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Compiled and Copyright © 1997-2024 by Marco Stoovelaar

(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Federashon Beisbòl i Sòftbòl Boneriano & Marco Stoovelaar) Netherlands Team closes Kingdom Series with convincing win Nederlands SANTA CRUZ / ORANJESTAD (Aruba) - The Netherlands Baseball Team closed the second edition of The Kingdom Series on Sunday (November 3) with a convincing 12-1 win against Bonaire in what was the first-ever game between the two teams. The Orange-squad opened the event on Friday with a 10-3 win against host Aruba. On Saturday, the Netherlands won 6-2 against Curaçao. The Orange-win against Bonaire was convincing, but the Netherlands was kept scoreless after having scored six runs in the first two innings. The remaining six runs were added from the seventh inning on. Later today, Aruba won 5-4 in ten innings against Curaçao. These two teams will meet again on Monday in the Final. The Netherlands was not competing for a spot in the Final, as it considered the games played during the Kingdom Series as practice games as part of the preparations for the upcoming Premier12. The Netherlands will play in the prelminary round in Mexico, beginning on November 9. The best two teams of the six-team pool will advance to the Super Round in Japan. Bonaire is relatively new on the international baseball-stage. Baseball for seniors and youth, as well as softball, is being played on the island since the 1970s. But despite the fact that the sports remained popular over the years, competitions were organized irregularly since then. A few years ago, a closer cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB) was initiated. That led to the founding of the Federashon Beisbòl i Sòftbòl Boneriano (FBSB) in 2023. Looking back to how it began, the FBSB mentions that in May 2019, the Ministry of Health, Welfare & Sport (VWS) presented a Caribbean Prevention & Sports Agreement. The sports structure on Bonaire plays an important role in achieving the goals included in the agreement. This proposal focuses on developing baseball and softball. The KNBSB proposed to join forces of the organisations involved and to develop the sport, based on the principle that sport is accessible to everyone and that results are created by well-organised activities for the youth. This is achieved by implementing a development programme that is as closely aligned as possible with the guidelines of the Caribbean Prevention & Sports Agreement. Following this initiative, a group of ten people who are actively involved in the baseball and softball-world on Bonaire, traveled to the Netherlands in September 2021 to participate in an inspiration week. During this week, this group was introduced to Baseball5 and attended meetings at various clubs with the aim of sharing experiences, getting an explanation of the sports structure in the Netherlands and taking stock of important matters. During this inspiration week, this group also followed a training 'Conscious management', but also later on Bonaire the training 'Management with Impact' with the aim of understanding the difference between administrative, coordinating and executive tasks. The week was concluded with a tour of the Loek Loevendie Ballpark on Sportpark Ookmeer in Amsterdam, which is the home-site of Dutch big league-club Amsterdam Pirates (both baseball and softball), but also is the National Training Center. At the complex, the National Teams of the Netherlands conduct their practice sessions. ...Linda Steijger (center) during her second course... ...for scorers on Bonaire in August 2024... (© Photo: Federashon Beisbòl i Sòftbòl Boneriano) Following the trip to the Netherlands, a taskgroup was formed that has a monthly contact with the KNBSB. A delegation of the KNBSB also visited Bonaire. In November 2022, Chynesca Cornelia was appointed to head the project, which was named 'Nos ta bai kuminsa huntu', which means 'We are going to start together'. On October 3, 2023, the Federashon Beisbòl i Sòftbòl Boneriano (FBSB) was founded. In December 2022 and 2023, the Baseball Week Bonaire was organized, a three-day event with clinics for youth-players. In 2022, Major League-players Jonathan Schoop and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. participated in the clinics and in 2023, Kenley Jansen and Ozzie Albies traveled to Bonaire, while Randolph Oduber headed the clinics with local coaches. During the Kingdom Series, Oduber made his coaching-debut with the Netherlands Team. In June 2023, Dutch big league-umpires Ric Zwanenberg and Marwin Kleinmoedig conducted an umpiring clinic on Bonaire. They returned to the island in June of this year and then were joined by Aruban umpire Giovanni Meulens. In October 2023 and August of this year, a scoring clinic and course was conducted on Bonaire by Linda Steijger, the scoring commissioner in the Netherlands, who also is the chairman of the WBSC Europe Baseball Scoring Committee and is a member of the WBSC Scoring Committee. Also in August, Netherlands Team-coach Ben Thijssen conducted a coaching course, together with Payo Faneyte. (November 3) Related articles: Game 1 Kingdom Series: Netherlands Baseball Team opens Kingdom Series with win. (November 1) Game 2 Kingdom Series: Netherlands Team also wins second game of Kingdom Series. (November 2)

...Burnangel Gerly is greeted after his historic lead-off at bat... ...for Bonaire when he hit a homerun... (© Photo: Screenshot / Marco Stoovelaar) Netherlands vs. Bonaire In today's game, the Netherlands recorded twelve basehits, includng three by Sharlon Schoop and Delano Selassa. Besides giving up twelve basehits, five Bonaire-pitchers also walked ten batters and hit two with a pitch. Bonaire collected four basehits, including only one off of four relievers since the sixth inning. The Netherlands had a productive first at bat, scoring five runs on only two basehits off of two pitchers. Alexander Sosa de la Cruz, the starting pitcher for Bonaire, encountered early problems with his control. The righthander walked lead-off hitter Stijn van der Meer, who moved into scoring position on a grounder by former Major Leaguer Didi Gregorius, who played in his first game of the tournament. Hereafter, the bases got loaded when Dwayne Kemp singled and Denzel Richardson walked. Sosa then also walked Sharlon Schoop. That not only led to the first run, but also to an early pitching change with the bases loaded. Calvin Semeleer took over and he began well, as he got a foul pop-fly from Delano Selassa. But hereafter, he walked Donovan Antonia and Dayson Croes, which gave the Orange-squad two more automatic runs. With the bases still loaded, Rushenten Tomsjansen followed with a 2-run single to lift the lead to 5-0. Like Antonia and Croes, Tomsjansen is a newcomer in the Netherlands Team. With runners at the corners, Stijn van der Meer stepped up to the plate for the second time, but this time, he hit an inning-ending force play-grounder. Bonaire also began the game well, as Burnangel Gerly hit a lead-off homerun on the third pitch he saw from Orange-starter Kaj Timmermans. The righthander recovered and retired the next three batters, closing with a strikeout. With his lead-off performance, Gerly wrote history, as he accounted for the first basehit, the first run scored, the first run batted in and the first homerun by a player from Bonaire against the Netherlands in an official international game. Gerly's homerun also was the first-ever for Bonaire in an international game. The Netherlands added a run with two outs in the second inning. Denzel Rchardson and Sharlon Schoop both walked and the first then scored on a following single by Delano Selassa. Kaj Timmermans retired the side in the bottom of the second inning, which ended with a nice play by second baseman Dwayne Kemp. In the top of the fourth inning, Didi Gregorius led off and drove the ball deep into rightfield, but was caught there in foul territory by Reyhan Fecunda. In the bottom half of the at bat, Gregorius turned an inning-ending double play. In the top of the fifth inning, the Netherlands came into scoring position for the first time since the second inning. The first two batters reached base, but the team was unable to score. Delano Selassa led off with a double and next batter Donovan Antonia was hit by a pitch. A pitching change followed, Richairon Martis took over and he got pop-flies from Dayson Croes and Rushenten Tomsjansen, resulting in two consecutive infield-flies. Hereafter, Stijn van der Meer hit a comeback line drive, but the ball jumped from pitcher Martis to first baseman Kelvin Marin for the third out. Bonaire got only its fifth baserunner in the bottom of the fifth off of Kaj Timmermans when Yerson Rosalina reached second base on a throwing error. But he was left behind, as a foul pop-fly ended the at bat. By the way, Rosalina played in the Dutch big league in the 2021 season. Back then, he appeared in 23 games as reliever for Storks and was 1-2 with one save. In today's game, Rosalina was the designated hitter for Bonaire. Dylan Farley took over the Orange-pitching in the bottom of the sixth inning to make his Netherlands Team-debut. In February last year, the lefthander also was a member of the Netherlands Team during a training-camp in Arizona (USA) preceeding the World Baseball Classic. The Orange-squad played four games during the training-camp in Scottsdale, but Farley didn't came into action back then. Earlier this year, Farley participated with the Netherlands Under-23 Team in the WBSC Under-23 World Cup in China. As did Donovan Antonia, Rushensten Tomsjansen and Pim Vijfvinkel, who now are also his teammates during the Kingdom Series. Farley was greeted with a single on his second delivery to Burnangel Gerly. But moments later, Farley eliminated Gerly at first base via a pick-off. Farley followed with two strikeouts. After having scored six runs in the first two at bats, the Netherlands was held scoreless in the next four innings and was limited to only two basehits. The Netherlands then added six more runs in the final three innings. In these at bats, seven more basehits were recorded, including four doubles. In the top of the seventh, three runs were scored with two outs. Sharlon Schoop led off with a single and Delano Selassa followed with his second double in the game. Hereafter, Donovan Antonia struckout and Dayson Croes popped out. But Rushenten Tomsjansen then delivered a 2-run double and Stijn van der Meer followed with a runscoring single, which increased the lead to 9-1. Hereafter, Bonaire Manager Arys Ventura came out to make several defensive changes, including moving short stop Juan Lantigua to the pitching mound. Second baseman Jadiell Polonio Cleto took over the short stop-position, while Jesus Muller became the new second baseman and thus replaced designated hitter Yerson Rosalina in the batting order, as the team lost the DH-position due to this moves. Lantigua walked Didi Gregorius, but then closed the inning by striking out Dwayne Kemp. ...Sharlon Schoop reached base six times for the Netherlands... ...He was 3-for-4 with one double, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and 2 walks... (© Photo: Screenshot / Marco Stoovelaar) In the bottom of the seventh, Pim Vijfvinkel pitched for the Netherlands and retired the side, which was highlighted by a nice running catch by leftfielder Stijn van der Meer. With one out in the top of the eighth, three Orange-players reached base. With out, Sharlon Schoop singled, but was forced out on a grounder by Delano Selassa. After next batter Donovan Antonia walked, another pitching change followed for Bonaire. Juan Lantigua returned to the short stop-position and Ivan Thielman became the new pitcher. The lefthander got an inning-ending grounder from Dayson Croes. As Bonaire had lost its DH when Lantigua took over the pitching in the previous inning, Thielman also entered the batting order. He replaced new second baseman Jesus Muller, who left the game again, as Jadiell Polonio Cleto returned from short to second base. In the bottom of the eighth, Ryan Huntington became the fourth Dutch pitcher and also retired the side. The lefthander began with a strikeout, then two grounders followed. In the top of the ninth, Ivan Thielman returned to the mound for Bonaire, which could not have been posible when the game-rules would have been applied. In the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Jonathan de Wind was inserted when Thielman was supposed to hit. As mentioned, when short stop Juan Lantigua took over the pitching in the seventh, Bonaire lost its designated hitter in its batting order, meaning each new pitcher would have to come to bat himself (or be replaced by a pinch-hitter). But in the top of the ninth, Thielman re-entered, took the mound again and gave up three runs. Thielman hit lead-off hitter Rushenten Tomsjansen with a pitch, uncorked a wild pitch with one out, then gave up an RBI-double to Didi Gregorius and walked Dwayne Kemp. After Denzel Richardson had flied out, Sharlon Schoop connected for a 2-run double - his third basehit in the final three innings - and reached base for the sixth time. And that made it a 12-1 score. In the bottom of the ninth, Koen Postelmans was on the mound for the Netherlands. Postelmans had been with the team as an additional pitcher during the Kingdom Series, as Tom de Blok and Kevin Kelly are not with the team on Aruba. They will join the team in Mexico, as will catcher Hendrik Clementina. Postelmans got two quick outs, as he began with a strikeout, then fielded a comeback-grounder. At that moment, four relievers had retired ten batters in a row. But with two outs, he walked Levi Carolus, enabled him to move into scoring position via a wild pitch and hit Reyhan Fecunda with a pitch. With two runners on base, Postelmans ended the inning and the game by striking out Reangelo Beaumont. Playing for the Netherlands in this game were: Stijn van der Meer (LF, 1-for-5, run, RBI, walk), Didi Gregorius (SS, 1-for-5, run, RBI, double, walk, stolen base), Dwayne Kemp (2B, 1-for-5, 2 runs, walk, strikeout, stolen base), Denzel Richardson (RF, 1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 walks, strikeout, stolen base), Sharlon Schoop (DH, 3-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs, double, 2 walks), Delano Selassa (1B, 3-for-6, run, RBI, 2 doubles), Donovan Antonia (C, 0-for-2, run, RBI, 2 walks, hit by pitch, 2 strikeouts), Dayson Croes (3B, 0-for-4, 2 RBIs, walk), Rushenten Tomsjansen (CF, 2-for-4, 2 runs 3 RBIs, double, hit by pitch) and pitchers Kaj Timmermans, Dylan Farley, Pim Vijfvinkel, Ryan Huntington and Koen Postelmans.

Bonaire - Netherlands 1-12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E NETHERLANDS 5 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 - 12 12 1 BONAIRE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 4 0 pitchers Netherlands inn. SO BB H R ER Kaj Timmermans, W (1-0) 5 4 - 3 1 1 Dylan Farley 1 2 - 1 - - Pim Vijfvinkel 1 - - - - - Ryan Huntington 1 1 - - - - Koen Postelmans 1 2 1 - - - pitchers Bonaire inn. SO BB H R ER Alexander Sosa de la Cruz, L (0-1) 0.1 - 3 1 4 4 Calvin Semeleer 3.2 (*) 1 4 4 2 2 Richairon Martis 2.2 1 - 4 3 3 Juan Lantigua 1 2 2 1 - - Ivan Thielman 1.1 - 1 2 3 3 (*) - Semeleer pitched to two batters in the fifth inning Homerun: Bonaire: Burnangel Gerly (1)(1st,solo,0 outs,off Timmermans). Umpires: HP-Edson Louisa, 1B-......, 2B-Marwin Kleinmoedig, 3B-...... Official Scorer-...... Starting Time-4:00 PM. Time Played-2:54 hrs. Site-Stadion Nadi Croes/Crismo Angela, Santa Cruz/Oranjestad, Aruba. Game Notes: Game 3 - The Kingdom Series 2024. Dylan Farley makes his debut in the Netherlands Team. First international game in history of the Netherlands Team against Bonaire. First victory in history of the Netherlands Team against Bonaire.

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