...Neptunus' original gift for Fred's achievement... ...an inscribed bat remembering the milestone... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Initially, the game didn't went Kinheim's way. Lead-off hitter Danny Rombley doubled into rightfield in the opening at bat, but wanted to stretch it into a triple. He was unsuccessful, as he was thrown out at third base. But with two outs, Dirk van 't Klooster reached on an infield-hit, moved on a walk and scored on a single by Edward Illidge.
In the home first, Neptunus came alongside right away. Johnny Balentina led off with a single, moved on a grounder and a flyout, then scored on a single by Yuji Nerei.

But then Kinheim took charge of the game with a 5-run rally in the second inning. The Haarlem-team scored their five runs before a putout was even made. Quincy Bernardus led off with a single, then the bases were loaded when Wouter Heemskerk walked and Denny Beljaards reached first base safely when starting pitcher Gregory Gustina made a throwing error on his sacrifice bunt. Gustina then walked next batter Danny Rombley which gave Kinheim a 2-1 lead. Next, René Cremer drove the ball into deep rightfield for a baseclearing triple, increasing the lead to 5-1. Cremer then scored himself on an infield-hit by Dirk van 't Klooster, before three outs followed, including two strikeouts.
Neptunus came back with a run in the third inning. Kinheim-starter David Bergman walked lead-off hitter Jeroen Sluijter, who then advanced on a single by Johnny Balentina. Next, Sluijter stole third (his first stolen base of the season), before scoring on a single by Raily Legito.

...Johnny Balentina... ...4-for-5, leading hitter... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Kinheim got the run back in the fourth inning off Leoš Kubát, who had come on in relief in the third inning. With one out, Edward Illidge walked and Roel Koolen singled. The bases were then loaded when Quincy Bernardus also walked. After a strikeout, Illidge scored when Denny Beljaards walked again, but then Kinheim stranded three runners. Kubát was relieved by Kevin Heijstek, who ended the inning by striking out Danny Rombley. Heijstek didn't gave up any more runs, as Heijstek struckout five batters and gave up only two hits in the next two-plus innings. Leon de Bijl completed the game for Neptunus and retired all five batters he faced.

Neptunus started to come back in the sixth inning, but eventually ended up empty-handed. In the sixth, Evert-Jan 't Hoen reached on an error with two outs and Melfried Comenencia was hit by a pitch. The two runners then scored when Jeffrey Arends and Jeroen Sluijter followed with RBI-singles. Kinheim-starter David Bergman was relieved by Jimmy van der Veldt, who ended the inning with a force play-grounder.
Another run was scored in the seventh inning. With one out, Raily Legito and Yuji Nerei walked, followed by an RBI-double by Jurriaan Korff, which marked the end for Van der Veldt. Duko Jansen came in and walked pinch-hitter Lennart Koster, loading the bases. The inning then came to a sudden end when Melfried Comenencia lined into a double play back to Jansen.
Michiel van Kampen pitched the eighth inning for Kinheim and also was supported with a double play to earn a save. With one out and a runner on first base, Johnny Balentina delivered his fourth basehit of the game to become the league's leading hitter with a .414 batting average. The eighth was the last inning, as the game had to be stopped due to the 10:50 PM curfew-rule. It was the second night in a row that the game between Neptunus and Kinheim could not be completed because of this rule. On Thursday, the game had to be stopped after ten innings with a 2-2 score. When will this rule be dropped so we can play complete games?

...Fred van Groningen Schinkel shows his... ...1000th game memorabilia, handed to... ...him by Ruud van Zetten... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Before the game, umpire Fred van Groningen Schinkel was honored, as he reached an unique milestone tonight, becoming the first Dutch umpire to officiate in his 1000th career big league-game. In his milestone-game, Van Groningen Schinkel was working first base (just as he did in his debut-game in 1972).
Ruud van Zetten, vice president of the Dutch Baseball Association, not only mentioned Fred's impressing career in a speech, but also named some (funny) facts. The vice president had calculated that Fred must have seen about 250.000 pitches either behind the plate or in the field, judged at least 80.000 batters, drove at least 120.000 kilometers to reach the Dutch big league-clubs and must have used at least 6000 liters water during showers after the games and must have eaten about 4000 pieces of cheese or some other snacks in the clubhouse, accompanied by about 600 liters of refreshments. Some 250.000 people must have seen Fred officiate in the 34 years (also a record) he has been active in the big league since making his debut in 1972 and Fred must have been active for more than 400.000 minutes, including traveling, in his games.
Never before has an umpire reached a milestone like this and he probably also is the first European umpire to reach 1000 games in a highest national league. Van Zetten underscored that the KNBSB is proud of what Fred has reached, who already was decorated in the past for his impressive accomplishments.
Van Groningen Schinkel was given memorabilia and presents by Ruud van Zetten on behalf of the KNBSB, Frans Bergman in behalf of Kinheim and Jeroen Sluijter (team captain) and Jan van der Sande on behalf of Neptunus.

Fred van Groningen Schinkel started his umpiring career in 1967 and became an international umpire in 1977. He participated in more than 70 international events, including 9 European Championships, 3 World Championships, 2 Olympic Games, 3 Intercontinental Cups, 14 Haarlem Baseball Weeks, 10 World Port Tournaments, more than 20 European Cup-tournaments and the recent World Baseball Classic in March.
Neptunus and Kinheim, the teams in Fred's 1000th career game, also were involved in two other milestones in his long career. On May 6, 1972, he made his debut at first base in the game between HCK (Haarlem) and OVVO (Amsterdam). Since 1973 HCK, is known as Kinheim. On May 28, 1991 Fred worked his 500th career game which was played between Haarlem Nicols and Neptunus.
(June 9)

...Arnold Verbrugge, Fred van Groningen Schinkel, Jacques Vrij and... ...Rinus Paardekooper (Head Office KNBSB) listen to the speech... ...by Ruud van Zetten (Vice-President KNBSB) before the game... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

The second game between Pioniers and Pirates was a pitching duel for seven innings with Pirates getting the most chances to score a run. The Amsterdam-squad got six runners in scoring position, including three at third base. Pioniers had only three in scoring position, all on second base.
In the second inning, Fausto Álvarez led off for Pirates by reaching first base on an error, then advanced on a sac-bunt and a grounder, but then Pionier-starter Roger Kops ended the at bat with a strikeout.
In the third Pirates-inning, Remco Draijer led off with a walk. With two outs, he advanced when Tyson Arishenkoff also walked. Draijer then tried to score on a single by Boudewijn van Elswijk, but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect throw from centerfielder Jefferson Muzo.
In the fourth, Fausto Álvarez led off with a single and moved to second base on a failed pick-off by Roger Kops. But then the next three batters, Kevin Gerard, Björn Henrichs and Bobbie van Duuren all struckout on a called third strike.
Pirates got another chance in the seventh inning. Bobbie van Duuren led off with a single, moved on a sac-bunt and reached third base on a single by Derick Francisca. The squeeze sign was then put on, but while Van Duuren started running towards home, batter Roderick Simon missed the ball and Van Duuren was tagged out. That also was the last scoring chance for Pirates, who played its second day in a row without Ralph Lagas, its leading hitter with a .352 average.
While the Amsterdam-team tonight lost, it had the best defensive play of the evening. With two outs in the second inning, Glennsig Polonius lined the ball towards left-centerfield, but Pirates' short stop Tyson Arishenkoff made an outstanding high-leaping catch to end the inning.

...Lars Koehorst... ...600 games... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Pioniers left a runner on second base in the first inning. With Norbert Lokhorst on second, Pirates-starter Kevin Miner ended the inning with a grounder and retired 12 of the next 14 batters, before allowing two runners in the fifth inning. In that at bat, Jefferson Muzo singled with two outs and stole second. Michael Duursma then walked, but the inning ended with a flyout.
In the sixth inning, Mark Kan took over for Miner and ran into problems in the eighth inning. In the first seven innings, Pioniers had only two basehits, but added two in this at bat. Kan walked Michael Duursma, who was able to reach second base after a foul-fly. Duursma advanced to third on a wild pitch and Edwin de Graaf was walked intentionally, after which Kan was relieved by Maarten Mulder. His first delivery to Mark Duursma was hammered into leftfield for a 2-run triple and a lead for Pioniers. Duursma then scored when Glenn Romney followed with a single. Romney would later strand at third base, but the three runs were enough for a Pionier-victory and made a winner of Richard Orman, who had come on in the sixth inning in a rare relief appearance, as he is normally is a regular starter. Orman's last appearance in relief was on September 11, 2004 vs. Almere '90 and this was only his eighth in his 14 seasons with Pioniers and third in the last six year. In the eighth inning, Lars Koehorst entered the game at third base for Pioniers and appeared in his 600th career game. Koehorst is only the tenth player in history to reach this mark.
(June 9)

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