, which was cancelled the last two years due to the measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19). In the 2-day event, the team from Heemstede will be joined by HCAW, Hoofddorp Pioniers and Silicon Storks. DSS/Kinheim organizes the third edition of the Wim Oosterhof Tournament, which also was scrubbed in 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately, Kinheim-icon Wim Oosterhof, after whom the tournament was named, passed away last year. Also participating in the tournament are Quick Amersfoort, Twins Oosterhout and the second team of Amsterdam Pirates. Last years Holland Series-finalists L&D Amsterdam Pirates and Curaçao Neptunus both will travel abroad. Dutch champion Amsterdam Pirates will travel to Belgium to participate in the Johan Veraghtert Memorial Tournament, which is organized at the sites of Borgerhout Squirrels and Deurne Spartans, who are neighbours, but play in different cities that are suburbs of Antwerp. Also participating besides Squirrels, Spartans and Pirates are Brasschaat Braves (Belgium) and the second team of Twins Oosterhout. Neptunus will play in Bonn (Germany), where Bonn Capitals organizes the Champions Cup Invitational. Another tournament that is scheduled coming weekend is the annual Rob Noorlander Tournament, hosted by The Hawks in Dordrecht. The Hawks, which played in the big league some years ago, then will play against Jeka, the second team of HCAW and Hoboken Pioneers from Belgium. (March 20)

...Umpire Niek Elshof shows that it was a cold day... (© Photo: Rob Schuurman) HCAW vs. Bonn Capitals On a pretty cold afternoon in Bussum, HCAW won 5-1 against Bonn Capitals from Germany in a game (both teams had ten batters) that started at noon. After the game, the German team traveled home to Bonn, where it will organize a mini-tournament next weekend with the participation of Curaçao Neptunus. In the first four at bats, HCAW got only two baserunners off of Bonn-starter Zack Dodson. The American lefthander began with two strikeouts in the first inning, but then gave up a double to Quintin de Cuba, who advanced to third base on a wild pitch, but then was left behind, as next batter Max Draijer grounded out. After being retired in order in the second at bat and with one out in the third, Jules Cremer reached second base on an error. He moved to third base on a grounder by Nathan Berkel (ex-Pioniers). However, he also stranded on third base, as the inning ended with a grounder by J'mar Calliste, who is a player of HCAW's second team. HCAW then rallied for three runs in the fifth inning off of new pitcher Jakob Schoch. Linoy Croes and Kevin Dirksen began with back-to-back doubles, which led to the first run. Dirksen then moved on a wild pitch and Bob van der Meer walked. Dirksen scored the second run on a sacrifice fly by Julian Goins, then Van der Meer scored the third run on a double by Nathan Berkel. Bonn Capitals got seven baserunners off of HCAW-starter Dennis Burgersdijk, who also threw four innings. Like HCAW, the German team left two runners behind on third base. In the first at bat, Eric Brenk led off with a single and stranded on third base. In the second, lead-off hitter Lennart Weller reached on an error, moved on a passed ball and a wild pitch, but also was left on third base. In both the first and second inning, Burgersdijk closed with a strikeout. Arjen Nijkamp took over the HCAW-pitching in the fifth and was supported with a double play. With a 3-0 lead, he gave up Bonn's lone run in the top of the sixth. Vincent Ahrens led off with a triple, who scored with one out on a sacrifice fly by Justus Recki. HCAW added two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth off of a new pitcher. Lead-off hitter Jeandro Tromp reached on an error and moved on two wild pitches. After Quintin de Cuba (ex-Neptunus) had walked, Tromp scored on a single by Max Draijer. With one out, the bases got loaded when Kevin Dirksen walked. Hereafter, De Cuba scored on a force play-grounder by Bob van der Meer. HCAW then got the bases loaded again when Julian Goins reached on an infield-hit, but three runners were left behind when a grounder by Jules Cremer ended the at bat. In the seventh and eighth inning, HCAW left a runner behind on second base. With a 5-1 lead, Ruben Dekker, Bobbie Gnade and Nick Keur all threw one inning. They all got baserunners, but gave up no runs. Dekker was greeted with a lead-off double by Ricardo Miglione, who later was eliminated on a grounder by Eric Kunze. With two outs, Bonn got runners on second and third base when Eric Brenk singled. Next batter Danny Sanchez hit a line drive, but that was caught by second baseman Bob van der Meer. In the eighth inning, Gnade had runners on first and second base (two walks) with two outs, but closed with a strikeout. In the ninth, Keur gave up a 2-out single, but then a grounder ended the game.

HCAW - Bonn Capitals 5-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Bonn Capitals 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 7 2 HCAW 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 X - 5 8 1 pitchers Bonn Capitals inn. SO BB H R ER Zack Dodson 4 4 - 1 - - Jakob Schoch, L 1 - 1 3 3 3 ?????? 2 1 3 3 2 - Nick Miceli 1 3 - 1 - - pitchers HCAW inn. SO BB H R ER Dennis Burgersdijk 4 6 1 3 - - Arjen Nijkamp, W 2 - 2 1 - - Ruben Dekker 1 - - 2 - - Bobbie Gnade 1 1 2 - - - Nick Keur 1 1 - 1 - - Umpires: HP-Aad Otsen, 1B-Niek Elshof. Official Scorer-Rob Schuurman. Public Address Announcer-None. Scoreboard Operator-Nico van de Luitgaren. Starting Time-12:02 PM. Time Played-2:30 hrs. Site-Rob Hoffmann Vallei, Sportpark Zanderijweg, Bussum. Game Notes: Exhibition game.

...Lochlan Southee pitching for Dornbirn Indians... ...in the Australian League in 2021... (© Photo: Dornbirn Indians) DSS/Kinheim vs. RCH-Pinguïns The first game between these regional rivals on Saturday was won by DSS/Kinheim, but today, RCH-Pinguïns was the better team and recorded a convincing 12-1 victory. The home-playing DSS/Kinheim recorded only two basehits off of four pitchers. The team got seven batters on base via a walk, but simply was unable to move the runners around, as the ball was hit right at the defensive players. Five DSS/Kinheim-pitchers also walked seven batters, but also gave up twelve basehits. RCH-Pinguïns rallied for three runs with two outs in the top of the first inning off of Kaien Oukes. The lefthanded rookie (ex-HCAW-2) struckout three batters in this at bat, but also got four baserunners. With one out, Daan Groenewoud walked and scored when Ties van der Beeke followed with a double. With two outs, newcomer Yurdion Martie (ex-Storks) also walked. Hereafter, Van der Beeke and Martie both scored on a double by Sebastiaan van der Horst, who last season played in the second team of Amsterdam Pirates and also made some appearances in the big league-team. RCH-Pinguïns, which will make its comeback in the big league this season, added three more runs in the third inning. With one out and two runners on base, Martie hit a 2-run double and scored himself on a single by Van der Horst. Hereafter, Rick Timmermans took over. He walked his first batter, but then struckout the next two to end the at bat. Australian Lochlan Southee started for RCH-Pinguïns. The 22-year old lefthander arrived on Saturday by train from Austria, where he played last season. There, Southee played for Dornbirn Indians. In the second week of the Austrian League, Southee threw a No-Hitter, striking out 19 batters. In his first start of the exhibition-season, Southee walked lead-off hitter Thomas Bos in the bottom of the first inning, but then was supported with a double play. With two outs, Jason Jakobus walked and Donny Kuijper singled, but they stranded on second and third base. After leaving runners behind on first and second base in the second inning, DSS/Kinheim scored what would be its lone run in the third. Bos again led off with a walk, then Matis Crouwel also walked. The latter was forced out on a grounder by Jason Jakobus, but a throwing error followed trying to complete a double play. And that enabled Bos to score. At that moment, Southee had reached his pitch-count limit of 50 pitches and was relieved by Sebastian Kok, who last season played for Hoofddorp Pioniers. The lefthander threw 3 2/3 fine innings in which he gave up no basehits. RCH-Pinguïns had another 3-run rally on four basehits in the fifth inning off of Timmermans. Martie led off with a single and with one out, Leandro Anasagasti (ex-HCAW) also singled, followed by a runscoring single from Teun van der Meer. With two outs, Moreno Vork took over, but he gave up a 2-run double to Koen Werkman. The team from Heemstede scored another run in the sixth on a 2-out double by Van der Horst. In the seventh, Jemail Streedel took over the DSS/Kinheim-pitching and retired all five batters he faced. In the ninth, Robyn Clara gave up two unearned runs. Last season, Clara pitched for L&D Amsterdam Pirates, with whom he won the championship-title. In its last three at bats, DSS/Kinheim got only two more baserunners. In the seventh, off of Kok's successor Lars Werkman and with Seb Visser (walk) on first base, Sem Kuijper recorded the second (and last) basehit for the Haarlem-team. Visser stranded on third base, Kuijper was eliminated in a double play. In the eighth, Werkman retired the side, as did Joel Martis (ex-Storks) in the ninth.

DSS/Kinheim - RCH-Pinguïns 1-12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E RCH-Pinguïns 3 0 3 0 3 1 0 0 2 - 12 12 3 DSS/Kinheim 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 2 2 pitchers RCH-Pinguïns inn. SO BB H R ER Lochlan Southee, W 2.1 1 5 1 1 - Sebastian Kok 3.2 1 1 - - - Lars Werkman 2 1 1 1 - - Joel Martis 1 1 - - - - pitchers DSS/Kinheim inn. SO BB H R ER Kaien Oukes, L 2.1 4 5 4 6 6 Rick Timmermans 2.1 5 1 4 3 3 Moreno Vork 1.1 - 1 2 1 1 Jemail Streedel 1.2 1 - - - - Robyn Clara 1.1 2 - 2 2 - Umpires: HP-Rob Has, 1B-Jeffrey Bentsnijder. Scorer-RCH-Pinguïns. Public Address Announcer-None. Scoreboard Operator-None. Starting Time-2:00 PM. Time Played-0:00 hrs. Site-Pim Mulier Stadion, Pim Mulier Sportpark, Haarlem. Game Notes: Exhibition game.

Twins Oosterhout vs. Curaçao Neptunus Playing at home, Twins Oosterhout recorded its second win in two days against Curaçao Neptunus. After winning 2-1 on Saturday in Rotterdam, Twins today recorded a more convincing 5-1 win in a 7½ inning game. The game remained scoreless in the first five at bats. Starters Simon Gross (Twins) and Kaj Timmermans (Neptunus) both were on the mound for four innings and gave up no runs. In the top of the fifth inning, Ryan Huntington took over the piching for Twins. The lefthander, who last season made his big league-debut pitching for Hoofddorp Pioniers, threw a scoreless fifth, but then gave up a run to Neptunus in the sixth. Raydley Legito (ex- Pirates), who had reached on a drag-bunt infield-hit, then scored on an infield-hit by John Polonius. For Neptunus, this was to be the lone run today, as the team was kept scoreless again in the next two innings by Jeffrey Levenstone and Pastor Enrique Martínez Chavez. Kevin Bakker relieved Timmermans in the bottom of the fifth and threw two scoreless innings. But in the bottom of the seventh, off of rookie Joey Herbold and Neptunus leading 1-0, Twins rallied for five runs. Mick Vos (ex-Pirates) walked and Railison Bentura reached on an error. Hereafter, Vos scored the tying run on a single by Jerzy van Gool. Twins then got the bases loaded when Rayshelon Carolina walked. When next batter Jarreau Martina also walked, Bentura scored the go-ahead run. With the bases still loaded, Luuk Visser drilled the ball into leftfield for a baseclearing, 3-run double that put Twins ahead, 5-1.

Quick Amersfoort vs. The Herons/Alcmaria Victrix Playing at its home-site in Amersfoort, Quick Amersfoort today won 15-5 in a 9-inning game against The Herons/Alcmaria Victrix after having won 8-0 on Saturday. Four pitchers took the mound today for Quick, who were supported with some good batting, highlighted by a homerun by Amar van Zwieten. Amongst the four pitchers were three big league-rookies. Only starter Stijn Bruins Slot has big league-experience. After the righthander had thrown three innings, he was relieved by German Kevin Schnorbach. Last year, the 21-year old righthander played in the second team of Mainz Athletics in the German 2.Bundesliga. Since 2016, Schnorbach pitched in several international tournaments with the German National Youth Teams (Under-15, Under-16, Under-18). Schnorbach also threw three innings for Quick, then newcomer Johnaikel Acosta pitched the seventh and eighth inning. Braden Lee took the mound in the ninth inning. Last season, Lee pitched for and was the Pitching Coach of RCH-Pinguïns, which then was led by Head Coach Marlon Frolijk. Frolijk and Lee will do the same this year with Quick Amersfoort.

Cologne Cardinals vs. Hoofddorp Pioniers Hoofddorp Pioniers was in the Germany city of Cologne this weekend. There, at Circlewood Stadium, the team played against Cologne Cardinals, one of the teams that play in the German 1.Bundesliga. Pioniers went on to win convincingly. On Saturday, the Hoofddorp-team won 11-1 and today, a 9-2 victory was recorded. In Saturday's game, American Ben Meyer started for Pioniers. The righthander, who last year played in the First Division for UVV, threw the first four innings. He walked five batters, but also struckout three and gave up Cologne's lone run in the game. Meyer was relieved in the fifth inning by Lars Broersen, who threw the next two innings for Pioniers. Thereafter, Koen van 't Klooster completed the game by throwing the final three innings to earn a save. He struckout five batters. On Sunday, four pitchers walked twelve batters, but gave up only five basehits in the 9-inning game. Nick Winkel started for Pioniers. With no outs in the third inning, he reached hit pitch-count limit and was relieved by Lucca van der Schouw. It was in the third that Cologne scored its first run. In the fifth inning, Yassir Lachkar became the third pitcher for Pioniers and also threw two innings. From the seventh inning on, Nathan Diaby was on the mound and also was credited with a 3-inning save. He gave up the second German run in the eighth inning. Joost van den Bergh homered for Pioniers. (more details will be added later)

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