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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) Eight big league-teams play (international) exhibition-games Nederlands AMSTERDAM / HAARLEM / HOOFDDORP / OOSTERHOUT / SOEST (Neth.) / BONN / COLOGNE (Germany) - On Saturday (March 18), eight of the nine teams in the Dutch big league had an exhibition game scheduled. Four of them played an international game, two of them in Germany. The lone team that didn't play was Quick Amersfoort. Reigning champion HCAW is in the German city of Bonn this weekend. There, the Bussum-team plays against Bonn Capitals, which captured the German title last season. Today, Bonn won 9-2. Amsterdam Pirates also is in Germany. There, the team played a double-header against Cologne Cardinals today and Pirates won the 7-inning games with scores of 5-1 and 17-0. RCH Memorie Sieraden also played against a team from Germany and won 7-3 in a 7-inning game. In Amsterdam, the Heemstede-squad played against Hamburg Stealers, which earlier played against the first team (Thursday-evening) and second team (Friday-evening) of Amsterdam Pirates. Hamburg also played against Pirates-2 this afternoon. Twins Oosterhout played a double-header today against Hoboken Pioneers from Belgium and split the two 7-inning games. Twins won the opener with a 10-6 score, then the Belgians won the next game, 8-4. Last season, Hoboken captured the Belgian Championship-title. DSS/Kinheim played at home against Curaçao Neptunus and recorded a 3-1 win in an 8-inning game. Hoofddorp Pioniers and UVV both played against a team from the First Division. Pioniers played at home against Wassenaar and won 8-7 in a 7-inning game. UVV met Omron Pioniers, the second team of the Hoofddorp-club in a game that was played in Soest. The team from Vleuten also recorded an one-run victory, winning 5-4 in in 8-inning game. (March 18)

Hamburg Stealers vs. RCH Memorie Sieraden RCH-Pinguïns played a 7-inning game against Hamburg Stealers at the site of Amsterdam Pirates and recorded a 7-3 victory. Joshua Zara, the rookie Head Coach of RCH-Pinguïns, used three pitchers in today's game. Johannes Verroen Garcia started and threw 3 1/3 inning, then was relieved by Jan-Willem Geerts. Chris Koeiman pitched the seventh (and final) inning for the Heemstede-team. All three pitchers are newcomers in the team. Last season, both Verroen and Geerts also played in the highest league, the first for Silicon Storks, the second for Quick Amersfoort. In the past, Geerts already had played for RCH. Curaçao-born Chris Koeiman pitched for the baseball-team of Tennessee Wesleyan University in 2020-2022 in the American college-competition. He joined the Heemstede-team a few days ago. Last year, Koeiman was one of the pitchers of the National Team of Curaçao during the Baseball Week Haarlem. In 2017, the righthander played for the Netherlands Under-18 Team in the Under-18 World Championship in Canada. Joshua Zara took over the coaching after last season from Nick Heij. Zara played in the big league for ADO and Twins Oosterhout. He also played for RCH-Pinguïns when the team played in the second highest league.

Twins Oosterhout vs. Hoboken Pioneers Twins Oosterhout played a double-header today against Belgian champion Hoboken Pioneers, two 7-inning games. In the first game, Twins won with a 10-6 score. Starting pitcher Koen Postelmans dominated in his first outing in the mound, striking out three batters and giving up no basehits in three innings. Thereafter, Jan van den Hurk and German Simon Gross both threw two innings and each gave up only one basehit. Gross struckout four batters. Twins collected eight basehits, including four by centerfielder Marnix Ruben. Luuk Bun had two basehits, one of them a solo-homerun. ,,This was a fine first game, we were the better team all the way'', new Head Coach Rob Hendriks stated afterwards. ,,The pitchers showed that their hard work this winter paid off and has let to results.'' In the second game, it was starter Raf Cocu who had a fine outing. He struckout six batters and gave up only one basehit in three innings. Terrence Garcia and Jeffrey Levenstone then each threw two innings. The game went the way of Twins for six innings, as the team led 4-3 when the seventh inning began. In that at bat, there were three walks, two basehits and two errors, which led to five Belgian runs. With that, Hoboken Pioneers turned the game around and won 8-4. Again, Marnix Ruben did well at the plate, as he was 3-for-4 this time. Hendriks: ,,That inning, our 14th today, was one quickly to forget. But this has been a very useful first exhibition weekend''. After last season, Hendriks became the new Head Coach of the team, succeeding Adonis Kemp.

UVV vs. Omron Pioniers As the home-field of UVV in Vleuten is not playable yet, the team played its first exhibition-game of the season at the site of Knickerbockers in nearby Soest. That also will be the site of UVV's game on Sunday against Hamburg Stealers from Germany. UVV nipped Omron Pioniers with a 5-4 score in an 8-inning game. Last year, both UVV and Pioniers, the second team of Hoofddorp Pioniers, played in the First Division. In the first half of the season, Pioniers then finished in first place, followed by UVV in second place. After the first half, the top-6 continued in a new Pool. UVV then finished in first place to win the First Division-title. This year, UVV will make its comeback in the Dutch big league. UVV trailed three times today, but in the end, the team was able to turn the game its way. Pioniers took an early 1-0 lead on a grounder by Bram Stoovelaar off of UVV-starter Allard Helms. UVV came alongside, but Pioniers re-took the lead moments later, 3-1. Again, UVV was able to tie the score. In the sixth inning, Pioniers took the lead for the third time when Joost van den Bergh hit a solo-homerun, making it a 4-3 score. UVV, which had twelve batters in its batting order, then came back again, scoring two more runs to win the game. UVV-starter Allard Helms threw two innings. He was succeeded by Gijs van den Brink, Reangelo Willems and veteran righthander Jurjen van Zijl. All threw two innings. The UVV-pitchers gave up only three basehits, but walked six batters. Last season, Helms played in the second team of HCAW, while Willems played in the big league for Hoofddorp Pioniers. Lars Broersen was the starting pitcher for the second team of Pioniers. He threw four innings, then Bas Weijers and Rob de Beer both threw two innings for the Hoofddorp-team. UVV collected seven basehits off of the three Pioniers-pitchers, including two by newcomer J'mar Calliste, who after last season transfered from HCAW, where he played in the second team. Recently arrived American player Quin Cotton also recorded a basehit. ,,It looked good, especially when you consider this was our first game of the season'', UVV's Head Coach Frank Koene stated. Ronald Stoovelaar, Head Coach of the Pioniers-team, also was satisfied. ,,For us, this also was our first game, but we already have practiced outdoors'', Stoovelaar said. ,,We have a pretty new team and to have this result against a team that will play in the big league is very satisfying''.

DSS/Kinheim vs. Curaçao Neptunus DSS/Kinheim opened its exhibition-season today at home with a 3-1 win in an 8-inning game against Curaçao Neptunus, which last year was swept by HCAW in the best-of-seven Holland Series, losing four games. After the season, American player Greg Muller was named new Head Coach of Neptunus, succeeding Raily Legito. DSS/Kinheim also is playing under a new Head Coach, as Etienne Meijer was named as successor of Michael Crouwel, who retired after last season. Meijer used five pitchers in today's game. Martijn Schoonderwoerd started and threw the first two innings for the Haarlem-team. Jemail Streedel then threw the third inning. He was followed by Nick Boxelaar and Rick Rizvić, who both threw two innings. Mathijs Oosterbeek then pitched the eighth and final inning for DSS/Kinheim. DSS/Kinheim collected eight basehits, five of them off of Neptunus-starter Tom de Blok, who has just returned from Taiwan, where he participated in the World Baseball Classic with the Netherlands Team. Last Sunday, the Orange-Team was eliminated for the Quarter Final after losing to Italy. De Blok was one of six Neptunus-players on the active roster of the Orange Team during the Classic. The others were pitchers Ryan Huntington, Kevin Kelly and Shairon Martis, catcher Dashenko Ricardo and outfielder Roger Bernadina. Infielder Dwayne Kemp also was with the team as a reserve-player. Not all of these players already were back with the team today. DSS/Kinheim opened the score with two runs in the second inning off of Tom de Blok, who didn't play last season due to an injury. He then was on the roster of L&D Amsterdam Pirates. In the inning, Donny Kuijper singled and scored on a double by Sem Kuijper. While sliding into home plate, Donny Kuijper sustained a minor injury to his pinky. Moments later, Sem Kuijer scored the second run on a single by Marcel Tolenaars, who also didn't play the entire 2022 season because of an injury. DSS/Kinheim added its third run in the sixth inning on a single by Jochem Koedijk. In that inning, Neptunus also scored its lone run.

Hoofddorp Pioniers vs. Wassenaar Hoofddorp Pioniers, which will play with a young and unexperienced team this season, nipped Wassenaar in its first exhibition-game. In a 7-inning game, Pioniers won 8-7. The team of Hoofddorp Pioniers is also led by a new Head Coach this season. Jasper de Jong succeeded Mervin Gario, who this year is the new Head Coach of Amsterdam Pirates. Today, Pioniers collected fifteen basehits, but also left seventeen runners behind on the bases. Four basehits were recorded by rookie Vincent Mevissen, who last season played in the second team of the Hoofddorp-club. Daan Kuit started for Pioniers and threw the first two innings. Kuit originally is a catcher, but this season, he will be one of the pitchers of Pioniers. He was then followed by Maarten Smit (three innings), Alden Stacie (one) and Nick Loos (one). Kuit, Smit and Loos also all played in the second team last year. Stacie then played in the big league-team of Quick Amersfoort. As opponent Wassenaar had not enough pitching for today's game, Pioniers-pitcher Sem Lauf threw two innings for the First Division-team. Pioniers opened the score early and held the lead throughout the game.

Cologne Cardinals vs. Amsterdam Pirates Amsterdam Pirates played a double-header today, two 7-inning games, against Cologne Cardinals. A week ago, Pirates hosted the Cardinals-team at its home-site in Amsterdam. On Friday, Pirates traveled to the historic city of Cologne to play their this weekend. Cologne is the fourth-most populous city in Germany and is located 25 km (16 miles) norhtwest of Bonn, where HCAW is playing this weekend. Of course, Cologne is famous for its medieval Catholic Cathedral (Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus), which is the tallest Cathedral in the world (157 m, 515 ft). Construction of the Cathedral began in 1248. In 1709, a company was founded in Cologne, which now is the oldest perfume factory in the world. Johann Maria Farina, the founder of the company, named his elixer after the city: Eau de Cologne. What is now known as Cologne was founded in 38 BC by the Ubii as Oppidum Ubiorum. Shortly thereafter, the settlement was inhabited by Romans and made it an important military base. In the year 15 AC, Julia Agrippina minor was born there in what was then known as Oppidum Ubiorum. She became one of the most prominent women in Roman history and was the mother of future Emperor Nero and the wife of Emperor Claudius. In the year 50, when she was married to Claudius, the Romans renamed the settlement Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, to honor Julia Agrippina. By the way, several other wellknown persons also were born in Cologne, including Dutch poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679), French composer Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880, composed the famous 'Can-can'), German politician Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967, first Chancellor West-Germany), German/American actor Werner Klemperer (1920-2000, major role in TV-series 'Hogan's Heroes') and Dutch actor Bernhard Droog (1921-2009). OK, that was some history, back to baseball. At Circlewood Stadium (or Baseballstadion Köln), Amsterdam Pirates today played two productive games against Cologne Cardinals and recorded two victories. In the two games combined, Pirates got a lot of baserunners. The team produced 17 basehits, including seven doubles and three triples. Besides that, twelve batters walked. With that, all players had a good day at the plate, including rookies Iverson Martinez and Tiem Nahuis, who were added from the second team. They are part of the so-called Rookie-Plus group of six (talented) young players, who will play in the second team this season, but can be added to the main-squad when needed. Sven van de Sanden was the starting pitcher in the first game, Scott Prins started the second one. Head Coach Mervin Gario used all available pitchers who are with the team in Cologne. With that, he gave all of them an opportunity to throw in game-situations and it was reported that all did well.

Bonn Capitals vs. HCAW HCAW traveled to Bonn, which is located 25 km (16 miles) south of Cologne, where Amsterdam Pirates is playing this weekend. With that, the two most recent Dutch champions play in Germany. Pirates won the title in 2019 and 2021, HCAW last year by winning the Holland Series. There was no champion crowned in 2020, but Pirates then led 2-0 in the best-of-seven Holland Series against Neptunus when it was halted due to new measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19). By the way, Neptunus was also left empty-handed in the before-mentioned Series of 2019, 2021 and 2022. Above, in the recap of the Pirates-games, you can read some history of Cologne. So now some history of Bonn, which was the capital of the former West-Germany in 1949-1990. Like Cologne, Bonn also has a long history, as it also was founded more than 2,000 years ago. In around the year 12 BC, the Roman army stationed a unit in what is currently the center of the city. Earlier, the army had resettled members of the Ubii there to a settlement, which was called Bonna. The Romans constructed a fort there, which became the largest ever of its type. One of the points of interest in the city is the Beethoven-Haus, which is the birthplace of famous German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827). Also born in Bonn were German physicist Johann Wilhelm Hittorf (1824-1914), Dutch actress Emma Morel (1883-1957, played important roles in the Dutch movies 'Pygmalion' (1937) and 'Vadertje Langbeen' (1938)), Dutch journalist Carel Enkelaar (1920-1996), Dutch violinist Theo Olof (1924-2012) and Dutch actress and soprano Lone van Roosendaal (1969). Back to baseball. At the Baseballstadion Rheinaue Park, the Champions of the Netherlands and Germany met each other today in the first of two games. Bonn Capitals won with a 9-2 score on a sunny afternoon. The Germans scored their nine runs off of three pitchers. Lefthander Jasper Elfrink started for HCAW and threw the first three innings for the team of Head Coach Danny Rombley. Elfrink was followed by Arjen Nijkamp, who threw 2 1/3 inning. He was then succeeded by Nick Keur, who pitched the final 2 2/3 inning for the Bussum-team. Last weekend, Bonn Capitals announced that it has added outfielder Phildrick Llewellyn to its roster for this season. In the past three seasons, the Curaçao-born Llewellyn played in the German 1.Bundesliga for Paderborn Untouchables. Llewellyn also briefly played for HCAW last season. He appeared in four games, one in the regular season, three in the Holland Series.

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