Dutch Baseball

...Rob Cordemans... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Last year, Cordemans played in his first season for ADO and was 9-3 with an 1.72 ERA. He led the league with 127 StrikeOuts and 131 Innings Pitched. Before that, Cordemans threw 12 seasons for DOOR Neptunus, with whom he won the Dutch title seven years in a row (1999-2005) and eight times overall, as the team also won in 1994. In 2005, his last season with Neptunus, Cordemans was 13-1 and had an 0.77 ERA and was named Best Pitcher. Since 1995, Cordemans is a member of the Dutch national team and played in 54 official international games. (January 10)

In December, Instant Holland Almere '90 was the lone club to get a full license, while the other seven clubs got a temporarily license. ADO was the only club not to get a license. Last week, the Association has reviewed the situation again and this time found grounds to retract last months decision and also hand ADO a temporarily license.
This means, all clubs now have a license to play in this years big league, which opens its season on Saturday, April 14. As reported earlier, instead of eight teams, the highest division will exist of nine clubs this season. That's the result of the construction of last year when their was no relegation from the big league, but on the other hand, the First Division-champion got the right to promote, but had to comply to the big league-rules. RCH-Pinguïns, which captured the title in this division, opted for promotion to become the ninth team.
(January 11)

...Hans van Driel Krol... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

...Patrick Beljaards... (Photo: Mario Klardie)

Hans van Driel Krol, a solid infielder, but also a back-up catcher, made his debut at age 18 in the first team of Kinheim in 1965 when it was better known as HCK (which stands for Honkbal (= baseball) Club Kinheim). He remained a member of the main squad until 1986, meaning he played for them in 21 seasons, including 11 in the Dutch big league. In 1978, he was a member of the team that captured the Dutch title. After retiring from the top-level, Van Driel Krol remained active as a player in a lower team. With this team, mainly existing of former first team-players, he participated a few times in the Senior Baseball World Series in Arizona and Florida in the USA. As he still is active, Van Driel Krol now enters his 42nd season as a player on the senior-level in the Kinheim-organization.

Patrick Beljaards started his career as a First Baseman, but evolved into a lefthanded pitching ace, made his debut in the main Kinheim-squad in 1996. He still is a member of the team and last season captured the Dutch title, which was the first for Kinheim since 1994. Between 1997 and 2005, Beljaards played for the Dutch National Team, appearing in 53 official international games. In 1995, Beljaards received the Ron Fraser Award for most promising youth player, in 1997 he was named best national team player under 23 years old and won the Guus van der Heijden Memorial Trophy.
(January 14)

...Ben Thijssen... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Last year, Ben Thijssen made his debut as Head Coach with Corendon Kinheim and won the national championship. In the previous four seasons, Thijssen combined coaching for the national team with being the 3B Coach and Hitting Coach for DOOR Neptunus, with whom he won the Dutch title in all those seasons. This season, Thijssen returns as Head Coach with Kinheim. In 1999, he made his big league-debut as Head Coach, when he led Vitron Tilburg. That team secured itself of a place in the highest league for the 2000 season, but had to withdraw, because too many players left the team.
(January 22)

In the preliminary schedule, which was presented last week, reigning champion Corendon Kinheim will open on the road and play at Sparta/Feyenoord, while vice-champion Konica Minolta Pioniers opens at home against Amsterdam Pirates.
Also on the Opening Day-schedule is the game between Instant Holland Almere '90 vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW at Almere, while newcomer RCH-Pinguïns, which promoted last season, will play its first game at home and meets ADO. For RCH-Pinguïns, this will be their first big league-game since the 2002 season. In that year, the team opened with a 1-4 loss vs. PSV Kenneth Smit Trainingen and went on to win only one game of the 27 played in the first half of the season, after which the league was split in a championship and relegation pool.

DOOR Neptunus, which was dethroned last season after winning the national title seven years in a row from 1999 through 2005, is the first team to have a day off. Because of the total of nine teams playing in the big league, one team will have a day off on every scheduled game day. Neptunus will play its first game on Sunday, April 15 at Amsterdam Pirates. This will mark the fourth time since 2003 that Pirates will play its first home game of the season against the Rotterdam-squad. So far, Neptunus won 4-3 in 2003, then Pirates won 2-1 in 2004. Last year, Neptunus won 3-1. The Sparta/Feyenoord vs. Kinheim meeting on April 14 is the fourth scheduled opening game at Rotterdam between the two teams since 2002. In both 2002 and 2004, Kinheim won 11-1, after which the 2005 contest rained out.

In the schedule, the teams will face another opponent on almost every game-day. In the season, there a 10 2-game series scheduled, with seven of them having games scheduled on Thursday and Saturday. Two are on Saturday and Sunday, with the third being scheduled for Saturday and Monday with another game scheduled in between on Sunday. The schedule will be interrupted in July and August for the trip by the Dutch National Team to the USA and the World Port Tournament (August 2-12) in Rotterdam. After completion of the regular season, another break follows for the European Championships in Spain. Thereafter, the Holland Series is scheduled to decide the Dutch championship. The schedule will become official early next month. The 12 teams who play in Pool A of the First Division also will open their season in the weekend of April 14-15. From Friday, April 20, the nine teams, who play in Pool B, will join in the first Interleague-series of the First Division-season.
(January 24)

IN MEMORIAM ...Henk Lukkien... (1930 - 2007)

In 1954, Henk Lukkien was selected for the Dutch National Team for a game against an American team (stationed in England), but then didn't play. Two years later, he made his debut when the Dutch team faced the Bittburg Bombers (American military team stationed in then West-Germany) in an exhibition game for the upcoming European Championships. A month later, Lukkien was a member of the Dutch team which for the first team participated in an European Championship. In Rome (Italy), he made his international debut in the opening game against Italy. He played in leftfield and went 2-for-5. The Dutch team went on to win the game 13-2 and captured the European title five days later. Besides winning the European title, the winner also qualified to participate in the Global World Series, which was held in Milwaukee (USA). Lukkien was a member of the team that played in this event.
In 1957 and 1958, Lukkien again was selected for the national squad which participated in the European Championships, being held these years in Mannheim, West Germany (1957) and Dutch capital Amsterdam (1958). The Dutch team went on to add two more titles and Lukkien played in all games in leftfield. In 1957, the winning of the European title was for the last time combined with qualification for the Global World Series. This time, Lukkien went with the Dutch team to Detroit. In total, Lukkien played in 17 official international games for the Dutch squad.

As a player for Schoten, Lukkien was one of their outfielders for a lot of seasons. With the Haarlem-based club, he won the Dutch championship title four times. Besides playing soccer, he started playing baseball at age 13 and went on to remain with Schoten his entire career, which ended in the early sixties. With Schoten, Lukkien played together with such players as Joop Geurts, Frans Klooster, Gerrit Nanne, Johan Munsterman and playing/coach Henk Keulemans. The latter was also Manager of the Dutch National Team when it captured the three consecutive European titles from 1956-1958 winning all eleven games played during these events.
(January 26)

Dutch Softball Women

How did the Dutch teams do?

Twins (3rd place) opened on Friday with a 2-0 shutout win vs. Stripes (USA) by scoring twice in the fifth inning on a single by Marjan Smit and a double by Eveline Vonk. On Saturday, Twins handed Saronno (Italy) a big 14-0 loss. Pitcher Michelle Haen threw a 4-inning No-Hitter, while Carolien Sins went 3-for-4. Later in the day, another shutout followed, this time 3-0 vs. Canadian Leafs (Canada). Marjan Smit scored twice in this game.
In the Second Round, Twins trailed 2-1 vs. Joudrs Praha (Czech Republic), but scored twice in the fourth inning on a fielder's choice-grounder by Daisy de Peinder (who will play for the Italian club Macerata this year) and a basesloaded walk for Sandra Catoen to win 3-2. On Sunday, Twins defeated Computer SOS Tex Town Tigers, 2-1. Again, Twins trailed, as Tex Town Tigers opened the score in the first inning. In the third, Twins came alongside, then scored the winning run in the seventh inning on an RBI-grounder by Eveline Vonk. Twins closed the Second Round with a 0-0 tie vs. Carrousel (Russia) and only Marjan Smit was able to register a basehit in this game.

Final Standings Indoor Cup 2007
1	Carrousel	Russia
2	Eagles	USA
3	Twins	Netherlands
4	Canadian Leafs	Canada
5	Computer SOS Tex Town Tigers	Netherlands
6	Stars	USA
7	Joudrs Praha	Czech Rep.
8	Centrals	Netherlands
9	A4 Terrasvogels	Netherlands
10	Euro Stars	Netherlands
11	Saronno	Italy
12	Stripes	USA
13	Amsterdam Pirates	Netherlands
14	Bulls	USA
15	Brasschaat Braves	Belgium
16	Firestix	USA

Twins then met Canadian Leafs in the Bronze Medal Game and won 1-0. The lone run was scored in the third inning on a grounder by Carolien Sins, while winning pitcher Christel Vuister struckout eight batters.

Computer SOS Tex Town Tigers finished in fifth place. The team from Enschede played its first game under guidance of new Head Coach Monti VanBrunt and opened on Friday-evening with a 2-1 victory vs. Firestix (USA). TTT scored twice in the third inning on two errors. On Saturday, TTT lost 2-1 to Stars (USA), which broke a 1-1 tie on three hits in the fourth inning. TTT closed the First Round with a 19-0 shutout-win vs. Brasschaat Braves (Belgium) on 15 basehits, including three by Breedge Quinn, Mieke van der Zwaan and Virginie Anneveld, who would be the Best Hitter of the tournament. Pitchers Kirsten Holshof and (newcomer) Anna-Be Bartels combined on a No-Hitter.
In the Second Round, TTT started with a 1-0 loss vs. Carrousel (Russia), then was beaten 2-1 by Twins. After taking an 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI-double by Virginie Anneveld, losing pitcher Rebecca Soumeru gave up runs in the third and seventh inning. Soumeru, who is on the roster of Dutch champion Sparks Haarlem, struckout eight and gave up only three hits as a guestpitcher with Tex Town Tigers. In the next game, TTT won 4-1 vs. Joudrs Praha. After trailing 1-0, TTT scored four runs in the fifth inning. Rebecca Soumeru and Anna-Be Bartels threw a combined No-Hitter.
Tex Town Tigers then had to play for fifth and sixth place vs. Stars (USA) and won 1-0 with the lone run being scored in the fifth inning by Merel Oosterveld on a wild pitch. Rebecca Soumeru struckout nine batters.

Centrals finished in eighth place. The team, which made their big league-debut last year, opened with an 1-0 shutout-loss against eventual tournament-winner Carrousel from Russia. The run was scored on four hits in the fifth inning. Kim van der Helm started for Centrals as a guest-pitcher, as she is on the roster of Van der Peijl DSC '74. On Saturday, she was the winning pitcher, as Centrals defeated last years winner A4 Terrasvogels, 3-1. After tying the game in the fourth, Centrals scored twice in the fifth inning on a double by Amber Dammers. Centrals closed the First Round with a 0-0 tie vs. Bulls (USA).
In the Second Round, Centrals opened with 2-0 loss vs. Stars (USA), then was shutout again on Sunday vs. Eagles (USA). In the third game of this round, Centrals again didn't score, as it played a 0-0 tie vs. Canadian Leafs (Canada). Centrals had only one hit in this game, registered by Fabiënne Stuart.
In the game for seventh and eighth place, Centrals played a 1-1 tie vs. Joudrs Praha, which was awarded seventh place according to tournament rules.

A4 Terrasvogels ended in ninth place. The winner of the last two tournaments, remained winless in the First Round. They started with an 1-0 loss on Friday-evening vs. Bulls (USA) on an error in the fourth inning. Dagmar Bloeming made her debut with the team and struckout eight, while giving up only one basehit. On Saturday, Terrasvogels was beaten 3-1 by Centrals. Terrasvogels took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Linda Hoenderdos, but failed to hold onto it. Terrasvogels closed the First Round with a 4-1 loss vs. Carrousel (Russia).

Individual Awards Indoor Cup 2007
Most Valuable Player
Mackenzie Brooks	Canadian Leafs
Best Pitcher
Lauren Brown	Canadian Leafs
Best Hitter
Virginie Anneveld	Computer SOS Tex Town Tigers
Best Defensive Player
Ekatarina Eronina	Carrousel

In the Second Round, Terrasvogels recovered and won three games. They opened with a 3-0 shutout vs. Firestix (USA) on a 4-hitter by Annemiek van Riessen. A single by Petra van Heijst, double by Olga Kleinlooh and grounder by Nicole Wessels accounted for the runs. On Sunday, two more shutouts followed. First, Amsterdam Pirates was shutout 7-0 on a 4-hitter by Sandra Gouverneur, while Nathalie Gosewehr had three RBI's. Next, a 4-0 shutout followed vs. Stripes (USA). In this game, Annemiek van Riessen threw an one-hitter.
In the game for ninth and tenth place, Terrasvogels won 5-2 vs. Euro Stars, but was outhit 8-4.

Euro Stars finished in tenth place. The team which finished in fifth place last year, opened on Friday with a 3-0 shutout-loss vs. Eagles, whose pitcher Sara Evans struckout 15 batters. On Saturday, Euro Stars had only three hits and ran into a 3-0 shutout-loss vs. Joudrs Praha (Czech Republic), then played a 1-1 tie vs. Amsterdam Pirates. Euro Stars took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a double by Kelly De Lannoy, but then an error accounted for the tying run in the home fourth.
In Round Two, Euro Stars opened on Sunday with 5-1 win vs. Saronno from Italy. Manon Schol had three hits in this game. Next, Euro Stars was beaten 5-2 by Bulls (USA), then ended with a 6-0 shutout-win vs. Brasschaat Braves (Belgium) on an one-hitter by Daisy Verstappen. Euro Stars had a 4-run third inning, thanks to RBI-singles by Dayanara Lucio and Davinia de Kwant and a 2-run double by Kim Donkers.
In the game for ninth and tenth place, Euro Stars outhit A4 Terrasvogels, 8-4, but committed six errors, resulting in a 5-2 loss.

Amsterdam Pirates finished the tournament in 13th place. Pirates, which last season won the championship in the First Division, will return to the big league this year. Of the seven games they played, Pirates won two and played one tie, making it a good preparation for their re-acquaintance with the big league later this year. Pirates opened well on Saturday-morning with a 1-0 win vs. Joudrs Praha (Czech Republic). The lone run was scored in the first inning when Montana van Maris scored on sac-bunt by Chantal v.d. Loosdrecht. Pirates had nine hits, including two by Montana van Maris and Iris Kolman. Pirates failed to add more runs in the fifth. Rookie Shanna van Vegten led off with a single, but later was forced out in this at bat, in which Pirates stranded three runners. In their next game, Pirates was shutout 9-0 by Eagles (USA), as pitcher Madelon Bronner had control-problems and walked nine batters. Next, an 1-1 tie followed vs. Euro Stars.
In the second round, Pirates opened with a 2-1 loss vs. Stripes (USA). Pirates stranded three runners in the first inning, then gave up two runs, before scoring their lone run in the third on a grounder by newcomer Antal Roos. Pirates recovered and won its next game vs. Firestix (USA), 2-1. Pirates opened the score in the first inning on a triple by Gallieth Haaker and added a run in the third. The Second Round was closed with a 7-0 loss vs. A4 Terrasvogels.
In the game for 13th and 14th place, Pirates won 5-1 vs. Bulls (USA), which last year finished in eighth place. Pirates had only two hits in this game and increased a 2-1 lead with three runs in the fifth inning on an RBI-single by Cindy Baretta, an RBI-grounder by Claudia Kotmans and a basesloaded walk for Shannah van der Kaaij. Baretta and Van der Kaaij are newcomers in the Pirates-squad.

In the Final, Eagles-pitcher Sara Evans struckout ten Carrousel-batters, but her teammates produced only three hits off Anna Moiseeva, who threw a 7-inning shutout.
(January 15)

Amongst the 25 players are nine who play for Dutch champion Sparks Haarlem and seven, who are on the roster of vice-champion A4 Terrasvogels. Experienced players Kim Kluijskens (1B) and Jolanda Kroesen (OF) return in the team after an absence of a few years. Three selected players, Debby Connor (IF / DP), Saskia Kosterink (OF) and Areke Spel (P), are combining softball at the moment with studying in the United States. Veteran infielder Daisy de Peinder will play in Italy this season. After having played a lot of years for Twins, she now will play for Macerata. Kristi DeVries (P) and Mackenzie Vandergeest (Utility), two American players with a Dutch passport, are also on the Dutch roster again. Vandergeest made her debut in November last year during the Japan Cup-tournament in Yokohama (Japan), while DeVries already is a member of the Dutch squad for a few years.

The Dutch roster is as follows:
Pitchers (6):
Dagmar Bloeming, Judith van Kampen (both A4 Terrasvogels), Kristi DeVries (Ohio State University, USA), Kirsten Scheele, Rebecca Soumeru (both Haarlem) and Areke Spel (Euro Stars).
Catchers (3):
Nina van Huissteden (A4 Terrasvogels), Kim Kafoé (Sparks Haarlem) and Ellen Venker (Euro Stars).
Infielders (8):
Noémi Boekel, Lynn Geertman, Kim Kluijskens, Chantal Versluis (all Sparks Haarlem), Sandra Gouverneur, Petra van Heijst (both A4 Terrasvogels), Daisy de Peinder (Macerata, Italy), Marjan Smit (Twins).
Outfielders (6):
Marloes Fellinger, Jolanda Kroesen (both Sparks Haarlem), Nathalie Gosewehr, Marieke Jansen (both A4 Terrasvogels), Saskia Kosterink (Computer SOS Tex Town Tigers), Carolien Sins (Twins).
Utility Players (2):
Debby Connor (Euro Stars), Mackenzie Vandergeest (Chicago Bandits, USA).

(January 15)

...Sparks Haarlem - Sports Team of the Year... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

...Olga Lablans... ...Volunteer... (Photo: Inge Consent)

The softball-team of Sparks Haarlem, which won the Dutch title last year for the third season in a row, was named Sports Team of the Year. Also nominated were baseball champion Corendon Kinheim and the men softball-team of DeMo EHS, which won the European Cup. Sparks edged these two nominees, as the women softball-team not only won the national title, but also reached the European Cup-final in which it lost.

Kim Kluijskens, who plays first base for Sparks Haarlem and last month was named Most Valuable Player of the softball-season, also was honored Tuesday-evening, as she was named Female Atlete of the Year.

Another award also went to the softball-community, as Olga Lablans was named Volunteer of the Year. Olga Lablans is an Official Scorer, but besides that has done a lot of volunteering work with Sparks Haarlem and SC Haarlem.

Tjerk Smeets, the catcher of Corendon Kinheim, was nominated for Male Atlete of the Year, but that title went to a karateka.
(January 23)

Sparks Haarlem, which last year claimed its third championship title in a row, opens the season with a double-header at Computer SOS Tex Town Tigers in Enschede. This is one of two double-headers to start at 4:00 PM, the other being Twins vs. Centrals at Oosterhout.
The season opens two hours earlier with two other double-headers. Euro Stars will host Amsterdam Pirates, which won the First Division-title lat year and promoted. For Pirates, this will be their comeback in the highest division after a one-year absence. In 2005, the team relegated from the big league. In the second 2:00 PM double-header, vice-champion A4 Terrasvogels plays as home vs. Van der Peijl DSC '74.

After playing seven double-headers between Saturday, April 14 and Thursday, May 17, the season will be interrupted for a long period. For six weekends, no regular season games will be scheduled. The first regular season games will then be played again on Tuesday-evening, July 3. The 46 days between regular season games will be an important period for the Dutch National Softball Team. From May 28 through June 2, the European Championships will be played in Amsterdam on the site of Amsterdam Pirates, followed by the African/European Olympic Qualifier in Trieste (Italy) from June 9-16.

The regular season in the big league ends on Saturday, August 25 with the Play-Offs to open on Friday, August 31.
In the First Division, four double-headers are scheduled on Saturday, April 14, all starting on a different time. The season opens on 12:00 PM when Van der Peijl DSC 2 plays at home against Alcmaria Victrix. Three more double-headers will follow then, starting at 2, 4 and 5:30 PM.
(January 24)

...Cal Ripken, Jr.... ...Hall of Fame... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

...New Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Cal Ripken played in a record 2632 consecutive games between 1982 and 1998 to break the record held by legendary 'Iron Horse' Lou Gehrig, whose record whas long thought to be unbreakable. Gehrig accomplished his feat between 1925 and 1939 playing for the New York Yankees, but had to end his career prematurely because he suffered from ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Ripken played in 21 Major League-seasons in which he hit 3184 basehits, including 431 homeruns. He was the American League MVP twice and played in 19 All Star Games.

Tony Gwynn won the batting title eight times in the National League, in which he played in 20 seasons. Gwynn had 3141 basehits and batted .338 and he was a 15-time All Star.

But when today's election approached, there were discussions and doubts concerning a possible election of powerhitter Mark McGwire, who also was eligible for the first time. In his 16 seasons as a player for the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, McGwire belted 583 homeruns, which total is seventh on the all-time list. In 1998, he was the first player to hit 70 homeruns in one season. However, in 2005 former teammate José Canseco wrote a book and therein stated that McGwire had used performance enhancing drugs when he played for the A's. But there never have been any hard proof that McGwire indeed used illegal substances and he always had denied using it. It is expected that McGwire will earn his place in the Hall of Fame in the future, but at the moment, the voting members of the American Baseball Writers Association thought it was too soon to elect him. Not only because of the stories surrounding his performaces, but probably also because he only had 1626 basehits in his career and never was named Most Valuable Player. McGwire received only 128 votes or less than a quarter percent than necessary. In 1983, McGwire played with the national team of the USA against the Netherlands during the Intercontinental Cup in Antwerp (Belgium).
(January 9)

The scheduled tournaments are the following:

European Cup - A Pool at San Marino (San Marino) from Tuesday, June 12 - Saturday, June 16.
Participants are: San MarinoASD Rimini Pirates (Italy), Corendon Kinheim (Netherlands), Marlins Puerta Cruz (Spain), Draci Brno (Czech Republic), Solingen Aligators (Germany), Rouen Huskies (France) and a to be named eighth team.

CupWinners Cup - A Pool at Hoofddorp (Netherlands) from Wednesday, June 13 - Sunday, June 17.
Participants: Konica Minolta Pioniers (Netherlands), Kaunas Lithuanica (Lituania), Arrows Ostrava (Czech Republic), Apollo Bratislava (Slovakia), Barracudas Montpellier (France), Sant Boi de Llobregat (Spain), Regensburg Legionäre (Germany) and a to be named eighth team.

CEB Cup - A Pool at Zagreb and Karlovac (Croatia) from Wednesday, June 13 - Sunday, June 17.
Participants: BK Keltecs Karlovac (Croatia), FC Barcelona (Spain), Technika Brno (Czech Republic), BC Beograd (Serbia), Heidenheim Heideköpfe (Germany), STB Toulouse (France), BSK Zagreb (Croatia) and Dinamo Bucharest (Romania).

European Cup Qualifiers, one Group at Blagoevdgrad (Bulgaria) (8 teams) and one Group at Abrantas (Portugal) (6 teams).
Group-alignments will be decided on February 10.
As of now, the following teams have registered for participation: Tranas BK (Sweden), Bern Cardinals (Switzerland), Minsk (Belarus), Tigres de Loulé (Portugal), Buffaloes Blagoevdgrad (Bulgaria), TJ STU Trnava (Slovakia), Balashika Tornados (Russia), MKS Kutno (Poland), Espoo Expos (Finland), Vindija Varazdin (Croatia), Oslo Pretenders (Norway) and Spartacus Glyfadas (Greece).

CupWinners Cup Qualifier at Stockholm (Sweden). No dates confirmed yet.
As of now, the following teams have registered for participation: Stockholm (Sweden), KS Deby Osielsko (Poland), North Stars (Russia), Sissach Frogs (Switzerland) and Brest Zubrs (Belarus).

CEB Cup Qualifier at Szentendre (Hungary). No dates confirmed yet.
Participants: Dornbirns Indians (Austria), Sugar Storm (Belarus), Barracudas BC (Switzerland), Demony Miejska Gorka (Poland), MGPU SYOS N42 (Russia), Athletic Sofia (Bulgaria) and BG Juodasis Vikingas (Lituania).
(January 22)

It was the third time the two teams met in the eight-day tournament to decide the Australian championship. In the round-robin, the Patriots won 8-7, then the Aces reached the Final by winning 6-3 against the Patriots in the semi-finals. New South Wales got a second chance in the third place-game. In that match-up, the Patriots became the second finalist by scoring twice in the ninth inning to comeback and win 3-2 vs. South Australia, where former Dutch big league-pitcher Tajah Merrill, he pitched for Kinheim, was one of the pitchers.

In the Final, NSW opened the scoring in the second inning when veteran Brendan Kingman scored when first baseman Daniel Berg had to come off the base on a throw from short stop Brad Harman. Kingman had led off with a single and moved to third on two groundouts, before scoring on the infield-single by Andrew Graham. Victoria immediately came alongside in the home of the second. Matthew Kent led off with a single, moved on a single and a sac-bunt, then scored when Andrew Russell reached first base on a 2-out error.
The Patriots regained the lead in the next at bat. With two outs, experienced (international) players Gavin Fingleson, Glenn Williams and Brendan Kingman produced three consecutive singles, resulting in a 2-1 lead. NSW added a run in the sixth inning on a double by Kingman, which enabled Glenn Williams, who walked, to score all the way from first base. Victoria answered in the home sixth when Matthew Kent led off with a homerun. Then, in the seventh inning, Victoria tied the score again when captain Ben Utting, another veteran, also homered.
In the top of the ninth inning, NSW got a runner on third base, but failed to score. In the home ninth, Victoria decided the game. With a runner on first base, a sacrifice bunt failed, but then Ben Utting's line drive could not be handled, putting runners on first and second base. Next, Paul Weichard appeared to hit into an inning-ending double play, but beat the throw to first base. Now, with runners on first and third base, closer Andrew Cooke was brought in. He faced Paul Rutgers, who hit a 2-0 pitch into leftfield for a single to give Victoria a 4-3 victory and win the Claxton Shield-championship tournament.
Victoria-catcher Matthew Kent won the Helms Award for the Most Valuable Player of the Claxton Shield.
(January 28)

From February 1-7, the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be played in Tainan City (Taiwan) at the site of last year’s World University Softball Championship. Participating in that event are Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, (South) Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore. Taiwan got the right to organize the event as it was the highest ranking Asian country on the World Championships, but then didn't qualify for the Olympics.
The softball-team of Chinese Taipei departed on Saturday, January 20 for an intensive four-day training in Guangzhou (China). There, the Taiwanese squad will play against the national team of China, as well as a team from the Guangdong Province. The Taiwanese team already is training since the Spring of 2005 to prepare for Olympic qualification. Last month, Taiwan won the Silver Medal during the Asian Games in Doha (Qatar).
The Philippine squad, nicknamed 'Blue Girls', is having daily practices, including games, to prepare for the upcoming event. As part of their preparation, the team last year also participated in the 1st Cebuana Lhuillier Softball Invitational Tournament, competing against the country's top collegiate men's softball teams, and finished in third place.
New Zealand Head Coach Dean Rice has selected a team high on experience and recalled five players to the national squad of the 'White Sox', being IF Lisa Kersten, UT Togi Lote, C Kiri Shaw, C Jackie Smith and OF Kim Dermot, but also selected debutants OF Brooke Cutting and UT Amelia Rika. Before traveling to Taiwan, New Zealand will play six practice games in Melbourne (Australia). Earlier this month, most players took part in the National Provincial Cup Tournament in Wellington.

This event will be followed by the Africa/Europe Olympic Qualifying Tournament, to be held June 9-16 in Trieste (Italy). The International Softball Federation (ISF) reported that it already has received entry forms for that event from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Serbia and South Africa.
The Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be held from August 18-26 in Venezuela.
(January 21)

Initially, the tournament was to be held in Kutno, but the Polish Federation withdraw from organizing the event. Hereafter, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands were considered as candidates for the organization.
The Dutch Association approached Tex Town Tigers for the organization, as this club has a lot of experience of organizing international events, including the 2000 Junior European Championships, which was one of the best organized events ever. Besides this, Tex Town Tigers annually organizes the international J.C.J. Mastenbroek Tournament, 4-day event for both baseball and softball. In this years edition, being held April 6-9, teams from Belgium, Russia and Czech Republic will join the Dutch participating teams. Currently, eight players of Tex Town Tigers are members of the Dutch National Junior Team. Because of their experiences, Tex Town Tigers has a good feeling and confidence that they will be able to set up a good organization for the upcoming Junior World Championships.
Jan van der Molen, Bertil Haage and chairman/tournament director Joop Hassink, who were members of the EC 2000 Organizing Committee, are returning to this year OC.
Additional information is expected later.
(January 31)

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