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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 Quick Amersfoort makes Golden League-debut with two wins vs. Amsterdam Pirates
Nederlands
 AMERSFOORT (Neth.) -
Quick Amersfoort made its debut in the highest Dutch softball-league on Saturday (July 18) with two victories against Amsterdam Pirates.
In today's opener, the home-playing Quick Amersfoort faced a quick 4-0 deficit in the first inning, but turned the game around and went on to win 7-6 in eight innings.
In the second game, Quick never trailed and won 12-5.
This opening double-header was between the two teams that promoted to the Golden League last season.
Twins Oosterhout and DSS then relegated to the Silver League.
Amsterdam Pirates last played in the highest league in 2007.
Before that, the team first played in the big league in 1989, but then relegated after its first season.
After winning the title again in the second highest league in 1990, Pirates then played for 15 seasons (1991-2005) in the big league.
In that span, the team reached the Play-Offs four times.
In 1996 and 1997, Pirates won the European Cup Winners Cup.
Today was Opening Day in the Golden League, later than ever in history.
The season initially was scheduled to open on Saturday, April 18.
From March 12 on, the entire exhibition season was cancelled due to announced measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
From March 23 on, the start of the regular season was postponed frequently.
On June 24, the Dutch Government announced that most measures were eased, effective July 1.
The next day, the KNBSB announced that the regular season in both the Golden League and Silver League were to open today, July 18.
Also, teams were given a period of two weeks to prepare.
Several exhibition games were scheduled and also the Jan de Wit Tournament returned to the program.
This season marks the first time since 2009 that the Netherlands Juniors Team is not participating in the highest league.
Since 2010, the team played either as Young Orange or Talent Team Holland.
However, last season, after having played twelve games, the team withdraw and all its games were annulled.
(July 18)
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Game 1
In its first big league-game since 2007, Amsterdam Pirates had a productive start and took an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
However, the team was silenced after that.
Pirates took the lead two more times, but was left empty-handed.
Quick Amersfoort, which played in its first game in the highest league, had a shaky start, committing four errors in the first inning.
In total, the team made five errors, but managed to recover and came back in the game.
After trailing 4-0 halfway the first inning, Quick got a run back and came alongside in the sixth.
In the end, Quick forced an extra inning and won 7-6 in eight innings.
Pirates rallied for four runs (only one earned) in the first inning off of starter Vera de Boer-Esmeijer, who played in her first big league-game since 1998.
Back then, she played for UVV.
With one out, she gave up a double to Jessie Rodermans in her first big league at bat.
Next batter Rhowan Stuart was walked intentionally, but Uchenna Jong Loy followed with a runscoring single.
When an error followed, Stuart also was able to score, while Jong Loy ended up on second base.
Hereafter, Sietske Drijvers reached on an error.
Next, Jong Loy was forced out at third base on a grounder by Chermaine Valk, but then two errors followed on grounders by Stacy Groot and Resa ter Heegde, which led to two more runs and raised the lead to 4-0.
Quick Amersfoort got one run back in its first at bat off of Loïs Brinks.
Franka van Dijk led off with a single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Angelica Bomba.
After powerhitter Laura Wissink had walked, Van Dijk scored on a sacrifice fly by Nicky Uytendaal.
Wissink joined Quick after last season when she played for Tex Town Tigers.
Loïs Brinks did well in the next innings of her big league-debut.
She saw Quick strand three runners in scoring position.
With two outs in the second, Elsie-Fieke de Boer doubled in her first big league at bat, but Brinks closed with a strikeout.
In the third, Wissink doubled with two outs, but also stranded on second base.
In the fifth, Franka van Dijk was left behind on second base.
In the fourth, Brinks gave up an one-out single to veteran player Mirjam Boode, who recently was added to the roster of Quick Amersfoort.
Boode played in the big league for UVV and HCAW and had retired, but she made her comeback today.
Vera de Boer recovered fine after the first inning.
She walked lead-off hitter Sanne van der Putten in the second inning, but then retired the next twelve batters in a row.
Hereafter, De Boer gave up a lead-off single to Sietske Drijvers in the sixth, but then caught a line drive from Chermaine Valk and doubled up Drijvers at first base.
In the bottom of the sixth, Quick came alongside.
Nicky Uytendaal led off with a double and Puck van der Kolk followed with a triple.
With one out, Michelle Schuur walked.
She stole second base, but when that ended in a wild pitch, Van der Kolk could score, while Schuur advanced to third base.
Moments later, Schuur scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Else-Fieke de Boer.
In the top of the seventh, Pirates re-took the lead.
The at bat began with some confusion.
Resa ter Heegde led off for Pirates with a walk, but was called out moments later after having reached first base.
When the ball had returned to the pitcher in the circle, Ter Heegde was still in contact with the orange safety-base, while at that moment, she should have been in contact with the white regular base.
According to the rules, Ter Heegde was called out.
Hereafter, pinch-hitter Jeske Meewisse reached second base on an error, moved on a grounder and scored on a single by Jessie Rodermans.
And who knows, Pirates might have scored an additional run when the 'wrong base'-out had not occurred.
In the bottom of the seventh, Quick tied the score again and got a chance to win the game, but left three runners behind.
After Franka van Dijk had led off with a double, Demi Brinks took over the pitching for Pirates.
She saw Van Dijk advance on a sacrifice bunt by Angelica Bomba.
While first base was open, it was not opted to walk Laura Wissink intentionally, who then produced a single to bring in the tying run.
Next batter Nicky Uytendaal also singled.
After the two runners had advanced, a force play was set-up by walking pinch-hitter Richelle van Gennip intentionally.
A grounder ended the at bat and three runners were left behind.
In the top of the eighth, Richelle van Gennip became the new pitcher for Quick.
With Rhowan Stuart at second base as tie-break runner, Uchenna Jong Loy was walked intentionally, then the bases got loaded when Sietske Drijvers reached on a bunt-single.
With one out, Pirates took the lead for the third time, as Stacy Groot followed with a runscoring single.
This time, Pirates left three runners behind, as a strikeout and groundout ended the at bat.
Again, Pirates failed to hold onto the lead, as Quick decided the game moments later by scoring two runs with two outs.
Tie-break runner Michelle Schuur advanced to third base on a passed ball, but the next two batters were retired.
Things then went wrong for Pirates and of course, the right way for Quick.
Franka van Dijk walked and Angelica Bomba followed with a single that enabled Schuur to score the tying run.
With Van Dijk and Bomba (on the throw) on third and second base, Laura Wissink was the next batter.
Not only to avoid the hitting by Wissink, but also to set up a force play, an intentional walk was issued this time to load the bases.
But hereafter, Nicky Uytendaal connected for a walk-off single that gave Quick an 7-6 win.
Nicky Uytendaal (12 games) and Michelle Schuur (3 games) made their big league-debut last year while playing for the Talent Team Holland.
However, the team withdraw from the league after twelve games and with that all the games that were played were annulled.
And with, the two players made their renewed big league-debut today.
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| Quick Amersfoort - Amsterdam Pirates 7-6 (8 inn.) |
| R | H | E |
| Amsterdam Pirates | 400 | 000 | 11 | - | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Quick Amersfoort | 100 | 003 | 12 | - | 7 | 11 | 5 |
| (two outs when winning run was scored in the eighth inning) |
| pitchers Pirates | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Loïs Brinks | 6 (*) | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
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| Demi Brinks, BS (1), L (0-1) | 1.2 | - | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| (*) - Loïs Brinks pitched to one batter in the seventh inning |
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| pitchers Quick | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Vera de Boer-Esmeijer | 7 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
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| Richelle van Gennip, W (1-0) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - |
Umpires: HP-Bob Gieskens, 1B-Arjan Mens.
Official Scorer-Ben Goorts.
Play-by-Play Scorer-Rienette Hamers.
Technical Commissioner-Bob Gieskens.
Public Address Announcer-Bammetje.
Scoreboard Operator-Barney Schuur.
Starting Time-2:00 PM.
Time Played-2:12 hrs.
Site-XL Lease Park 'Dorrestein', Amersfoort.
Game Notes:
 Game 1 of double-header.
Sanne van der Putten, Jessie Rodemans, Sietske Drijvers, Chermaine Valk, Stacy Groot, Resa ter Heegde, Loïs Brinks, Demi Brinks (all Amsterdam Pirates), Nicky Uytendaal, Finette Stokman, Michelle Schuur and Else-Fieke de Boer (all Quick Amersfoort) all make their debut in the Golden League.
Nicky Uytendaal and Michelle Schuur made their debut during the 2019 season playing for the Talent Team Holland, but when this team withdraw from the league, all games it had played were annulled.
Ted ter Heegde (1B Coach Amsterdam Pirates), Maja Kouwenhoven (Pitching Coach Amsterdam Pirates), Ricardo Bryson (Bench Coach Quick Amersfoort), Anthony Hosé (Bench Coach Quick Amersfoort) and Emely Uytendaal (Pitching Coach Quick Amersfoort) all make their debut as Coach in the Golden League.
Jessie Rodermans (Amsterdan Pirates) and Else-Fieke de Boer (Quick Amersfoort) both hit a double in their first Golden League at bat.
Ben Goorts begins his 44th season as Official Scorer.
Quick Amersfoort plays its first game in the highest league.
Game was scheduled for Saturday, July 11 in the original program, but was cancelled when the new set-up was announced on June 25.
Weather conditions at game time:
Partly cloudy, 25° C (77° F); wind direction south-southwest; wind speed 14 kmh (8,7 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 49%. |
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Game 2
In the second game, Quick Amersfoort struck early and scored at least two runs in four of the five innings played.
The team scored twice in the first at bat and never trailed.
However, it was Amsterdam Pirates that got an opportunity to open the score in the top of the first inning off of Richelle van Gennip, who went the distance for Quick.
In the first inning, the righthander walked three batters, lead-off hitter Sanne van der Putten, with one out Rhowan Stuart and with two outs, Jeske Meewisse.
But with the bases loaded, she closed with a strikeout.
In its first at bat, Quick scored two runs off of Sanne van der Putten, who threw a complete game for Pirates and gave up ten basehits.
With one out, the rookie walked Angelica Bomba, who stole second base and scored the first run on a following single by Laura Wissink.
After Nicky Uytendaal was hit with a pitch and with two outs, Richelle van Gennip also delivered a runscoring single.
Pirates was retired in order in the top of the second, then Quick added three runs in its second at bat.
The bases got loaded by Else-Fieke de Boer (hit by pitch), Vera de Boer-Esmeijer (single) and Franka van Dijk (single).
A run was then scored when an illegal pitch was called and moments later, the next run was added on a grounder by Angelica Bomba.
With two outs, Nicky Uytendaal walked, then Van Dijk scored in a double steal-situation to lift the lead to 5-0.
Pirates narrowed the deficit to 5-3 in the third inning.
Sanne van der Putten led off with a single and with one out, Rhowan Stuart and Uchenna Jong Loy both walked.
With the bases loaded, Jeske Meewisse drilled the ball into leftfield for a baseclearing triple.
The inning ended when Meewisse tried to score on a flyout into leftfield, but was eliminated at the plate in a double play.
Quick took some more distance in the bottom of the third by scoring two more runs.
Richelle van Gennip led off with a walk and moved to third base on a 2-out single by Vera de Boer.
Both scored on a following triple by Franka van Dijk.
She tried to stretch it into a homerun, but was eliminated at the plate.
In the top of the fourth, it was Pirates that scored twice to make it a 7-5 score.
Sietske Drijvers led off with a single and scored on a triple by Chermaine Valk.
With one out, she scored the next run on a sacrifice fly by Sanne van der Putten.
For Amsterdam Pirates, the scoring stopped here, but Quick Amersfoort still had a productive fifth at bat ahead of them.
Quick left runners behind on second and third base in the fourth inning, but then rallied for five runs in the fifth to reach a 7-run mercy-rule difference.
With one out and Else-Fieke de Boer (walk) and Vera de Boer (hit by pitch) on base, Franka van Dijk batted in the lead runner with a single.
With two outs, four more runs were added.
First, the bases got loaded when Laura Wissink walked.
Then, a run was scored on a single by Nicky Uytendaal and two more on a single by Puck van der Kolk.
Shortly thereafter, Uytendaal scored the twelfth run when Richelle van Gennip's grounder ended in an error.
And that also ended the game.
Winning pitcher Richelle van Gennip had a rare pitching line in this game.
She pitched five innings, struckout five batters, walked five, gave up five basehits and also gave up five runs, which were all five earned.
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| Quick Amersfoort - Amsterdam Pirates 12-5 (5 inn.) |
| R | H | E |
| Amsterdam Pirates | 003 | 20 | | - | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Quick Amersfoort | 232 | 05 | | - | 12 | 10 | 0 |
| (two outs when 7-run difference was reached in the fifth inning) |
| pitcher Pirates | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Sanne van der Putten, L (0-1) | 4.2 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 11 |
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| pitcher Quick | inn. | SO | BB | H | R | ER |
| Richelle van Gennip, W (2-0) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
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Copyright © 1997-2020 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.
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