HCAW collected only four basehits off Japanese pitcher Satoru Fujii, who went the distance for Sparta/Feyenoord and struckout five batters. The righthander walked only one batter, which is a low for him this season. Besides the batters who delivered the basehits, only one more HCAW-batter reached base, being Ralph Milliard, who led off the first inning with a walk. The former Major Leaguer was able to reach third base on a one-out grounder and an infield-hit by Kenny Berkenbosch, but stranded when a flyout ended the at bat.
In the second inning, Martijn Meeuwis led off with a single, but was eliminated in a double play. Starting with the double play, Fujii retired 14 batters in a row, before giving up singles to Sidney de Jong and Kenny Berkenbosch that started the seventh inning. But then Gino Henson struckout and Martijn Meeuwis grounded into a double play. That ended the game, as Sparta/Feyenoord in the meantime had reached a 10-run difference. HCAW today played without its regular rightfielder Bas de Jong, who had a sore elbow.

Sparta/Feyenoord already was leading 8-0 in the second inning and scored six of its runs off starter Cliff Foster, who again had problems finding the strikezone. The American righthander walked six batters and had three wild pitches and left after three batters in the second inning. In the first at bat, he gave up only one basehit, but also three runs. Foster walked lead-off hitter Ramphis Trinidad, who then advanced on a wild pitch and a sac-bunt. With two outs (Foster struckout the next batter), Trinidad scored the first run on another wild pitch. Jeroen Hermans and Sjoerd Hermans then also walked and both scored when Marwin Kleinmoedig followed with a double. Another walk followed, but now Foster ended the inning with a strikeout.
The control-problems continued in the second inning. After Earmy Isabella led off with walk Ramphis Trinidad doubled. A wild pitch then enabled Isabella to score, followed by a walk for Nick Eppinga after which Foster was relieved by Jos de Jong. But the problems were over yet, as De Jong gave up 12 basehits and six more runs in the six innings he pitched. With runners on first and third base, De Jong also wild pitched in a run, before Jeffrey Sprott grounded out. Jeroen Hermans then singled in a run and his brother Sjoerd Hermans followed with a 2-run homerun to make it 8-0.

In the fourth inning, another run was scored. Orson Slaats was on base with two outs and scored on a double by Sil Wagenaar.
In the fifth inning, Sparta/Feyenoord rallied for three more runs to increase the lead to 12-0. Ramphis Trinidad led off with a single, after which Jos de Jong struckout the next two batters. But then, the Hermans-brothers again delivered important basehits with back-to-back RBI-doubles. An error accounted for the last run in the at bat.
In the seventh inning, Sparta/Feyenoord stranded three runners, but its big lead wasn't in jeopardy for a moment. Sparta/Feyenoord, which played without rookie second baseman Dwayne Kemp, had 14 basehits, including three by Sjoerd Hermans (3 RBI's) and Marwin Kleinmoedig. Sparta/Feyenoord scored seven of its runs with two outs and ten with one or two outs.

After the game, HCAW honored umpire Fred van Groningen Schinkel for reaching his 1000th career game milestone yesterday-evening.
(June 10)

Before scoring the winning run, Almere had failed to hold onto a lead twice in the game. Almere outhit ADO 11-4, but scored only three runs. ADO's Japanese starter Akira Okamoto dominated, as he struckout 15 batters, but also gave up eight hits and two runs. His teammates produced only four basehits and couldn't provide him with a lead. ADO had only three basehits off veteran starter René Rijst, who is approaching his 700th career game. The righthander, who since last weekend also is the Pitching Coach for Almere, struckout six batters. Initially, Jurriaan Lobbezoo was the Pitching Coach with the team in the exhibiton season and was also scheduled to throw again himself. However, because of work commitments, he couldn't combine things anymore, was unable to be with the team in the first part of the season and had to resign. After being without a Pitching Coach in the first 15 games, René Rijst was asked and accepted.
ADO got its first two batters on base in the second inning when Kalian Sams was hit by a pitch and Percy Isenia reached on an error by Sidney Ensermo, who tonight played at third base instead of Ivanon Coffie, who had moved over to Ensermo's spot at short. The two advanced after a sac-bunt, but then a strikeout and a flyout followed. Sams still is able to play for ADO, as his appeal for a 6-game suspension hasn't been handled yet.
For the third game in a row, ADO played with a adjusted batting order. Shurty Tremus, who batted ninth before, was again the lead-off hitter instead of Jermaine Esprit (who didn't start in these games), while James Rutherford and Maikel Benner had moved to the eighth and ninth spot respectively.

In the home second, Almere opened the score. With one out, Giovanni Samboe was hit by a pitch. First baseman Percy Isenia then missed a foul-popfly from batter Jason Halman, who then followed with a double that brought Samboe to third base. He then scored when third baseman Marvin Bleij made an error on the throw from leftfield.
ADO tied the score in the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles. With one out, Percy Isenia doubled and scored when next batter Harvey Monte also doubled, but then René Rijst struckout the next two batters.

Three scoreless innings followed, but then Almere regained the lead in the eighth. With Bryan Engelhardt (fielder's choice) on base and one out, Ivanon Coffie singled. With two outs, Engelhardt gave Almere a 2-1 lead when Giovanni Samboe also singled.
ADO reached base twice in the seventh and eighth inning off Erik Remmerswaal, who threw these innings in relief of starter René Rijst. This was Remmerswaal's first appearance since throwing 1 1/3 inning in relief on April 16 vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW. After that, he was on the disabled list with an inflammation in his elbow.

In the ninth, ADO came alongside again, but failed to take the lead. With one out, Jermaine Esprit and James Rutherford walked. Esprit was then replaced on second base by pinch-runner Quensley Bazoer and Jerry Breek came on in relief for Nick Veltkamp, who had started the inning. The runners advanced on a wild pitch by Breek, who then loaded the bases by walking Maikel Benner intentionally. Next batter Shurty Tremus followed with a single that tied the score. But with the bases loaded, the inning ended when Berry van Driel grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

With a 2-2 score, rookie Jurrian Koks took over in the home ninth for ADO's starter Akira Okamoto, who had delivered 126 pitches in the eight innings he threw. Sidney Ensermo, who had struckout in his first three at bats, now led off with a single. Ricky Daal, who had struckout twice, followed with an infield-hit and the two runners got an extra base as second baseman Berry van Driel also committed an error on Daal's hit. The bases were loaded when Shaldimar Daantji received an intentional walk to set up a force play. But that failed, as pinch-hitter and rookie Ferd van Stekelenburg (who batted for Eugene Kingsale) delivered a game-winning single to make it 3-2.
(June 10)

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