Pioniers' starting pitcher Roger Kops had another good outing on Saturday, as he gave up seven hits in eight innings and retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced, including the last eleven batters in a row. With the win, the righthander raised his record to 3-0. In the first and fifth at bat, Kops was supported with a double play. Tommy van Limburg threw the ninth inning and retired the side, meaning the last 14 Neptunian batters were retired in a row.
Lefthander Diegomar Markwell started for Neptunus, gave up five hits and six runs and suffered his first loss of the season.

Four of the basehits off Roger Kops were hit in the second inning which gave Neptunus a 2-0 lead. With one out, Jurriaan Korff reached on an infield-hit, then the bases were loaded when Evert-Jan 't Hoen and Melfried Comenencia singled. Jeffrey Arends then followed with a 2-run single. An infield-fly and a groundout ended the inning and Neptunus would get only four more runners, but only of them would go beyond first base.
Pioniers tied the score immediately in the home second when it also got the bases loaded. Dè Flanegin, Glennsig Polonius (bunt) and Glenn Romney all singled to start the at bat. Diegomar Markwell then walked Lars Koehorst, which brought in a run. Polonius then scored the tying run when Mark-Jan Moorman grounded into a double play.

In the third, Neptunian short stop Raily Legito was hit by a pitch with two outs, but then tried to advance to third base on a single by Jurriaan Korff. Legito, who was the last player to reach second base for Neptunus, was thrown out at third by centerfielder Edwin de Graaf.
After this, it was Pioniers all the way. In the home third, the team from Hoofddorp took the lead by scoring twice. With one out, Edwin de Graaf was hit by a pitch, then moved to third when Mark Duursma followed with a double. After Dè Flanegin walked to load the bases, De Graaf scored when Glennsig Polonius grounded into a force play. But when second baseman Benjamin Dille made a throwing error trying to complete a double play, Duursma also was able to score.
Two more runs were scored in the fourth inning. Mark-Jan Moorman (walk) and Jaïr Roseburg (hit by pitch) were on base when they were able to advance on a passed ball. Moorman then beat the throw to home on a grounder towards short by Michael Duursma, after which Roseburg scored when next batter Edwin de Graaf grounded out.

In the sixth, Pioniers made some baserunning errors and ran itself out of the inning. Lead-off hitter Mark-Jan Moorman reached base on an error by Raily Legito and moved on a sac-bunt by Jaïr Roseburg. Michael Duursma then became the third Pionier to be hit by a pitch. Next batter Edwin de Graaf singled, which brought the runners into motion. Moorman was waved home, but was thrown out at the plate. In the meantime, Duursma had overran second base and was also thrown out to complete a double play and end the inning.
However, in the seventh inning, Pioniers rallied for five runs, three of which were unearned as two errors were made. In the inning, Glennsig Polonius, who was 3-for-5, had an RBI-double to start the rally. Two sacrifice flies, an error and a single by Michael Duursma accounted for the other runs.
(April 29)

HCAW opened the score in the first inning when Martijn Meeuwis doubled with one out and scored on a 2-out single by Sidney de Jong.
In the home second, Pirates came alongside when HCAW committed two errors, but only one run was scored. Boudewijn van Elswijk led off with a single and advanced to third base when pitcher Patrick de Lange made a throwing error on a force play-grounder by Kevin Gerard. Van Elswijk, however, continued running towards home and was thrown out there by leftfielder Kenny Berkenbosch, who had picked up the ball in the outfield. Gerard moved up a base when Remco Draijer singled. He then scored when a force play-grounder by Bas Nooij was followed by a throwing error from Dimitri Leon, who tried to complete a double play. But another force play-grounder then ended the at bat.
HCAW reacted with two runs in the third inning. With one out, Bart Gabriëls singled and scored on a double by Sidney de Jong, who himself advanced to third on the throw to home. Moments later, De Jong scored on a single by Kenny Berkenbosch. Pirates-starter Pim Walsma, who had a better control than in his first two appearances, recovered and retired six batters in a row, before being supported with a double play in the fifth inning.

In the sixth, Robbert van der Pol took over and was less successful. The righthanded rookie gave up 12 basehits and eleven runs, ten of which were unearned, as the Pirates-defense committed five errors in the last four innings.
HCAW increased its lead to 6-1 with three unearned runs in the sixth inning. In that inning, Kenny Berkenbosch led off by reaching on an error by rookie third baseman Kevin Gerard, which was followed by a double by Bas de Jong. Next, Nick Fridsma singled to score Berkenbosch, but De Jong was thrown out at home also trying to score. But rookie Nick Makkinje followed with a single, then both Fridsma and Makkinje scored on a 2-out single by Ronald Jaarsma.
Pirates came back with a run in the home sixth when Ralph Lagas, who was 3-for-4, singled and scored on a 2-out single by Kevin Gerard, his first basehit in the big league.

Leading 6-2, HCAW put the score out of reach with an 8-run rally in the ninth on seven hits, but only one run was earned as two errors were made. Martijn Meeuwis led off with a triple, then Bart Gabriëls reached on an error. Sidney de Jong followed with an RBI-double. The rally could have stopped there, as two quick outs followed, but then Van der Pol gave up five basehits and walked a batter. First, with two outs, Nick Fridsma hit a 2-run single. Another run was then scored on a single by Nick Makkinje, who was 3-for-4. After Dimitri Leon walked, RBI-singles by Ronald Jaarsma and Martijn Meeuwis followed, then Bart Gabriëls contributed with a 2-run double to make it 14-2.
HCAW is playing this weekend without regular second baseman Gino Henson, who had to go to Curaçao due to family circumstances. Martijn Meeuwis, a regular outfielder, fills in at second for Henson.
(April 29)

...Rob Cordemans... ...Almost Perfect... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Only one player of Sparta/Feyenoord reached base. That happened in the fourth inning when rookie Dwayne Kemp reached on an infield-hit. Moments later, he was caught stealing. ADO-starter Rob Cordemans retired the first ten batters in a row, before Kemp hit the ball towards the leftside of the infield and was quick enough to reach on an infield-hit. After Kemp was caught stealing, Cordemans retired the next ten batters, before being relieved. Jimmy Summers took over in the eighth inning and retired the side, as did closer Robin van Doornspeek in the ninth inning. Besides giving up only one basehit, Cordemans struckout ten batters and needed 105 pitches for the seven innings he threw. Almost a year ago, on May 7, Cordemans threw a No-Hitter against Amsterdam Pirates.

On the other side, ADO reached base sixteen times, but managed to score only one run. Six times, the lead-off batter reached base. The team left ten runners behind, including the bases loaded in the second inning. In that at bat, Maikel Benner (lead-off), Marvin Bleij (with one out) and Shurty Tremus (with two outs) all singled, but a grounder ended this scoring opportunity.
In the fourth, Maikel Benner led off with a single, but was caught stealing after a pick-off. Next, Kalian Sams walked, but then a double play followed.
In the fith inning, Michel Korzeniewski opened by reaching on a hit by pitch, but stranded on third base.

Finally, in the sixth, ADO scored a run. With one out, Maikel Benner walked and scored when Kalian Sams tripled. After Marvin Bleij was hit by a pitch, Sams appeared to score when Michel Korzeniewski flied out. However, Sams had left third base too soon and was called out after an appeal-play to complete a double play.
The run proved to be the lone one of the game in which ADO came close to history. Only twice before in the now 85-year old history in which is being played for the Dutch title, a Perfect Game was thrown by Craig McGinnis (1989) and Eelco Jansen (1997), who did it while throwing for Haarlem Nicols and Kinheim.
(April 29)

...Denny Beljaards... ...grand slam... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

After leaving a runner on third base in the first inning, another on second base in the second at bat and again a runner on third base in the third inning, Kinheim opened the score in the fourth inning. In the previous three at bats, the lead-off batter reached base twice, but couldn't score. In the first, Danny Rombley led off with a walk, in the second Roel Koolen reached on an error. In the third, Rombley reached on a bunt-single with one out.
But in the fourth inning, Kinheim did open the score with four unearned runs off starter René Rijst. Lead-off hitter Tjerk Smeets reached second base on a throwing error by third baseman Ivanon Coffie. Next, Rijst struckout Roel Koolen, but walked Robin Longhurst. The veteran righthander recovered and this time struckout >b>Wouter Heemskerk, but again followed with a walk, this time for Floris Morang, which loaded the bases. Next batter Denny Beljaards, who is hitting ninth in the batting order, then followed with a grand slam homerun to give Kinheim a 4-0 lead. This was only the second big league-homerun (and first grand slam) for Beljaards in his career. Beljaards, who made his debut in 2002, hit his first and only other homerun (2-run) on July 10, 2004, also in a road game when Kinheim played vs. Amsterdam Pirates off Japanese pitcher Keisuke Kohno.

In the home fourth, Almere came back with two runs. With one out, Kinheim-starter David Bergman walked Ivanon Coffie, then gave up a single to Bryan Engelhardt and an RBI-double to Randy Daal, who then scored on sac-fly by Sidney Ensermo.
Kinheim got one run back in the fifth inning off new pitcher Martin Kuipers. With two outs, Tjerk Smeets doubled and scored on a single by Roel Koolen.

...Roel Koolen steals second base... ...Short stop Sidney Ensermo receives the ball not in time... (Photo: Ron Wicklert - www.eott.nl)

Almere narrowed Kinheim's lead to 5-3 in the home sixth when Ivanon Coffie singled with one out and scored on a double by Bryan Engelhardt. Randy Daal followed with a single, but the inning ended when David Bergman struckout Sidney Ensermo and Ricky Daal. After this, Almere was unable to come back, while Kinheim added eight more runs in the next three innings.

In the seventh, Danny Rombley led off with a triple and scored on a single by René Cremer, who later scored on a sac-fly by Roel Koolen.
In the eighth, Rombley added an RBI-single and scored himself on an error, that followed on a single by René Cremer, who was facing new pitcher Manuel Dame.
In the ninth, Dame gave up a lead-off single to Tjerk Smeets and walked Roel Koolen and pinch-hitter Edward Illidge, before being relieved by Jerry Breek. But with one out, Breek, who last season threw for Kinheim, gave up an RBI-single to Floris Morang and issued a runscoring walk to Denny Beljaards. Danny Rombley then added an RBI-single, followed by a sac-fly by René Cremer to lift the lead to 14-3.
Almere managed to score only one more run in the home ninth when Kinheim committed three errors.
(April 29)

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