...Wouter Heemskerk, 3-for-4, run, 2 RBI's... ...Maxim Picauly is the catcher... ...Ton de Graaf the umpire... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Lefthander Jean-Paul Gulinck gave up only two basehits to Pirates in the 3 2/3 inning he pitched and struckout three. Pirates' second baseman Tyson Arishenkoff again had a basehit in his first at bat in the first inning, but this time it was only a single. In his previous two games, he homered in his first at bat.
With one out in the first, Roderick Simon walked and Tyson Arishenkoff singled, but Jean-Paul Gulinck then followed with a strikeout and ended the inning with a groundout. He was supported with a double play in the third inning and was relieved with two outs in the fourth by Jimmy van der Veldt, who gave up two hits in the remaining 3 1/3 inning. Van der Veldt initially started with a walk for Ralph Lagas when he took over for Gulinck. Lagas advanced to third base on a single by Mark Kan, but a grounder ended the scoring possibility.

Kinheim scored its first run in the first inning when Danny Rombley was hit by a pitch, reached third on a single by René Cremer and scored on a basesloaded grounder by Edward Illidge, but the team stranded runners at second and third base.
Two runs were added in the second inning. Floris Morang and Wouter Heemskerk led off with singled and advanced on a groundout. Morang then scored when Danny Rombley grounded out and Heemskerk crossed home plate on an infield-hit by René Cremer.
In the third, Kinheim scored two unearned runs. With one out, Edward Illidge and Roel Koolen singled. With two outs, they both scored when a throwing error followed an infield-hit by Wouter Heemskerk.
In the fifth, Wouter Heemskerk, who went 3-for-4, again singled. Pinch-hitter Quincy Bernardus, Roel Koolen and Floris Morang all singled and loaded the bases. Heemskerk then followed with a 2-run single to make it 7-0. The rally came off Robbert van der Pol, who had taken over for starter Raban Schalm the inning before. In the sixth, Kevin Miner took over and completed the game. Miner, who last year played for the Dutch Junior Team, was added to the team for the weekend and currently is on the roster of Amsterdam Pirates-2, but is a candidate to be recalled in the season.
(April 9)

Kinheim struck early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Danny Rombley led off the game with a single off starter Roger Kops and stole second base. After a flyout, he scored on a single by Dirk van 't Klooster, who returned to the line-up today. Shortly before yesterday's game, Van 't Klooster took himself out of the line-up and went home, as he was unable to play due to the flu. Today, he felt fine and played in the morning against Amsterdam Pirates and in this game against Pioniers. Attempting to catch Van 't Klooster's single, leftfielder Glenn Romney injured his ankle and left the game. Tjerk Smeets followed with a double, then Edward Illidge hit an RBI-single. Smeets then scored on a sac-fly by Roel Koolen.
After leaving a runner on third base in the first inning, Pioniers scored a run in the second inning. Mark Duursma led off with a double and scored on a single by Glennsig Polonius, but Kinheim-starter David Bergman didn't ran into problems after this and pitched five solid innings.

Kinheim also stranded (a lot of) runners. In the second inning, a runner was left on third base, in the third inning the bases were left loaded. But in the fourth at bat, three more runs were scored. Danny Rombley reached first base on an error, when it was ruled that first baseman Dè Flanegin left his base too soon, after receiving the throw from the third baseman. Rombley advanced on a failed pick-off, then scored on an one-out single by Dirk van 't Klooster. The bases were loaded when Tjerk Smeets doubled and Edward Illidge was walked intentionally. But the set-up for a force play failed when Roel Koolen followed with an RBI-single and Robin Longhurst added a sac-fly.
The seventh run was scored in the sixth when Edward Illidge led off with a single and his pinch-runner Quincy Bernardus scored on a double by Roel Koolen, who had three RBI's. But again a runner stranded at third base, as Kinheim left 12 runners behind in this game.
(April 9)

...Patrick de Lange... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Starting pitcher Patrick de Lange dominated on the mound for HCAW. The righthander, who returned to Bussum after having played last season for Instant Holland Almere '90, pitched seven strong innings. He retired 13 of the first 14 batters he faced and allowed only one player to reach second base. After 6 2/3 inning, it was Edwin de Graaf, who broke De Lange's No-Hitter with a single, just out of reach for leftfielder Ronald Jaarsma, who made a diving attempt to catch the ball. De Graaf tried to stretch his single into a double, but was thrown out at second base by centerfielder Martijn Meeuwis. It was to be the lone hit for Pioniers in this game, as the team also went hitless in the eighth (and last) inning off reliever Cliff Foster, who retired the side in his first appearance in the exhibition season. Besides De Graaf, De Lange allowed four more batters to reach base, two on an error, one on a fielder's choice and one on a walk.

Final Standings
1 - Corendon Kinheim
2 - Amsterdam Pirates
3 - Mr. Cocker HCAW
4 - Konica Minolta Pioniers
Most Valuable Player	Tyson Arishenkoff (Pirates)
Best Pitcher	Patrick de Lange (HCAW)
Best Hitter	Sidney de Jong (HCAW)

Offensively, HCAW did reach base in both the first and the second inning off starter Richard Orman, but couldn't move the runners. That did happen in the third inning when both runs were scored. With one out, Sidney de Jong and Kenny Berkenbosch singled. A grounder by Gino Henson then ended in a runscoring error and put runners at the corners. Berkenbosch then scored on a single by Bas de Jong. No additional runs were scored, as next batter Dimitri Leon flied out and Henson was picked off second base by Orman.

In the fifth inning, HCAW got the bases loaded, but again didn't add more runs. With one out, Ronald Jaarsma singled and, with two outs, Rodney Michel doubled. Sidney de Jong was then walked intentionally and the tactic worked as next batter Kenny Berkenbosch grounded out to end the inning.

In the seventh inning, Dave Draijer took over for Richard Orman and struckout the first two batters he faced. In the eighth, Draijer gave up a lead-off infield-hit to Sidney de Jong, which gave him the batting title of the tournament.
(April 9)

ADO decided the game right away in the first inning when it scored six runs. With one out, Marvin Bleij reached on an error, then starter Martin Kuipers walked next batter Harvey Monte, hit Percy Isenia with a pitch to load the bases, then walked James Rutherford enabling ADO to score an automatic run. Next, two runs were scored when Kalian Sams doubled and two more on a single by Maikel Benner. Next batter Michel Korzeniewski also singled and when an error was made in centerfield, the runners advanced to second and third. The sixth run was then scored on an infield-hit by Shurty Tremus, before Kuipers was relieved by Jeroen Vos, who will move between Almere-2 and the main team in the regular season.

In the third inning, ADO scored two more runs and increased the lead to 8-0. Four consecutive hits by Michel Korzeniewski, Shurty Tremus, Berry van Driel and Marvin Bleij led to the first run, a sac-fly by Harvey Monte to the other.
Almere, which used four pitchers, got only four runners in the game. Randy Daal was the only one to reach third base on a triple with one out, but he stranded on third base.
ADO-starter Rob Cordemans pitched five shutout innings in which he struckout six batters and gave up only three hits.
(April 9)

Final Standings
1 - DOOR Neptunus
2 - Sparta/Feyenoord
3 - ADO
4 - Instant Holland Almere '90
Most Valuable Player	Jan Naterop (Neptunus)
Best Pitcher	Rob Cordemans (ADO)
Best Hitter	Jeroen Sluijter (Neptunus)

Neptunus opened the score with two runs in the first inning off starter Elton Koeiman, who threw two innings in which he gave up seven basehits. With one out, Benjamin Dille was hit by a pitch, then Raily Legito singled. Singles by Jurriaan Korff and Lennart Koster then gave Neptunus a 2-0 lead.
In the next at bat, two more runs were added. Jeroen Sluijter doubled and stole third base, then Johnny Balentina was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Benjamin Dille and Raily Legito then followed with RBI-singles.

After four scoreless innings, Sparta/Feyenoord came on the board in the fifth off Diegomar Markwell, who pitched in his first exhibition game. He arrived earlier in the week in Rotterdam. The lefthander gave up a double to Sil Wagenaar, who was able to reach third base when Ramphis Trinidad flied out. An error on a grounder by Dwayne Kemp enabled Wagenaar to score, but that was to be the lone run for his team.
Leading 4-1, Neptunus took a more comfortable lead by adding three runs with two outs in the seventh inning off rookie Sander Klop, who was the fourth pitcher in the game for Sparta/Feyenoord. Lennart Koster walked and, with one out, Melfried Comenencia singled. With two outs, Jeroen Sluijter singled in a run, followed by a 2-run triple by veteran Johnny Balentina to make it 7-1.
(April 9)

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