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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) Five more exhibition-games in the books; Sulbaran joins RCH Nederlands HOOFDDORP / ROTTERDAM / SOEST (Neth.) / BONN / COLOGNE (Germany) - Although it was much colder than the day before, all scheduled exhibition-games were played on Sunday (March 19). With that, seven big league-teams came into action in five games, two of them in Germany. And there was a surprise newcomer on the mound for RCH Memorie Sieraden. At Hoofddorp, Hoofddorp Pioniers nipped RCH Memorie Sieraden with a 7-6 score in an 8-inning game. Pitching for RCH in one inning was Juan Carlos Sulbaran, who last week was one of the pitchers of the Netherlands Team in the World Baseball Classic. The righthander joined the Heemstede-team on Saturday, but didn't pitch then. Read the recap below for more details. HCAW and Amsterdam Pirates completed their trip to Germany. Dutch champion HCAW traveled to Bonn, where it played against German champion Bonn Capitals. Today, the second game between the two teams ended in a 6-6 tie in a 9-inning game. At Cologne, Amsterdam Pirates won 15-4 in a 7-inning game against Cologne Cardinals. At Rotterdam, Curaçao Neptunus and DSS/Kinheim met for the second time. DSS/Kinheim won with a 6-4 score in a 7-inning game. And in Soest, UVV met Hamburg Stealers from Germany and won 11-5 in a 7½ inning game. Coming weekend, the first of the annual tournaments are schedule that are traditionally organized in the weeks before the start of the new season. Amsterdam Pirates, HCAW and RCH Memorie Sieraden will be the three participating teams in the Ringvaart Tournament at the site of RCH-Pinguïns in Heemstede. DSS/Kinheim will be the lone big league-team in the Wim Oosterhof Tournament, which is organized by the Haarlem-club. The other participants are the second team of DSS/Kinheim 2, Omron Pioniers and Sparks Haarlem, who all play in the First Division. Twins Oosterhout will travel to Antwerp in Belgium to participate in the Johan Veraghtert Tournament at the sites of Borgerhout Squirrels and Deurne Spartans. On Tuesday-evening, Twins will play a game against its second team. The other four big league-teams will not participate in tournaments. Curaçao Neptunus meets Bonn Capitals from Germany on Saturday and Sunday in Rotterdam. Hoofddorp Pioniers plays against First Divisionist Euro Stars. Saturday at home in Hoofddorp, Sunday in Capelle a/d IJssel. UVV and Quick Amersfoort will play against each other. Saturday at UVV's home-site in Vleuten, Sunday in Amersfoort. (March 19)

Hoofddorp Pioniers vs. RCH Memorie Sieraden Hoofddorp Pioniers recorded its second exhibition-win of the weekend, winning 7-6 in an 8-inning game against RCH Memorie Sieraden, which had won its first game on Saturday against Hamburg Stealers from Germany. Pioniers played against Wassenaar on Saturday. Today, Pioniers took an early lead, scoring four runs in the first three innings off of starter Mike van den Berg, who last season played for Silicon Storks. In the fourth inning, Van den Berg was relieved by Juan Carlos Sulbaran, who was with the team for the first time on Saturday, but then didn't pitch. A few days ago, the righthander arrived in the Netherlands after having participated with the Netherlands Team in the World Baseball Classic in Taiwan. There, the Orange Team was eliminated in the First Round. Last year, Sulbaran played for Curaçao Neptunus after having pitched in the previous two seasons for L&D Amsterdam Pirates with whom he won the Dutch Championship-title in 2021. Sulbaran also pitched in the Dutch big league for Silicon Storks (2018) and DSS (2019). After last season, Sulbaran and Neptunus separated and it was not clear whether he would be back in the highest league this year. A few days ago, it was announced that Sulbaran had signed a contract with Lexington Counter Clocks, an American team that plays in the professional Independent Atlantic League. Lexington opens the new season on April 28. It is not clear at the moment whether Sulbaran only will be with RCH-Pinguïns throughout the exhibition-season (which ends on April 2) or that he also wil be playing for the team in the regular season, which opens on April 6. In the fourth inning, Sulbaran (who threw fourteen pitches) was greeted with a double by Bodhi de Vreede and gave up the fifth Pioniers-run. Nick Andringa took over from Sulbaran in the fifth and gave up two more runs in the two innings he threw. Jesse Aussems completed the game for RCH and threw two scoreless innings. In the seventh, Aussems was supported with a nice defensive play from short stop Sebastiaan van der Horst. In the meantime, Kaien Oukes, Just van den Ouweelen and Sem Nijman all threw two scoreless innings for Pioniers. Combined, they gave up only one basehit. RCH-Pinguïns came back into the game in the seventh inning off of two relievers in what was a tough inning for Pioniers, as the team gave up six runs. First, Jesse van Es gave up some basehits and some runs, while the defensive also made some errors in the 1/3 inning he threw. Nick Loos took over, saw RCH add a few runs, but completed the inning, then threw a scoreless eighth inning. Except for Loos, all pitchers used by Pioniers are newcomers, who all played in the First Division last year. Oukes, Van den Ouwelen and Nijman all played in a second team last season. Oukes at DSS/Kinheim, Van den Ouweelen at Hoofddorp Pioniers and Nijman at Neptunus. Van Es played for Euro Stars last year. Pioniers collected several basehits, including two doubles from newcomer Daan Terstall, who last season played for UVV. Also, Michael Dumitrescu and Dani Heiligers, both recovering from injuries, contributed with a basehit. ,,I'm very satisfied with my pitching, they had only two or three walks'', Pioniers Pitching Coach Tom van Limburg said afterwards. ,,And that eighth inning, that can happen, no problem, we recovered, that is a learning-process.'' ,,It was the first time we played this weekend and today was much colder than yesterday. But I've seen positive things this weekend and I'm proud of that'', said Joshua Zara, the new Head Coach of RCH-Pinguïns.

UVV vs. Hamburg Stealers UVV played its second exhibition-game in Soest today, as its home-field in Vleuten is not playable yet. On Saturday, UVV played against Omron Pioniers and nipped th second team of Hoofddorp Pioniers with a 5-4 score. Today, UVV met Hamburg Stealers from Germany in a morning-game at the site of Knickerbockers. Afterwards, the German team traveled home after having played five games in the Netherlands. The first four of them were played at the site of Amsterdam Pirates. There, Hamburg played against the main-squad of Pirates, twice against the club's second team and against RCH Memorie Sieraden. Today, UVV recorded an 11-5 victory in a 7½ inning game against Hamburg, which got one homerun. Aaron Isenia started for UVV and was succeeded on the mound by Sam van der Meer, Sean Wout and Stefan Kuipers. Van der Meer played for Euro Stars last season. As there were no umpires assigned for this game, UVV's Head Coach Frank Koene served as the Home Plate Umpire. And so, UVV played its first two games in Soest. ,,Thanks to the organization of Knickerbockers'', Koene said.

Curaçao Neptunus vs. DSS/Kinheim DSS/Kinheim won 6-4 today in a 7-inning game against Neptunus after also having won on Saturday 3-1 in an 8-inning game. Today, two former teammates were the starting pitchers, Shairon Martis and Donny Breek, who last year both played for L&D Amsterdam Pirates. Initially, DSS/Kinheim faced an early 4-0 deficit. Neptunus scored twice in the first two innings off of starter Donny Breek. The team added its third run in the third at bat off of new pitcher Bas Timmer, then scored another run off of Finn Blokker, who threw the fourth and fifth inning for DSS/Kinheim. Shairon Martis threw the first three innings for Neptunus and encountered no problems. A week ago, Martis was one of the pitchers of the Netherlands Team in the World Baseball Classic. In the fourth inning, Martis was relieved by Kevin Kelly, who also was a pitcher of the Orange-squad in the Classic. The two returned home a few days ago after the Netherlands Team had been eliminated in the First Round last Sunday. Kelly gave up three runs in the fifth inning. Amarensio Franka and Nick Hofer then both scored on a triple by Julian Toppen. The latter then scored himself on a following grounder by Koen Halderman. Last year, Franka played in Tridents, the second team of Neptunus. DSS/Kinheim came alongside in the sixth inning off new pitcher Ryan Hoogendoorn. The tying run was batted in by Marcel Tolenaars. In the seventh, DSS/Kinheim added two more runs off of Hoogendoorn to take the lead. First, Matis Crouwel scored on a double by Urving Kemp, who then later scored via two passed balls. Last year, Kemp played for Twins Oosterhout, but he is also a former Neptunus-player. Rick Timmermans pitched the sixth inning for DSS/Kinheim to become the winning pitcher. Robyn Clara then threw the seventh inning to earn a save. ,,These were two good games, this was only the first weekend and although they were complete yet, this still is Neptunus. The scores don't say much yet, but it didn't disappoint'', DSS/Kinheim Head Coach Etienne Meijer said afterwards.

Cologne Cardinals vs. Amsterdam Pirates Amsterdam Pirates closed its stay in Cologne with a 15-4 win in a 7-inning game against host Cologne Cardinals. The two teams also played two 7-inning games on Saturday, which were both won by Pirates (5-1, 17-0). With that, Pirates now has played five games, which were all won. However, new Head Coach Mervin Gario underscores that the results are not that important at the moment. Gario: ,,This weekend wasn't about the results, it was about being together as a team, becoming better as a team. But the results were there and that is nice, of course. We had fun and become a team more-and-more''. In today's game, it was clear that some players were somewhat tired. Last Thursday, the team also played a game, then traveled to Cologne on Friday and played two games on Saturday. ,,But that is no excuse, it just started somewhat rough today'', Gario said. With an 1-0 lead, Pirates-starter Finn Kragt ran into some problems and gave up four runs in the first inning. However, the German lead was shortlived, as Pirates turned the game around quickly, rallied in the second at bat and led 8-4 afterwards. Pirates collected thirteen basehits, including six doubles and a homerun by Denzel Richardson. Defensively, third baseman Oliver van der Wijst Severino made a nice play, then first baseman Jorrit Penseel made a nice pick on his throw to eliminate a batter. Also, rightfielder Lucas Vos threw out a runner at the plate. Van der Wijst and Penseel played for Hoofddorp Pioniers last season. Vos is a player of the 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. Kragt, who also belongs to the Rookie-Plus group, threw three innings, then was relieved by Michael Bennett, who threw the next two innings. In the sixth, Sven van de Sanden pitched for Pirates. Then, in the seventh, it was Dirk van 't Klooster who took the mound for Pirates. Van 't Klooster is the all-time hit-leader in the Dutch big league, but he came out of retirement last season when he played in some games for Hoofddorp Pioniers, where he was the 1B Coach and Hitting Coach in the staff of Mervin Gario, who then was the Head Coach of Pioniers. This season, Van 't Klooster will have the same role at Pirates, as well as being the batting practice pitcher. Gario: ,,Just to have some fun and also because there was some room to do, Dirk threw one inning. But he will be one of our coaches this season. This was to show his son, who is in the States, that daddy still can pitch''. Dirk's son Koen van 't Klooster (last year Pioniers) will be one of the pitchers of Pirates this season, but he is currently in the USA. There, he studies at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. With Ponies, the baseball-team of this Junior College, he plays in Region 14 of the NJCAA. Also playing for the team are Pirates-players Luca Pastor and Raphael Smeenk, as well as RCH Memorie Sieraden-player Raydley Legito. They started their college-season at the end of January. At the moment, Van 't Klooster threw in nine games as a reliever and he is 2-1 with one save and 36 strikeouts. Smeenk played in 25 games and hits .295 (26 hits, two homeruns, 20 RBI's, 21 runs scored), Pastor played in 20 games and hits .178 (eight hits, five RBI's, eight runs) and Legito played in 14 games and hit .200 (eight hits, four RBI's, seven runs).

Bonn Capitals vs. HCAW HCAW completed its stay in Bonn, where it played two games against German champion Bonn Capitals. On Saturday, the Dutch reigning champion lost 9-2 in an 8½ inning game. Today, the two teams played another 9-inning game, which this time ended in a 6-6 tie. HCAW's Head Coach Danny Rombley inserted three pitchers in today's game. Nathan Diaby started, then Ruben Dekker and veteran Sedley Karel succeeded him. All threw three innings. Last season, Diaby pitched for Hoofddorp Pioniers. Karel will make his comeback in the big league this season. The righthander played in the third team of HCAW last season, but in the past he also played in the highest league for the main-squad of the Bussum-club, as well as for Hoofddorp Pioniers and UVV. Newcomers Shurman Marlin (Twins Oosterhout) and Delano Selassa (Amsterdam Pirates) also played in their first games for their new club. On Saturday, Marlin was the first baseman and Selassa played at third base. Today, Marlin again played at first base, but also took over as designated hitter when starting DH Jair van Borkulo moved to first base. Selassa was the leftfielder in today's game.

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