(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
  Amsterdam Pirates opens exhibition season with win vs. Cologne
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
Amsterdam Pirates played the first game of the exhibition-season on Sunday (March 12) in what was an international match-up.
The team played against Cologne Cardinals from Germany and recorded an 8-6 victory.
Initially, the two teams also were to play against each other on Saturday, but that game was cancelled due to (cold) weather conditions.
Six other scheduled games this weekend also were cancelled because of the weather conditions.
It had rained on Friday and also, the temperatures had dropped.
Twins Oosterhout and UVV were to play in Oosterhout and Vleuten respectively, while HCAW was to play at home twice against Quick Amersfoort.
Also, Hoofddorp Pioniers and RCH Memorie Sieraden had games scheduled in Heemstede and Hoofddorp.
A week ago, the first and second teams of HCAW played an intrasquad-game at the club's home-site in Bussum.
Mervin Gario, the new Head Coach of Amsterdam Pirates, had a good feeling after the first game.
After last season, Gario succeeded Ronald Jaarsma.
Gario then was the Head Coach of Hoofddorp Pioniers
Alhtough the temperatures dropped later in the afternoon, Pirates was able to play a 9-inning game of some 2½ hours against Cologne Cardinals.
Gario used four pitchers in today's game.
Scott Prins started and threw the first three innings.
The righthander had just returned from sunny Arizona (USA), where he had been with the Netherlands National Team during the trainingcamp as preparations for the World Baseball Classic.
Prins was one of the eight pitchers in the so-called Designated Pitching Pool.
Pitchers from this group could be added to the active roster in case of injuries.
Prins was succeeded on the mound by Sven van de Sanden (three innings), Maickel Rietel (two innings) and Lucas Vos (one inning).
Van de Sanden last season played for RCH Memorie Sieraden, while Rietel played for Thamen.
Vos played the majority of last season in the second team of Amsterdam Pirates.
Coming Thursday-evening (March 16), Amsterdam Pirates again will meet a team from Germany, this time Hamburg Stealers.
On Friday, Pirates will travel to Cologne in Germany, where the team will play coming weekend against Cologne Cardinals.
(March 12)
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