 Four double-header wins
Nederlands
    HAARLEM / ALKMAAR / VLEUTEN / OOSTERHOUT (Neth.) -
For the first time this season, the two games of all four scheduled double-headers were won by the same team.
League-leader Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem won big vs. Olympia Haarlem, 10-0 and 15-0.
Sparks Haarlem hit four homeruns, including one by American Julie Owen, who returned into the Haarlem line-up.
Alcmaria Victrix handed Hotel Ambassador c.c. Terrasvogels two losses, 8-4 and 9-8.
Making her comeback in the Terrasvogels-squad was Kate Gentile.
Tex Town Tigers won 7-5 and 8-4 at UVV and Gryphons was left empty-handed vs. Twins, which won 3-2 in nine innings and 6-0.
Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem vs. Olympia Haarlem
At Haarlem, league-leader Oolders Omaco Sparks Haarlem won big twice vs. Olympia Haarlem, registering 10-0 and 15-0 shutouts.
Sparks Haarlem collected 19 basehits in the double-header, including four homeruns.
One of these homeruns was hit by American Julie Owen, who was a surprise addition to the roster of Sparks Haarlem for today's double-header.
Initially, it was announced that the infielder was not expected to return to the Haarlem-squad for this season.
In the opener, Sparks Haarlem led only 1-0 after two innings, thanks to an RBI-single by Virginie Anneveld that scored Chantal Versluis in the first inning off starting pitcher Ying-Yi Chen.
But in the third inning, the reigning champion rallied for six runs to take charge of the game.
Chantal Versluis led off with a triple, then Nathalie Gosewehr walked.
The two scored when Areke Spel followed with a single.
Debby Connor then connected for a 2-run homerun.
Hereafter, Virginie Anneveld singled and Michelle van Driel walked.
The first was then forced out on a grounder by Julie Owen, but then a single by Celine van Roon and a wild pitch accounted for the nex two runs and lifted the lead to 7-0.
The wild pitch was thrown by rookie Nina Dijkstra, who took over for Chen after Van Roon's single.
In the fourth inning, Dijkstra gave up three more runs that made it a 10-run difference.
A double by Areke Spel, single by Debby Connor and double by Virginie Anneveld made it a 10-0 score to finish the game.
Olympia Haarlem, which had won the previous four games, hit only two basehits off Kirsten Scheele, a double by Laura Burggraaf in the second inning and a bunt-single by Marit Molenaar in the third at bat.
In Game 2, Sparks Haarlem added five more runs to make it a 15-0 score the end the game in the third inning.
In this game, Olympia registered only one basehit off Rebecca Soumeru, which was a double by Rosanne de Vries in the second inning.
As pitcher, De Vries, who was 5-0 before the game, suffered her first loss, giving up eight hits and 13 runs in 2 1/3 inning.
In the first inning, Sparks Haarlem opened the score on a sac-fly by Debby Connor, then Shannah van der Kaaij and Julie Owen hit back-to-back triples to make it 3-0.
Three runs were added in the second inning.
Silea Bos and Nathalie Gosewehr walked with one out, then Areke Spel homered with two outs to make it 6-0.
In the third at bat, the home team rallied for nine runs.
Julie Owen led off with a homerun and later Virginie Anneveld hit a 2-run double, Areke Spel a 2-run single and Debby Connor a 2-run homerun.
Leading 13-0, the next run was scored on a bunt-single by Beau van Gelder, then the game ended on a single by Silea Bos that made it 15-0.
Line Scores, Box Scores & Play-by-Play
Standings, Schedule & Scores
Alcmaria Victrix vs. Hotel Ambassador c.c. Terrasvogels
At Alkmaar, Alcmaria Victrix handed Hotel Ambassador c.c. Terrasvogels two losses, winning 8-4 and 9-8 thanks to three rallies, a 5-run in the first and two 4-run rallies in the second game.
With this, Alcmaria got the same amount of points as Terrasvogels and Olympia Haarlem to share second place.
While Alcmaria hit only three hits more than Terrasvogels in the double-header (19-16), the home team hit the majority of them in some productive at bats that gave them the lead to keep.
In the opener, Terrasvogels initially was off to a good start.
With two outs, Ashli Holland and Dana Horeman hit back-to-back doubles to give the visitors an 1-0 lead.
In the second at bat, it appeared that Terrasvogels was to enlarge their lead.
Anouk van den Heuvel led off with a walk and Marisèla de Wind followed with a single, but then Alcmaria-starter Femke van Dusschoten followed with two strikeouts.
The bases got loaded when Meike Witteveen's force play-grounder was misplayed, but another strikeout ended the at bat, leaving the bases loaded.
That must have triggered Alcmaria, as it reacted with a 5-run rally with two outs off pitcher Ginger de Weert.
With one out, Noëmie Brandjes singled and stole second base, then scored the tying run on a passed ball, with two outs.
The bases then got loaded when Malou van Dusschoten walked and Maaike Blaauwgeers and Anne Blaauwgeers both singled.
A single by Kimberly Jones then produced two runs and the bases got re-loaded when Anne Vlietstra walked.
Next, Australian Kym Turnell singled to bring in two more runs and make it a 5-1 score.
In the third inning, Terrasvogels narrowed the deficit to 5-4 by scoring three runs.
The first run was scored on a single by Anouk van den Heuvel, which resulted in a pitching change.
Ashley Lanz took over, but gave up an RBI-single to Marisèla de Wind and saw another run being scored on an error.
But after giving up the single, the Canadian hurler retired the next 14 batters in a row, including seven strikeouts.
Alcmaria added a run in the fourth inning when Anne Blaauwgeers singled and scored on a fielder's choice.
Two more runs followed in the fifth on a grounder and an error to lift the lead to 8-4.
In Game 2, Alcmaria opened the score with a 4-run rally in the first inning.
Anne Blaauwgeers led off with a single and Anne Vlietstra singled with one out.
A double by Kym Turnell, singles by Noëmie Brandjes and Manoa Weijgertse and an error then accounted for the runs, before a double play ended the at bat.
Terrasvogels got three runs back in the second inning, making it an one-run difference.
Kate Gentile, who arrived back in the Netherlands earlier in the week, led off with a walk and Anouk van den Heuvel doubled with one out.
A single by Floor Roest and force play-grounder by Lotte Holvast then led to two runs, then the third run was scored on a triple by Meike Witteveen, who herself stranded on third base.
Alcmaria was able to take some more distance in the second inning by scoring four runs on a single by Anne Vlietstra, double by Kym Turnell and (after a pitching change) single by Noëmie Brandjes and a sac-fly by Manoa Weijgertse.
Despite the 5-run lead, the win wasn't secured yet, as Terrasvogels kept on coming back.
In the fifth inning, they scored two runs.
Marisèla de Wind led off with a double.
Next, a flyout followed, then for the second time, a hard line drive hit by Dana Horeman was handled well by the Alcmaria-defense.
But with two outs, Kate Gentile walked, then Mariëlle Vleugels hit a 2-run double that made it 8-5.
Alcmaria was held scoreless in the third through fifth inning, but then added an important insurance run in the sixth on a double by Noëmie Brandjes.
It was a much needed run, as Terrasvogels scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning.
With Dana Horeman and Kate Gentile on base, Mariëlle Vleugels hit another 2-run double and then scored herself on a single by Anouk van den Heuvel to make it 9-6.
But then Ashley Lanz, who again came on in relief, ended the game with a strikeout.
Line Scores, Box Scores & Play-by-Play
Standings, Schedule & Scores
UVV vs. Tex Town Tigers
At Vleuten, Tex Town Tigers won 7-5 and 8-4 vs. UVV.
In the opener, the score was tied at 1-1 after four innings.
In the first at bat, TTT opened the score when Kirsten Holshof walked with one out and scored on a 2-out triple by Nadine Marinus, but UVV came alongside in the second inning when Cintia de Groodt led off with a single and scored on a single by Mirjam Boode.
TTT then broke the 1-1 tie by scoring three runs in the fifth inning.
Merel Oosterveld led off with a single, stole second and went to score on a double by Petra van Heijst.
In between Kirsten Holshof walked and later scored on a grounder by Nadine Marinus, then Martina Lackner added an RBI-single that made it 4-1.
UVV answered with one run in the home of the fifth when Kayleigh Adelina singled with two outs and went on to score on a basesloaded walk for Cintia de Groodt, which led to a pitching change.
Martina Lackner took over, but then, the home team left the bases loaded as a groundout followed.
In the next at bat, UVV came alongside on a single by Laura Arp and sac-fly by Kayleigh Adelina, but in the seventh, TTT re-took the lead.
Petra van Heijst led off with a single and stole second base, then Martina Lackner walked with one out.
Myrthe Smid followed with a 2-run double and went to score herself in a double-steal situation to take a 7-4 lead.
UVV managed to add only one more run in the home seventh on a basesloaded single by Nikke Harte, but the inning and the game then ended when she was picked off first base by catcher Marije ten Thij.
In Game 2, TTT trailed 3-2 after three innings, but then staged a 5-run rally en route to victory.
Both team scored once in the first at bat.
For TTT, Merel Oosterveld led off with a triple and scored on a sac-fly by Kirsten Holshof and for UVV, sac-fly by Kelly Platvoet accounted for the tying run.
In the third, TTT took a 2-1 lead on a single by Petra van Heijst, but the team also left two runners.
UVV reacted with two runs on a single by Kayleigh Adelina and a force play-grounder by Kelly Platvoet, but left the bases loaded.
TTT then took charge of the game with a 5-run rally in the fourth with two outs.
With one out, Kirsten Vierdag tripled and scored on a 2-out single by Marije ten Thij.
After an error was made on a following grounder by Merel Oosterveld, four unearned runs were scored, as UVV added two more errors.
UVV got one run back in the fifth on a single by Kelly Platvoet, but TTT scored another run in the seventh when Nadine Marinus scored on a wild pitch.
Line Scores, Box Scores & Play-by-Play
Standings, Schedule & Scores
...Illegal pitch or not?...
...TTT-coaches Bill Gates and Rob Hassink ask for an explanation...
...Umpires Arie Nokkert and Wout van der Horst have a talk... |
...UVV-leftfielder Kayleigh Adelina makes a catch...
|
| (© Photos: Frans van Elst) |
Twins vs. Gryphons
At Oosterhout, Twins, which had lost its last four games, today won twice vs. Gryphons, but needed extra innings in the opener.
Twins, which added pitcher Megan Brown to its roster this weekend, won 3-2 and 6-0.
In the opener, Twins scored the first run in the third inning when Sandy Lauwers led off with a single, advanced on an error and a sac-bunt by Femke Duffhues and then scored on a grounder by Michelle Haen.
After being held to only two basehits by pitcher Kimberly Petrovich in five innings, Gryphons added two in the sixth at bat, but then also left two runners.
But in the seventh inning, Gryphons came alongside.
With one out, Lucie Marsiková singled and stole second base.
She then scored on a single by Shannon Galea, who entered the game as pinch-hitter, moving from the number 10 spot to the number 9 spot in the batting order, hitting for the original designated player, Kristel Verbunt.
The latter then re-entered as pinch-runner, advanced on an error and a wild pitch, but moments later was eliminated at home on an infield-grounder.
And so, the game went into extra innings.
Both teams scored in the eighth at bat.
Gryphons took a 2-1 lead when tie-break runner Yonina Sint Jago scored on a throwing error, but Twins immediately tied the score on a single by Michelle Haen.
In the ninth inning, tension was building, as Gryphons loaded the bases.
Tie-break runner Sophie Mollee moved to third base on a sac-bunt by Kiki Draaijer, then Lucie Marsiková walked.
Next, Kristel Verbunt reached on a dropped fly on her bunt, which loaded the bases.
But then Mollee was forced out at home on a grounder by Fabienne van Uden and Yonina Sint Jago grounded out, leaving the bases loaded.
Moments later, Twins struck and scored the winning run.
Tie-break runner Sophie Bugter moved on a sac-bunt by Kimberly Petrovich and scored on a single by Lieke Duffhues, that made it 3-2.
In Game 2, Twins held Gryphons scoreless as Kimberly Petrovich threw a 6-hit shutout and her second complete game of the day.
Twins opened the score in the first inning when Sandy Lauwers led off with a single and scored on a 2-out single by Sophie Bugter.
Twins then took more distance by scoring five runs in the fourth inning.
Lieke Duffhues led off with a single and Kimberly van der Lee followed with a double.
After an intentional walk for Megan Brown (who was the DP in this game), Evelien Vonk singled in a run.
Next, Sandy Lauwers was eliminated on a rare 9-3 play, but that led to the next run.
An error on a grounder by Imane Issa Allou gave Twins the next run and Michelle Haen followed with a 2-run double that made it 6-0.
Gryphons reached base in each inning except the fourth, but left seven runners and ended up short.
Line Scores, Box Scores & Play-by-Play
Standings, Schedule & Scores
(May 5)
|
