(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Starting Pitchers Coming Play-Off Series & Bottom-4 Pool
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
Coming Thursday-evening (August 14), the best-of-five Play-Off Series and the Bottom-4 Pool open in the Dutch big league.
With that, the season resumes after an almost 3-week interruption (18 days).
On Sunday, July 27, the two best-of-three Wild Card Series ended with Amsterdam Pirates and Oosterhout Twins both recording a sweep.
Twins.won twice (11-1, 10-4) against Kinheim, ending their series on July 26.
Pirates opened with a 6-1 win on July 24, then opponent Worldwide Pharma Logistics Hoofddorp Pioniers won Game 2 two days later (6-5).
However, Pirates played under protest from the 6th inning on after the balk-rule was applied.
The Protest-Committee looked over the situation, concluded that the rule was not applied correctly and granted the protest, meaning all actions since that situation were declared invalid.
And so, the following day, the game resumed in the bottom of the 6th inning with runners on 1st, 2nd and 3rd base, one out, an 0-0 count on the batter and a 4-2 lead for Pirates.
The remainder of the game was scheduled before the eventual third game in Amsterdam.
As Pirates won 5-2, that game was not needed anymore.
When the game resumed, Pioniers filed a protest against the ruling of the Protest-Committee.
Following the Wild Card Series, the season was interrupted for almost three weeks.
In that span, no games were scheduled, due to the European Championship U23, which was held in Czechia.
The two countries that for many years are (or were) considered generally favorite for a spot in the Final, were both left empty-handed in the Semi-Finals.
The Netherlands U23 Team lost 7-4 against Great Britain, while Italy was shutout 3-0 by Czechia.
In the Bronze Medal-game, the Orange-squad broke a 3-3 tie with a 6-run rally in the sixth inning and went on to win 9-4.
In the Final, the British Team trailed 7-0 halfway the third inning, but came back with a 5-run rally, turned the game around and won 9-7, thanks to a 4-run rally in the sixth inning!
With that, Great Britain captured its first-ever Gold Medal in an European Baseball Championship.
In the upcoming best-of-five Play-Offs, Amsterdam Pirates meets reigning champion Curaçao Neptunus, while Oosterhout Twins will play against HCAW.
The Play-Off Series open on Thursday-evening in respectively Rotterdam and Bussum.
For Neptunus and HCAW, this will be their first game since July 20 when the regular season ended.
In the past days,Neptunus played two practice-games against the National Team of Belgium.
On Sunday, Neptunus played against Hamburg Stealers from Germany, which on Saturday played against HCAW.
The winners of the Play-Offs advance to the best-of-seven Holland Series, which opens on Saturday, August 30.
Also beginning on Thursday-evening is the Bottom-4 Pool.
In this Pool, Kinheim, Pioniers, UVV and RCH-Pinguïns will play for ranking only, as there is no relegation.
UVV and RCH-Pinguïns also played their last game on July 20.
Beneath are the announced (probable) starting pitchers (W-L record regular season between brackets) for the Play-Off Series and Bottom-4 Pool that open on Thursday-evening, August 14.
As always, these pitching assignments can change on game-days.
(August 13)
Standings, Scores & Schedules
Rosters
Live play-by-play & live-streams
| PLAY-OFF SERIES 1 |
| Roster | CURAÇAO NEPTUNUS (0-0) (37-5) | vs. |
AMSTERDAM PIRATES (0-0) (22-20) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers Neptunus | G | # | Starting Pitchers Pirates |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 37 | RHP Tom de Blok (11-0) | 1 | 3 | RHP Martijn Schoonderwoerd (4-4) | Th. Aug. 14, 7:30 PM, Rotterdam (1) |
| 39 | RHP Shairon Martis (12-2) | 2 | 15 | LHP Dylan Farley (1-2) | Sa. Aug. 16, 2:00 PM, Amsterdam (2) |
| 88 | RHP Juan Carlos Sulbaran (2-0) | 3 | 41 | RHP Daniel Vos (2-5) | Su. Aug. 17, 2:00 PM, Rotterdam (1) |
| (1) - Neptunus Familiestadion, Sportpark Abraham van Stolkweg, Rotterdam; (2) - Loek Loevendie Ballpark, Sportpark 'Ookmeer', Amsterdam |
| PLAY-OFF SERIES 2 |
| Roster | HCAW (0-0) (32-10) | vs. |
OOSTERHOUT TWINS (0-0) (24-17-1) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers HCAW | G | # | Starting Pitchers Twins |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 39 | RHP Lars Huijer (3-0) | 1 | 21 | RHP Jurgen Zwitzer (3-1) | Th. Aug. 14, 7:30 PM, Bussum (3) |
| 21 | LHP Nelmerson Angela (8-4) | 2 | 19 | RHP Misja Harcksen (8-2) | Sa. Aug. 16, 2:00 PM, Oosterhout (4) |
| 7 | RHP Dennis Burgersdijk (9-1) | 3 | 14 | RHP Wyatt Lankford (6-3) | Su. Aug. 17, 2:00 PM, Bussum (3) |
| (3) - Rob Hoffmann Vallei, Sportpark 'De Sportvallei', Bussum; (4) - Sportpark 'De Slotbosse Toren', Oosterhout |
| BOTTOM-4 POOL |
| Roster | UVV (0-0) (11-30-1) | vs. |
KINHEIM (0-0) (15-26) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers UVV | G | # | Starting Pitchers Kinheim |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 25 | LHP Colin van Laar (3-6) | 1 | 15 | RHP Dylan Eshuis (5-4) | Th. Aug. 14, 7:30 PM, Vleuten (5) |
| 36 | RHP Ruben Dekker (1-3) | 2 | 76 | LHP Tijn Fredrikze (2-9) | Sa. Aug. 16, 2:00 PM, Haarlem (6) |
| 35 | RHP Mike van den Berg (0-5) | 3 | 30 | RHP Rick Timmermans (1-0) | Su. Aug. 17, 2:00 PM, Vleuten (5) |
| (5) - Sportpark 'De Paperclip', Vleuten; (6) - Pim Mulier Stadium, Pim Mulier Sportpark, Haarlem |
| BOTTOM-4 POOL |
| Roster | WORLDWIDE PHARMA LOGISTICS HOOFDDORP PIONIERS (0-0) (19-23) | vs. |
RCH-PINGUÏNS (0-0) (6-35) | Roster | Game-info |
| # | Starting Pitchers Pioniers | G | # | Starting Pitchers RCH-Pinguïns |
| Date, Time & Site |
| 12 | RHP Levi de Graaf (2-3) | 1 | 24 | RHP Elijah Rustenburg (0-2) | Th. Aug. 14, 7:30 PM, Hoofddorp (7) |
| 13 | RHP Noah Zavolas (7-2) | 2 | | to be decided | Sa. Aug. 16, 2:00 PM, Heemstede (8) |
| | to be decided | 3 | | to be decided | Su. Aug. 17, 2:00 PM, Hoofddorp (7) |
| (7) - ETO Ballpark, Sport Park21, Hoofddorp; (8) - Heemsteedse Sportparken, Heemstede |
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