...Yuji Nerei... ...double, homerun... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Björn Henrichs led off with a single and scored when Tyson Arishenkoff homered with one out.
Neptunus answered with three runs, as Pirates-starter Pim Walsma, who ran into problems immediately. With one out, he walked Benjamin Dille, then gave up a double to Yuji Nerei, followed by a wild pitch that enabled Dille to score. Nerei then scored the tying run when Raily Legito produced a single. Moments later, Legito was caught stealing, but reached second base on an error, then stole third base. Walsma then walked Jurriaan Korff and got a 2-0 count on next batter Melfried Comenencia. At that time, the righthander was unable to continue pitching as he was bothered by a broken nail on his pitching hand. Pirates' Head Coach Louis Hofer brought in rookie Robert van der Pol, was of course hadn't thrown yet and was given the opportunity to warm up. When the game continued, Van der Pol added two balls to the count of Comenencia, who reached first on a walk, which was credited to Walsma. With the bases loaded, Legito scored the go-ahead run when Jeffrey Arends also walked, but then the inning ended when Sape Wagenaar grounded into a double play.
Pirates came back right away with two runs to re-take the lead (4-3). Boudewijn van Elswijk led off with a single and scored on a triple by Ralph Lagas, who then scored himself on a sac-fly by Bas Nooij. With two outs, Pirates got the bases loaded when Björn Henrichs and Roderick Simon singled and Tyson Arishenkoff walked. This also forced Neptunus to make a pitching change. Young starter Kevin Heijstek was relieved by Czech Leoš Kubát. The big righthander ended the inning when Derick Francisca grounded into a force play.

Neptunus again answered immediately to take a 5-4 lead. First, Jeroen Sluijter and Johnny Balentina (bunt) singled. Sluijter then went on to score the tying run on a sac-fly by Benjamin Dille. Moments later, Balentina scored the 499th run in his career on a single by Jurriaan Korff to give Neptunus a 5-4 lead.
Pirates came alongside in the fourth inning. With one out, Bas Nooij doubled and advanced on an error, then scored on a grounder by Björn Henrichs. But after this inning, the game turned Neptunus' way, as the Pirates-pitching was unable to stop the Neptunian offense.

In the sixth inning, Neptunus took a 6-5 lead. First, Jeffrey Arends led off with a single. With the bases loaded, Jan-Willem Geerts, another rookie, became the third Pirates-pitcher and saw Arends score on a force play-grounder by Benjamin Dille that ended in an error.
Neptunus then added ten runs in the next three at bats on seven basehits, while Pirates committed four errors and three pitchers issued four walks. After 4-run rallies in both the sixth and seventh inning, Neptunus ended the game with a 10-run difference in the eighth inning. Mark Kan became the sixth Pirates-pitcher and walked Benjamin Dille. Next batter Yuji Nerei then ended the game with a 2-run homerun, lifting the score to 16-6.
(April 16)

...Richard Orman in his... ...recordsetting game... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

On Sunday, August 14 last year, Richard Orman recorded the 113th victory in his career to tie the All-Time record for most wins by a lefthanded pitcher, which he shared with American Craig McGinnis. Orman then had to wait eight months and two days for his next start and first opportunity to break the record and record his 114th victory. But he did it succesfully, as he pitched eight solid innings and gave up only five basehits vs. Sparta/Feyenoord. Coincidentally, Orman also tied the record while pitching against Sparta/Feyenoord in August. Then, he also pitched eight innings and Pioniers won 3-1. With the win, Orman took over the 16-year old record from McGinnis, who retired after the 1989 season. The next goal for the 37-year old Aruban, who is in his 14th season with Pioniers, is the All-Time Win Record, which stands on 150 and is hold by Bart Volkerijk.

...Michel Bezuyen... ...opens season... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

After retiring the first seven batters in a row, Orman gave up a single to Patrick Wabbijn, but was eliminated later on a force play. Orman also gave up singles in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning, but all runners were eliminated. Dwayne Kemp and Rutger Veugelers singled in the fourth and fifth, but both were caught stealing. In the sixth, Kemp reached on an infield-hit, but was picked off first by Orman. In the seventh, Jeroen Hermans singled off Orman and became the only Sparta/Feyenoord-player to reach second base in the game, after he advanced on a grounder. Orman also was supported with some fine defensive plays, highlighted by a great play by short stop Michael Duursma that ended the fifth inning.

Pioniers opened the score in the third inning off Japanese starter Satoru Fujii. With two outs and Norbert Lokhorst on second base, an error was made on a grounder by Mark Duursma, enabling Lokhorst to score. Duursma then scored on a single by Dè Flanegin. Fujii recovered and gave up only one basehit in the next four innings.

In the eighth inning, Pioniers added two insurance runs off reliever Rudy Seebus, who made his big league-debut. The righthander walked Dè Flanegin, who reached second base on an error after a force play-grounder by Glennsig Polonius. After the two advanced on a sac-bunt by Edwin de Graaf, Mark-Jan Moorman was walked intentionally. But then Flanegin scored when Lars Koehorst walked. Next, Polonius scored on a single by pinch-hitter Marcel Venema, which hit 3B umpire Leo Spierenburg on the leg. The hit probably would have ended in a inning-ending double play, but now the ball changed direction. According to the rules (5.09 f), play was stopped, the ball was dead and all runners were awarded one base. Next, the inning did end on a double play on a grounder by Michael Duursma.
In the ninth, Dave Draijer took over for Richard Orman and retired the side to secure the victory and the shutout.
(April 16)

It was Almere that opened the score and took the lead, but that was shortlived. In the first inning, Eugene Kingsale led off with a single off starter Jurjen van Zijl, stole second and went on to score on a 2-out double by Bryan Engelhardt.
HCAW came alongside in the second inning. Almere-starter Nick Veltkamp walked Sidney de Jong and Kenny Berkenbosch, then gave up an one-out, RBI-double to Bas de Jong, who again had three basehits, just like yesterday.
In the fourth inning, HCAW rallied for four runs. With the bases loaded, a sac-fly by Bas de Jong marked the end for starter Nick Veltkamp, but reliever Erik Remmerswaal gave up an RBI-single to Nick Fridsma and a basesloaded 2-run single to Martijn Meeuwis, giving HCAW a 5-1 lead.

Almere came back with three runs in the fifth inning to narrow HCAW's lead to 5-4, but was to be the closest score in the game. Jurjen van Zijl got the bases loaded with no outs, then a force play-grounder by Bryan Engelhardt led to a run. After a runscoring grounder by Jason Halman, Sidney Ensermo followed with an RBI-double. Kevin Roovers then took over the pitching and ended the inning with a groundout.
HCAW came back immediately and rallied for six (unearned) runs in the home fifth when Erik Remmerswaal ran into problems. Sidney de Jong led off the inning with a grounder to short, but reached first base safely on an error. With one out, the bases were loaded when Gino Henson walked and Bas de Jong singled. Next, runsingles were produced by Nick Fridsma, Ronald Jaarsma and Martijn Meeuwis (2-run), after which the bases were loaded with a walk. Jerry Breek then took over the pitching, who issued two runscoring walks, making it 11-4 in HCAW's favor.

Almere scored three runs in the sixth, including two on a single by Jason Halman, but that was all for them. HCAW added two runs in the seventh on a 2-run homerun by Kenny Berkenbosch, who had five RBI's in the game and added a 2-run double in a 4-run eighth inning, which gave HCAW a 10-run difference to end the game. Bart Gabriëls also had a 2-run double in this at bat.
(April 16)

Kinheim, which won 10-0 on yesterday, again were leading in this game, but failed to hold onto it. In the first inning, the team from Haarlem took a 1-0 lead. With one out, René Cremer singled, moved on a grounder and scored on a single by Tjerk Smeets.
In the second inning, Kinheim got runners on first and second base with one out when Robin Longhurst and Wouter Heemskerk singled. But then ADO-starter Rob Cordemans recovered and retired the next eleven batters in a row, before giving up a lead-off single to René Cremer in the sixth inning. Cremer advanced to third base on a single by Dirk van 't Klooster, then gave Kinheim a 2-0 lead on a fielder's choice grounder by Edward Illidge. After having pitched twelve seasons for Neptunus, this was Cordemans' first big league-appearance in another uniform.

ADO came back to tie the score in the home sixth with two unearned runs. In the first five innings, the team did reach base off Kinheim-starter David Bergman, but stranded six runners, including five in scoring position. In the sixth, Percy Isenia led off with a single and was safe on second base when short stop René Cremer made an error on an one-out force play-grounder by Kalian Sams. The two runners advanced on a wild pitch. Maikel Benner then delivered an RBI-single, but centerfielder Danny Rombley also commited an error, enabling Sams to score the tying run. Bergman was relieved by Duko Jansen, but the damage was done.

In the eighth inning, ADO took a 3-2 lead. Percy Isenia led off with a double, then Duko Jansen walked James Rutherford and Kalian Sams to load the bases. Michiel van Kampen came in to relief Jansen. Isenia was then forced out at home on a grounder to short by Maikel Benner, but Berry van Driel followed with an RBI-single to give ADO a 3-2 lead.
In the ninth inning, Robin van Doornspeek took over for Jurrian Koks, who had relieved Cordemans in the seventh inning. Van Doornspeek gave up an one-out single, but closed the game succesfully and earned a save.
(April 16)

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