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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Fred Versluis) Olympia Haarlem repeats as Softball-Champion Nederlands HAARLEM (Neth.) - FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem again is the Softball-Champion of the Netherlands. The team extended its possession of the Championship-title on Sunday (October 14) when it recorded a 6-0 shutout-win against Terrasvogels to win the best-of-three Holland Series. Olympia Haarlem nipped Terrasvogels 2-1 in the opener on Saturday. Terrasvogels won its last title in 2013. The opener of the Holland Series was a close game, but in Game 2, Olympia Haarlem dominated offensively. The team recorded 15 basehits and took an 4-0 in the third inning to decide the game early. Afterwards, Brenda Beers, who was 2-for-4 today with a double, run scored, run batted in and started an important double play as centerfielder, was named Most Valuable Player of the Series. In the first game, she scored the tying run. ...Here you can see the highlights of Game 2... ...provided by SoftbalDino TV... With this successful weekend, Olympia Haarlem said goodbye to Head Coach Stanley Doney, who will return home to New Zealand. Doney led the team for four years and guided Olympia Haarlem to the Play-Offs each season. In three of these seasons, Olympia reached the Holland Series, resulting in two Championship-titles. Doney's Assistant Coach Inge Duin-Consent also coached in her final game, as she announced her retirement. Inge Duin has been active for the club for 23 years, including predecessor DSC '74, as a player and a coach. As player of DSC '74, she was a member of the team that captured the club's first Championship-title in 2003. In 2010, she joined the coaching-staff, which was then led by American Caroline Powell. ,,No, this was not that different as opposed to last year. But this was a true collective team-effort. The players really played for each other'', Stanley Doney reacted afterwards. Next season, Doney will coach a team back home in New Zealand. Who will succeed him at Olympia Haarlem is not known yet. With the Championship, Olympia Haarlem qualified again for participation in the European Premiere Cup-tournament of next year. This year, in Italy, the team first played in this event, but ended up in an unexpected and disappointing fourth place. Terrasvogels will participate next year in the tournament for the European Cup Winners Cup. That will be the 37th time that Terrasvogels will participate in an European Cup-tournament, extending its European record. Next year, the Season Finals will be played at the site of Onze Gezellen, also in Haarlem. (October 14) Related Articles: DSS secures Golden League-spot after W thriller vs. Pirates. (October 14) Olympia Haarlem nips Terrasvogels in Holland Series-opener. (October 13) DSS wins 1st game Promotion/Relegation vs. Amsterdam Pirates. (October 13)

...The players, coaches and staff-members of Olympia Haarlem celebrate the Championship-title... ...Back: Stanley Doney (Head Coach), Colinda de Vries (Team Scorer), Wessel Boermans... ...(Physical Therapist), Mariëlle Vleugels, Alyson Spinas, Jessie van Aalst, Ilona Andringa,... ...Sandra Gouverneur (Coach), Lars Looijen (Team Manager) & Henk van Zijtveld (Pitching Coach)... ...Center: Bobbi Scheurkogel, Brenda Beers, Emma Wójcik, Rosanne de Vries, Stephanie Pearce,... ...Maranca Ham & Inge Duin (1B Coach)... ...Front: Tahli Moore, Dinet Oosting, Virginie Anneveld, Rachel van Veen,... ...Shareday Christina & Amber Krijgsman... (© Photo: Fred Versluis)

Most Championship-titles, Clubs Titles Club 15 Terrasvogels 12 HHC 11 Sparks Haarlem 9 HCAW 7 DSS 3 Kinheim 2 Olympia Haarlem 2 Tex Town Tigers For Olympia Haarlem, the title was its third in club-history, but the second since the team plays under its current name Olympia Haarlem. In 2003, the club's predecessor DSC '74 captured its first-ever Championship-title. After completion of the 2007 season, DSC '74 merged with omni-sportsclub (including baseball and softball) TYBB, soccer-club DCO and G-soccer-club HIS to become Olympia Haarlem and went on to play on the site of TYBB. Last year, Olympia Haarlem won its first title under that name. Today, Olympia Haarlem became the 67th softball-champion in history in the Netherlands. The first champion was crowned in 1952. Back then, the title was won by Haarlem-based HHC, the predecessor of the current Sparks Haarlem. The most titles have been won by Terrasvogels (15), but when HHC (12) and Sparks Haarlem (11) are combined, it leads with 23. Terrasvogels and Sparks Haarlem are the only two clubs in history with 10 or more championships. Most Championship-titles, Cities Titles City 36 Haarlem 15 Santpoort 9 Bussum 2 Enschede 1 Alkmaar 1 Bloemendaal 1 The Hague 1 Heemstede 1 Oosterhout It was the 36th time that the title was won by a Haarlem-based club. When nearby Santpoort, Bloemendaal and Heemstede are included, this was the 53rd championship-title won by a team from the Haarlem-area. With its 36th title, Haarlem remains the most successful softball-city in the country. The most successful baseball-city is Amsterdam with 33 titles. For Olympia Haarlem, this was its third participation in a Holland Series. For Terrasvogels, this was its 22nd participation in a Championship-Final and with that total, the team is the recordholder. In total, ten different clubs (or eight when HHC/Sparks Haarlem and DSC '74/Olympia Haarlem are combined) participated in a Holland Series. Olympia Haarlem Head Coach Stanley Doney became the 13th in history with two or more Championship-titles. The coach with the most championship-titles overall is Hans Janssen, who led his teams to six titles, three with DSS, three with Terrasvogels. This was the 33rd Holland Series. In 1982, for the first time, the Championship was decided via a postseason. Before that, the winner of the regular season also won the Championship-title. In 1982, the page-system was used. The two Play-Offs and the Backdoor all were best-of-ones, followed by a best-of-three Holland Series, which was won by Terrasvogels. A year later, the page-system was used again. The best-of-one was no success. To create more suspense, no best-of-ones were played anymore. Instead, the Play-Offs, Backdoor and Holland Series all became a best-of-three series, as was the case in 1984. Most Championship-titles, Head Coaches Titles Head Coach Club(s) 6 Hans Janssen DSS (3), Terrasvogels (3) 4 Teun van den Berg Terrasvogels 4 Ruud Elfers HCAW 3 Juni Francisca Sparks Haarlem 3 Johan Kluijskens Sparks Haarlem 3 Craig Montvidas HCAW (2), Twins (1) 3 Rob Walgien Terrasvogels (2), DSC '74 (1) 2 Peter van Dalen Sparks Haarlem 2 Stanley Doney Olympia Haarlem 2 Ton Hendriks Sparks Haarlem 2 Paula van der Mark HHC 2 Don Wedman Terrasvogels 2 Toon Verzijlberg DSS For 1985, it was decided that the season-winner again became the champion. This also was to be the rule for 1986, but then Terrasvogels and Bloemendaal ended in a tie. It was opted that these teams were to play a best-of-three to decide the championship and that's what happened, but this is no official Holland Series. In 1987, the Play-Off/Holland Series-format returned with best-of-three series, as was done in 1988. There was no postseason in 1989 and in 1990 another new format was introduced. The season was split in two halves and the winners of these halves met each other in a best-of five Holland Series. Problem with this format was that when the winner of both halve was the same team that would be the champion and there would have been no Holland Series. In 1991-1994, the Play-Offs expanded. There were best-of-three series after completion of the both the first and second half to create more suspense. Also, the Holland Series was expanded from a best-of-three to a best-of-five from 1992 on, also to create more competitiveness. It also gave a team the possibility to come back in a series and turn it its way. In 1995, the Play-Offs returned to be played only after completion of the regular season, which was not split in two halves anymore. In the new set-up, the season-winner met the number 4 in the ranking, while the other best-of-three Play-Off was played between the numbers 2 and 3 of the season. The winners then met in a best-of-five Holland Series. Most Holland Series-participations HS Club 22 Terrasvogels 18 Sparks Haarlem 9 HCAW 5 Twins 3 Olympia Haarlem 3 Tex Town Tigers 2 HHC 1 Alcmaria Victrix, DSC '74, DSS This format was kept in place through 2000, in 1998 it was even expanded with extra best-of-three Play-Offs with a total of eight teams. The same format was used from 2001 on, but the Play-Offs then also were expanded to a best-of-five, again to create more suspense. The format of a best-of-five Play-Offs and Holland Series was used through 2011 and that resulted in several very attactive series. In 2012, the page-system returned, the Play-Offs again became a best-of-three, but the Holland Series remained a best-of-five. And that has been the case since then. In 2015, it was decided to create a new format. In this new set-up, all deciding series in the highest division (three Play-Off series and the Holland Series) were limited to a best-of-one only. Also, all deciding games were to be played in one weekend on a neutral site. Not everyone was in favor of this set-up. Not only in reducing the most important moment of a season to only one game, but also to play them at another site, instead of the home-site of a team. Most Postseason-participations PS Club 31 Terrasvogels 26 Sparks Haarlem 16 Twins 13 HCAW 7 Bloemendaal, Olympia Haarlem, Tex Town Tigers 5 Amsterdam Pirates 4 DSC '74, DSS, HHC 3 Alcmaria Victrix In 2015, the winner of the regular season automatically qualified for the Final-weekend, while the other three had to play an additional Play-Off Round to decide the ranking and with that, the match-ups in the Play-Off Series. This Play-Off Round also was played at one location, which in 2015 was the site of Almere '90 in Almere. Also in 2015, the first games of the Promotion/Relegation Series were played at one site, which was the site of Gryphons in Rosmalen. A year later, the unsuccessful additional Play-Off Round was dropped again, as was the First Round of the Promotion/Relegation Series. Instead, the top-4 of the regular season in the highest division faced each other once in a Play-Off Series, with the number one reaching the Holland Series and the team in last place being eliminated for the Finals. The Play-Off Series was played at the sites of the two best teams of the regular season. The Promotion/Relegation Series were played in its entirety duing the Season Finals. Since last year, the two best teams of the Play-Offs qualify for the Holland Series. As it was realized that a best-of-one was not a satisfying ending of the season, the Finale became a best-of-three again last year. Since 1982, a Play-Off Round was on the schedule 32 times. Terrasvogels participated in 31 of these Play-Offs. Since 1997, the team qualified for the Play-Offs annually after having missed its lone Play-Off in 1996. Sparks Haarlem reached the postseason annually since 1994. Olympia Haarlem played in the postseason for the seventh time since 2011 and annually since 2013. In 2015, Hoofddorp Pioniers hosted the first 'Season Finals Weekend'. In 2016, all games were played at the site of Sparks Haarlem and last year, Roef! was the host of the Finals in Moergestel. This year, the well-visited games were played at the site of Olympia Haarlem, which is named after longtime Netherlands Team Head Coach Nol Houtkamp, who passed away early this year at age 89. Next year, the Finals will be played at the site of Onze Gezellen in Haarlem.

Before the start of the game, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Jerry Buitendijk, the Director of Stichting SportSupport Kennemerland. Olympia Haarlem today collected 15 basehits. That's the highest total in a Holland Series-game since Sparks Haarlem recorded 14 in the third game of the 2010 Holland Series. The record for most hits in one game is 16, which was accomplished in 2002 by Sparks Haarlem and tied by Tex Town Tigers in 2008. Olympia Haarlem threatened to open the score right away in the top of the first inning, but then left three runners behind. With one out, Dinet Oosting doubled and Mariëlle Vleugels singled, then advanced on the throw. With runners on second and third base, Terrasvogels-starter Dani Bonnet followed with a strikeout, but got the bases loaded when next batter Brenda Beers reached on a bunt-single. The inning ended when Vleugels was forced out on third base on a force play-grounder by Rachel van Veen. Terrasvogels also got into scoring position in its first at bat off of Ilona Andringa, who went the distance for Olympia Haarlem. With one out, she gave up a double to Noa Brand, but she stranded on second base. ...Brenda Beers... ...Most Valuable Player... (© Photo: Fred Versluis) After both teams were retired in order in the second inning, Olympia Haarlem struck with four runs in the third at bat. In the top of the third, Olympia Haarlem recorded five basehits. Jessie van Aalst led off with a double and scored the first run on a following single by Dinet Oosting. With one out, Virginie Anneveld also singled and Brenda Beers followed with a runscoring double. With runners on second and third base, Rachel van Veen delivered a 2-run single, which lifted the lead to 4-0. A pitching change followed, as Australian righthander Alice Donohoe took over. She got two grounders, but Olympia had taken a more or less deciding lead in the game. Olympia Haarlem added a run in the fourth and fifth inning to lift the lead to 6-0. In the fourth, Tahli Moore led off with an infield-hit, then moved to third base on a 2-out single by Mariëlle Vleugels and scored when next batter Virginie Anneveld also singled. In the fifth, pinch-hitter Bobbi Scheurkogel singled in her first Holland Series-at bat. She advanced on a single by British player Stephanie Pearce, then scored on a double by Australian/British Tahli Moore. Terrasvogels got on base again in its remaining innings, but was unable to move the runners. In the bottom of the third, German player Katharina Szalay walked with two outs, but stranded on first base. In the fourth, Karin Tuk was hit by a pitch, but her temporary runner also was left behind on first base. In the fifth, Terrasvogels appeared to do something back and got into scoring position for the first time since the first inning. With one out, Gabi Obia singled. She moved to second base when pinch-hitter Kelsy Pieneman hit a line drive single into leftfield in her first Holland Series-at bat. With runners on first and second base, Katharina Szalay hit the ball into centerfield. There, centerfielder Brenda Beers caught the ball and got in time to second base where Obia was doubled up to end the inning. With that, the Olympia-defense kept Terrasvogels scoreless. ...Celebration Time... (© Photo: Fred Versluis) Terrasvogels got its final baserunner in the sixth inning. Noa Brand then led off with a single. That was only the fourth basehit in the game for Terrasvogels off the strong throwing Ilona Andringa, who retired the next three batters, two of them with a strikeout. Olympia Haarlem got a final scoring opportunity in the top of the seventh inning off of Roos-Marijn Kramer, who had taken over the pitching in the previous inning. With one out, she walked Polish player Emma Wójcik, who got into scoring position on a grounder by pinch-hitter Amber Krijgsman and reached third base on a pinch-hit infield-hit by Maranca Ham. She stranded on third base, as a flyout ended the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Andringa began with her seventh strikeout. Hereafter, pinch-hitter Yindi Beekveldt popped the ball up near the first base-line and ran into 1B Mariëlle Vleugels, who was making the catch. Beekveldt was ruled out immediately for interference by Home Plate Umpire Arjan de Wever. The inning, the game and the season then ended when Gabi Obia grounded out to 3B Virginie Anneveld.

...Left: Laura Wissink receives the Egbert van der Sluis Award from KNBSB-Secretary Peter van der Aart... ...Right: Jerry Buitendijk, Director of Stichting SportSupport Kennemerland, throws the ceremonial first pitch... ...Dani Bonnet and Ilona Adringa were the starting pitchers for Terrasvogels and Olympia Haarlem... ...Dinet Oosting slides into 3rd base in the 1st inning, but appears to be tagged in time by... ...3B Katharina Szalay; Oosting is called safe, but later strands at third base... ...Left: Noa Brand doubles for Terrasvogels in the 1st inning; Standing in the back is Dervisa Mutic... ...Right: Tahli Moore makes contact for Olympia Haarlem in the 2nd inning, but flies out... ...Left: Lisa Waasdorp makes contact, but pops out for Terrasvogels in the 2nd inning... ...Waiting for her at bat in the back is her sister Jessica Waasdorp... ...Right: Home Plate Umpire Arjan de Wever and Catcher Karin Tuk see Dinet Oosting score the 2nd run for Olympia Haarlem... ...in the 3rd inning after batting in the first run herself moments earlier... ...Left: Brenda Beers slides past Catcher Karin Tuk to score the 4th Olympia-run in the 3rd inning... ...Standing at left is Rosanne de Vries... ...Right: After hitting a 2-run single in the 3rd inning, Rachel van Veen reaches 2nd base on the throw... ...2B Jessica Waasdorp waits for the ball... ...Left: Longtime Terrasvogels-supporter José van Hardenbroek takes a photo... ...Right: Former player (Tex Town Tigers, Terrasvogels, Netherlands Team) Meike Witteveen was amongst the spectators... ...Left: Tahli Moore dives back to 1st base in the 4th inning when 1B Noa Brand gets the ball after a flyout in centerfield... ...Looking on in the back is Australian pitcher Alice Donohoe... ...Right: Moments later, on a single, Tahli Moore moves to 3rd base where 3B Katharina Szalay waits for the ball... ...Sitting in attendance in the back are some former and current players, including Nadine Marinus,... ...Annemiek Jansen, Marisèla de Wind, Meike Witteveen and Kimberly Jones... ...Left: Virginie Anneveld delivers a runscoring single in the 4th inning... ...Bobbi Scheurkogel (center) scores and Stephanie Pearce (right) reaches 3rd base in the 5th inning... ...Left: Kelsy Pieneman hits a pinch-hit single for Terrasvogels in the 5th inning... ...Right: Roos-Marijn Kramer closed the game for Terrasvogels... ...Standing in the back are 1B Noa Brand and Olympia-Coach Inge Duin... ...The final out of the game is made... ...Celebration Time... ...The players of Terrasvogels congratulate the players of Olympia Haarlem with the Championship-title... ...Left: Despite losing, there were smiles and drinks at Terrasvogels, which can look back to a successful season... ...Left to right: Ella Krommendijk, Gabi Obia, Coach Joris van Ballegooy and Head Coach Ferenc Jongejan... ...Right: Olympia Head Coach Stanley Doney is interviewed by Cobus Oosting of SoftbalDino TV... ...Terrasvogels won the Silver Medal and will participate in the European Cup Winners Cup in 2019... ...Back: Ferenc Jongejan (Head Coach), Gabi Obia, Lizzie Clarijs, Alice Donohoe,... ...Roos-Marijn Kramer, Lisa Waasdorp, Jessica Waasdorp, Ella Krommendijk, Denice van Dijk,... ...Desiree Adriaansz, Karin Tuk, Rob Boersma (Coach) & Joris van Ballegooy (Coach)... ...Front: Yindi Beekveldt, Katharina Szalay, Dervisa Mutic, Kelsy Pieneman, Dani Bonnet & Noa Brand... ...Left: On behalf of the team's fans, Robert Meijboom hands out a special designed shield to the players... ...Left to right: Head Coach Stanley Doney, Brenda Beers, Virginie Anneveld and Emma Wójcik... ...Right: Team-captain Dinet Oosting receives the Championship Shield from KNBSB-Secretary Peter van der Aart... ...More Celebration Time for the players and coaches... ...The players of Olympia Haarlem continue celebrating winning the Championship-title... ...Left: The staff of Olympia Haarlem poses with the Championship Shield... ...Left to right: Wessel Boermans (Physical Therapist), Sandra Gouverneur (Bench Coach), Inge Duin-Consent (1B Coach),... ...Stanley Doney (Head Coach), Lars Looijen (Team Manager), Henk van Zijtveld (Pitching Coach) and Colinda de Vries (Team Scorer)... ...Right: The Championship Shield... (© All Photos: Fred Versluis)

Terrasvogels - FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem 0-6 R H E FysioExpert Olympia Haarlem 004 110 0 - 6 15 0 Terrasvogels 000 000 0 - 0 4 0 pitcher Olympia Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Ilona Andringa, W (1-0) 7 7 1 4 - - pitchers Terrasvogels inn. SO BB H R ER Dani Bonnet, L (0-2) 2.1 1 - 8 4 4 Alice Donohoe 3 - 1 6 2 2 Roos-Marijn Kramer 1.2 - 1 1 - - Box Score Play-by-Play Final Standings Scores Schedule Team Rosters Umpires: HP-Arjan de Wever, 1B-Bob Gieskens, 3B-Patrick Reus. Official Scorer-Brendy De Smet. Play-by-Play Scorer-Stefan Slinger. Technical Commissioner-Wout Isbouts. Public Address Announcer-Huub Nelissen. Scoreboard Operator-Peter Warmerdam. Starting Time-1:48 PM. Time Played-1:45 hrs. Site-Nol Houtkamp Sportpark, Haarlem (site Olympia Haarlem). Game Notes: Game 2, best-of-three Holland Series; Olympia Haarlem wins Seris 2-0. 33rd Holland Series. First Holland Series between Olympia Haarlem and Terrasvogels. 22nd Holland Series-participation for Terrasvogels, third for Olympia Haarlem. Olympia Haarlem wins second Championship-title in a row and second title in club-history. Olympia Haarlem qualifies for participation in the European Premiere Cup 2019. Terrasvogels qualifies for participation in the European Cup Winners Cup 2019. Jerry Buitendijk, Director of Stichting SportSupport Kennemerland, throws the ceremonial first pitch. Brenda Beers (Olympia Haarlem) named Most Valuable Player of the Holland Series. Kelsy Pieneman, Roos-Marijn Kramer (both Terrasvogels), Ilona Andringa and Bobbi Scheurkogel (both Olympia Haarlem) all play in their first Holland Series-game. Official Scorer Brendy De Smet makes her Holland Series-debut. Weather conditions at game time: Sunny, 22° C (71,6° F); wind direction south; wind speed 24 kmh (14,9 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 61%.

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