ADO set the tone for the game in the first inning by scoring three runs on four hits. Jermaine Esprit led off the game with a single, as did Maikel Benner. Esprit was then forced out on third on a grounder by Marvin Bleij, but hereafter two back-to-back doubles followed. Benner and Bleij both scored on a double by Percy Isenia, who himself scored when Harvey Monte also doubled. RCH-starter Martin Kuipers then walked Jason Halman, but then recovered. He struckout Boudewijn van Elswijk and got out of the inning on a force play-grounder by Jaļr Roseburg, then retired eleven batters in a row, before giving up a 2-out single to Maikel Benner in the fifth, who then was caught stealing. In the sixth, Marvin Bleij led off with a double and scored when Percy Isenia singled, which marked the end for Kuipers. Bobbie van Duuren took over and was supported with a force play and a double play.

In the home of the sixth, RCH scored its only run. With one out, ADO-starter Jeoffrey de Groot walked Giovanni Josefa, who then advanced on a failed pick-off and scored when Petr Baroch followed with a single. In the first inning, Jeroen Bakker had single with one out, but hereafter De Groot had retired nine batters in a row, before walking Danny Mujica in the fourth. Mujica was picked off first base by catcher Maikel Benner and De Groot then retired the next five batters, before walking Josefa, which resulted in the lone RCH-run.

ADO got the run back in the eighth inning off Bobbie van Duuren when Marvin Bleij led off with a walk and scored on a single by Harvey Monte. The hit came off Thomas Morang, who had just came in to relief Van Duuren. ADO then rallied for five runs in the ninth off to increase their lead to 10-1. After Dimitri Leon led off with a single and Jermaine Esprit reached on an error, Morang was replaced by Czech Jan Drabek, but gave up an RBI-single to Maikel Benner, an one-out, 2-run double to Percy Isenia, RBI-single to Harvey Monte, double to Jason Halman and RBI-grounder to Boudewijn van Elswijk, before ending the inning with a strikeout.

ADO got 16 basehits and all nine players in the batting order hit at least one. Percy Isenia was 4-for-5 with five RBI's, while Maikel Benner and Harvey Monte each had three hits. Marvin Bleij scored three runs.
In their last three innings, RCH reached base once in each inning off closer Robin van Doornspeek, who made his first appearance of the season, struckout four and earned a save.
(April 22)

It was the home team that opened the score in the second at bat. HCAW-starter Sten van den Bedem struckout Jeffrey Sprott, but reached first base as the third strike was a wild pitch. After a flyout and a groundout, Sprott was on third base and scored when Shurendell Borgschot hit a triple. Moments later, Borgschot scored on Van den Bedem's second wild pitch in this inning.

HCAW came alongside in the next two innings. In the third, three HCAW-runners were credited with a caught stealing, but the team managed to score a run in between. Sebastiaan Olgers walked and reached second base safely on an error, which came in a caught stealing-situation after a throw from lefthanded pitcher Herman Gaarman. Olgers then scored on a double by Siemen Korff, which was followed by a walk for Stefan Hoogewerff, who made his big league-debut. Next, Korff was caught stealing, but Hoogewerff moved to second on the play. Hereafter, Ralph Milliard was called out on strikes (his second) and when he asked for the location of the pitch, he was ejected by Home Plate Umpire Fred Groenewegen. With two outs, Shurty Tremus walked, but then the inning ended when Hoogewerff also was caught stealing.

HCAW tied the score in the fourth inning when Ronald Jaarsma led off with a walk, stole second, moved on a wild pitch and scored on a grounder by Bart Gabriėls. Sparta/Feyenoord re-took the lead in the home of the fourth off new pitcher Joey Eijpe. Jeffrey Sprott led off with a single, moved on a sac-bunt and a 2-out error, then scored in a double-steal situation with runner Shurendell Borgschot.

In the fifth inning, HCAW scored twice to take a 4-3 lead. With one out, Herman Gaarman walked Siemen Korff and Stefan Hoogewerff, then gave up a 2-run double to Sidney Ensermo, who had replaced Ralph Milliard in the batting order. Hereafter Gaarman was replaced by Ronald de Bont. The game was tied again in the home of the sixth when Dwayne Kemp led off with a double and scored on an error, which followed a sac-bunt by Patrick Wabbijn. A force play and a double play then ended the inning.

In the seventh inning, HCAW rallied for four runs with two outs. Sebastiaan Olgers led off with an infield-hit and advanced when Siemen Korff also singled, but was then picked off second base. Next batter Juriėn Overman, who had replaced Stefan Hoogewerff, grounded out, but then the problems began for Sparta/Feyenoord. The bases were loaded when Ronald de Bont walked Sidney Ensermo and Shurty Tremus and was replaced by Rudy Seebus, who was greeted with a 2-run single by Ronald Jaarsma. Seebus then walked Gino Henson, which was followed by a 2-run double by Bart Gabriėls to make it 8-4.

In the home of the seventh, with an 8-4 lead, Rutger Zwaal took over the pitching for Joey Eijpe, who had become the pitcher of record after the 4-run rally and would become the winning pitcher. Zwaal gave up a 2-out double to Ramphis Trinidad in the seventh, but didn't encounter any problems. In the ninth, side-armer Stephen Spragg allowed two batters to reach base with one out, but then struckout the next two batters to end the game.
(April 22)

In the second inning, Kinheim scored four runs and didn't have to do much to reach base, as Pirate-starter Jos de Jong walked the first four batters in the inning. The bases were loaded when Vince Rooi, Roel Koolen and Jeffrey Verbij walked, then a run was scored when Quincy Bernardus also walked. Bernardus, who is still recovering from an injury, went 3-for-4 with a double today, scored two runs and had five RBI's. Last season, Bernardus had only six RBI's in the entire season and had only five in 2005. After the walk for Bernardus, Jos de Jong was relieved by Nick Stuifbergen, who started with a wild pitch, enabling Koolen to score. Then, another run was scored when Denny Beljaards reached on an infield-hit. The fourth run in the inning was scored when Beljaards was forced out on second on a grounder by Danny Rombley.

...Tjerk Smeets scores in the third inning. Behind him, Vince Rooi... ...will be tagged out by catcher Sidney de Jong to start a double play... ...Jeffrey Verbij and Quincy Bernardus tell Rooi what to do... (Photo: Rien)

In the third inning, Kinheim added a run. Tjerk Smeets and Vince Rooi started with singles, then Roel Koolen followed with a double, which would end up in a double play. On the double, Smeets scored, but closely behind him Rooi also started to score. However, on a throw from rightfielder Bas de Jong, Rooi was tagged out at the plate by catcher Sidney de Jong, who then completed a double play by throwing out Koolen at third base, after he tried to advance on the throw to home. The inning ended when Nick Stuifbergen struckout Jeffrey Verbij.

Pirates scored its first run in the fourth inning. Kinheim-starter Patrick Beljaards gave up a lead-off double to Sidney de Jong, who was 4-for-5, but got no one in front of him to reach base. De Jong moved on a single by Bas de Jong, who was 3-for-5, then scored on a sac-fly by Kenny Berkenbosch, who was today's designated hitter for Pirates. In the home of this inning, Kinheim got the run back on back-to-back doubles by Danny Rombley and René Cremer with two outs.

In the fifth inning, Kinheim again scored four runs to take big 10-1 lead. Tjerk Smeets led off with his fifth double of the season and moved on an one-out single by Roel Koolen. The bases were loaded when Jeffrey Verbij walked. Nick Stuifbergen, who gave up nine hits in 3 1/3 inning, was then relieved by Raban Schalm, but gave up RBI-singles to Quincy Bernardus (one-run) and Denny Beljaards (2-run). Between the singles, another run was scored on a balk.

...Fausto Įlvarez Rizo of Pirates becomes to oldest player to... ...hit a grand slam homerun when he connects in the sixth inning... (Photo: Rien)

With the game appearing out of reach, Pirates came back with five runs in the sixth inning to make it a 10-6 score. Sidney de Jong and Bas de Jong began with singles, then Kenny Berkenbosch flied out. The bases were loaded when Glenn Mascoll also singled. The Australian, who arrived on Thursday, had entered the game in the fourth inning. A run was then scored when Ferd van Stekelenburg also singled. With lefthanded hitting Fausto Įlvarez Rizo coming up, lefthanded starter Patrick Beljaards was relieved by righthander Jimmy van der Veldt. The 46-year old Cuban-born Įlvarez connected well and greeted Van der Veldt with a grand slam homerun to make it 10-6 and become the oldest player in history to hit a grand slam in the Dutch big league.

However, Pirates couldn't come closer and its pitching couldn't stop Kinheim from adding more runs. In the home of the sixth, Seppo Slaman became the fourth Pirates-pitcher and would give up five more runs. In the sixth, he loaded the bases by hitting two batters and giving up a single. Two runs were then scored on a single by Quincy Bernardus and a force play-grounder by Denny Beljaards, who had four RBI's.

In the seventh, Pirates scored another run when Zaļr Koeiman led off with a double and scored on an one-out double by Bas de Jong. Hereafter, Australian Vaughan Harris took over from Jimmy van der Veldt and retired five batters in a row, before Michiel van Kampen threw the ninth inning.

In its seventh, Kinheim scored three more runs. Seppo Slaman again loaded the bases, this time with a hit batter, single and walk, before Vince Rooi hit a sac-fly and Quincy Bernardus added a 2-run double later in the at bat.

Kinheim had 19 basehits in the game with eight players hitting two or more hits. The lone player in the starting line-up without a basehit was Jeffrey Verbij. Eight players, except for Denny Beljaards, scored at least one run, with Tjerk Smeets scoring four runs. The catcher reached base in all of his six at bats. The number eight and nine batters, Quincy Bernardus and Denny Beljaards, combined on nine RBI's. In the game, Kinheim reached base 33 times! Besides Smeets, Roel Koolen also reached base in all of his at bats, being fives times and he went 3-for-3.
(April 22)

...Eugene Kingsale is hit by a ball moments before... ...the game and is being attended, before going... ...to a hospital. Luckily, the injury is minor... (Photo: Ron Wicklert - www.eott.nl)

But before the game started, there was a scary moment. As game time was approaching, Almere was in its final preparations when centerfielder Eugene Kingsale, who was standing in front of the Almere dug-out, was hit by a thrown ball in the temple-area. The national team-player fell down and was immediately attended by medical personnel of both Almere and Neptunus. He was brought to a local hospital by ambulance and returned to the stadium at the end of the game. Luckily, he wasn't injured badly, as he only sustained a minor concussion.

Neptunus opened the score with three runs in the second inning. Hot-hitting Evert-Jan 't Hoen led off with a double, which was followed by a single from Lennart Koster. Both runners then scored when Martijn Meeuwis hit a 3-run homerun. Hereafter, Jeffrey Arends reached second base on two errors, but Almere-starter Forstin Coenraad then retired three of the next four batters.

...Martijn Meeuwis homers in second inning... (Photo: Ron Wicklert - www.eott.nl)

In the third inning, Forstin Coenraad walked three batters, but didn't allow a run. He first walked Raily Legito, but then picked him off first base. Next, Evert-Jan 't Hoen also walked, but this time a foul-fly followed. Martijn Meeuwis also walked, but the inning ended with a flyout.

In the fourth inning, Coenraad was relieved by Patrick de Lange, who originally was announced as the starting pitcher for today's game. Last weekend, he also threw in relief off Coenraad. De Lange gave up the fourth Neptunus-run in the fifth inning. Benjamin Dille led off with an infield-hit, then scored on an one-out double by Evert-Jan 't Hoen, who was 3-for-3 and reached base four times.

...Diegomar Markwell: five hitless innings... (Photo: Ron Wicklert - www.eott.nl)

With a 4-1 lead, Neptunus scored two more runs in the eighth at bat off Cliff Foster. The American started with walks for Jeffrey Arends and Jurriaan Korff, then gave up a single to Jeroen Sluijter, which loaded the bases. Johnny Balentina followed with a force play-grounder, but Arends scored. Next, Korff scored when Foster made an error on a failed pick-off to first base. Balentina tried to advance to third base on the error, but was thrown out there by rightfielder Bryan Engelhardt.

Almere had only two basehits in this game. The team reached base only three times off starter Diegomar Markwell, who made his first appearance for Neptunus after returning from his short professional adventure in Taiwan. The lefthander threw five strong innings and gave up no hits, while striking out three batters. Two batters reached on a walk, a third one on an error.

In the sixth, American Chris Ryan took over. The lefthander struckout five batters, but also gave up Almere's lone run. In the sixth, Wesley Bernardus, who took over in centerfield for Eugene Kingsale, singled, stole second and scored on a 2-out single by Rodney Michel. Hereafter, Ryan retired the next seven batters, before Jan Naterop threw the ninth inning.
(April 22)