(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Starting Pitchers coming series
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
On Wednesday-evening (May 3), the first games of the fifth 3-game series of the 2023 season in the Dutch big league are scheduled.
Normally, a new series opens on Thursday, but for the second week in a row, the series begins on Wednesday.
Last week, no games were scheduled on Thursday, April 27, which was King's Day, the day that King Willem-Alexander had his birthday.
This coming Thursday, it's May 4, which is National Memorial Day and no games are scheduled on that day.
On this day, all civilians and members of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the beginning of the Second World War are remembered annually.
At 8 PM, two minutes of silence are observed throughout the country.
The first Memorial Day was held in August 1945.
In 1946, Memorial Day took place on May 4 for the first time.
Through 1967, the day sometimes moved to May 3, but in 1968, it was decided that Memorial Day always would be held on May 4, whatever day of the week it is.
The next day, May 5, is Liberation Day to mark the end of the occupation of the Netherlands during the Second World War.
In the upcoming 3-game series, there are some interesting pairings.
The two lone unbeaten teams will face each other.
League-leader Curaçao Neptunus has won 11 of its 12 games played.
Last weekend, the second game against Twins Oosterhout ended in a 3-3 tie.
HCAW has won all nine games played so far.
Last year, the two teams faced each other in the Holland Series.
HCAW then swept Neptunus in four games to grab the Championship-title.
By the game, Game 2 of the upcoming series coming Saturday in Rotterdam will begin at 7:30 PM instead of 2 PM.
Also facing each other in the coming series are the two teams that are currently in eighth and ninth place, UVV and DSS/Kinheim.
Both have won two of their games so far.
In the other two series, the four teams that are close to each other in fourth through seventh place meet.
Twins Oosterhout and Hoofddorp Pioniers share fourth place.
They respectively play against Quick Amersfoort and RCH Memorie Sieraden, who currently share sixth place.
The difference between these rankings are only three points (or 1&# game behind).
Amsterdam Pirates, which is in third place with an 8-4 record, is the team without games in the upcoming series.
Last Saturday was a remarkable day in the Dutch big league.
Neither of the four games lasted the regular nine innings.
Amsterdam Pirates recorded a 7-inning mercy-rule win with a big 21-0 shutout against Quick Amersfoort.
The other three games all went into extra innings with two of them ending in a tie.
HCAW then won 3-2 in ten innings against RCH-Pinguïns.
But the games between Neptunus and Twins Oosterhout (3-3) and between Hoofddorp Pioniers and UVV (4-4) needed twelve innings and ended without a winner.
The game in Hoofddorp lasted four hours and 38 miniutes, which might be the longest-ever regular season game.
And four none-nine-inning-games on one day is also very unique.
Beneath are the announced starting pitchers for the upcoming 3-game series that opens on Wednesday-evening, May 3.
As always, these assignments can change on game-days.
(May 2)
Rosters
Live play-by-play & live-streams
| Roster | HCAW (9-0) | vs. |
CURAÇAO NEPTUNUS (11-0-1) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers HCAW | G | # | Starting Pitchers Neptunus |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 39 | RHP Lars Huijer (3-0) | 1 | 37 | RHP Tom de Blok (3-0) | We. May 3, 7:30 PM, Bussum (1) |
| 16 | RHP Kaj Timmermans (1-0) | 2 | 39 | RHP Shairon Martis (3-0) | Sa. May 6, 7:30 PM, Rotterdam (2) |
| 7 | RHP Dennis Burgersdijk (3-0) | 3 | 33 | RHP Kevin Kelly (4-0) | Su. May 7, 2:00 PM, Bussum (1) |
| (1) - Rob Hoffmann Vallei, Sportpark 'De Sportvallei', Bussum; (2) - Neptunus Familiestadion, Sportpark Abraham van Stolkweg, Rotterdam |
| Roster | TWINS OOSTERHOUT (4-4-1) | vs. |
QUICK AMERSFOORT (3-9) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers Twins | G | # | Starting Pitchers Quick |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 6 | RHP Simon Gross (0-0) | 1 | 15 | RHP Jack Wagner (1-2) | We. May 3, 7:30 PM, Oosterhout (1) |
| | to be decided | 2 | 52 | LHP Jhan Rifaela (1-1) | Sa. May 6, 2:00 PM, Amersfoort (2) |
| | to be decided | 3 | 25 | LHP Brian van Laar (0-3) | Su. May 7, 2:00 PM, Oosterhout (1) |
| (3) - Sportpark 'De Slotbosse Toren', Oosterhout; (4) - XL Lease Park 'Dorrestein', Amersfoort |
| Roster | RCH MEMORIE SIERADEN (3-9) | vs. |
HOOFDDORP PIONIERS (4-7-1) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers RCH-Pinguïns | G | # | Starting Pitchers Pioniers |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 29 | RHP T'sean Martina (0-4) | 1 | 18 | RHP Sem Lauf (0-1) | We. May 3, 7:30 PM, Heemstede (5) |
| 17 | RHP Juan Carlos Sulbaran (2-1) | 2 | 22 | RHP Just van den Ouweelen (0-0) | Sa. May 6, 2:00 PM, Hoofddorp (6) |
| 5 | RHP Jeremy Young (1-3) | 3 | 27 | LHP Maarten Smit (1-1) | Su. May 7, 2:00 PM, Heemstede (5) |
| (5) - Heemsteedse Sportparken, Heemstede; (6) - ETO Ballpark, Sportpark Hoofddorp Pioniers, Park21, Hoofddorp |
| Roster | UVV (2-6-1) | vs. |
DSS/KINHEIM (2-7) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers UVV | G | # | Starting Pitchers DSS/Kinheim |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 27 | RHP Sam van der Meer (0-1) | 1 | 17 | LHP Rick Rizvić (1-0) | We. May 3, 7:30 PM, Vleuten (7) |
| | to be decided | 2 | 27 | RHP Nick Boxelaar (0-3) | Sa. May 6, 2:00 PM, Haarlem (8) |
| 13 | RHP Jurjen van Zijl (1-1) | 3 | 15 | RHP Donny Breek (0-2) | Su. May 7, 2:00 PM, Vleuten (7) |
| (7) - Sportpark 'De Paperclip', Vleuten; (8) - Pim Mulier Stadion, Pim Mulier Sportpark, Haarlem |
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