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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Fred Versluis) Terrasvogels opens season with two wins at Sparks Haarlem Nederlands HAARLEM (Neth.) - Terrasvogels opened the new season on Saturday (July 18) with two wins at Sparks Haarlem. In the first game, Terrasvogels nipped Sparks Haarlem 3-2 in eight innings. In the second game, Terrasvogels rallied for five runs in the sixth at bat and won 6-3. Since the Dutch big league was created halfway the sixties, these two teams were rivals from the beginning. They set the tone and both finished in the top annually, winning the Championship regularly. Back then, Sparks was known was HHC. The baseball-section of that club merged in the seventies to become Sparks. In 1991, the softball-section of HHC also joined the new club. Another merger followed in 2001 with SC Haarlem, which created the current name Sparks Haarlem. 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)

Game 1 Terrasvogels faced an early deficit in the third inning, then saw a 2-1 lead being erased in the sixth. But in the eighth, Terrasvogels re-took the lead and won 3-2. Terrasvogels was outhit 10-5, but Sparks Haarlem left eleven runners behind, including eight in scoring position. Sparks Haarlem got into scoring position in the first two innings, but left runners behind on second and third base in both at bats. With one out in the first, Kimberly Jones singled off of starter Roos-Marijn Kramer and Maxime van Dalen walked. They advanced on a grounder, but then a flyout ended the inning. In the second, Denice van Dijk and Tammie Lijbers opened with singles. An attempt for a sacrifice bunt then ended in flyout, but the two runners moved on a grounder. This time, Kramer closed with a strikeout. The home-team then opened the score in the bottom of the third inning when Maxime van Dalen homered with one out. With two outs, Lorraine Kieft singled and stole second base, but also stranded in scoring position. Terrasvogels was held scoreless in the first three innings by veteran righthander Kirsten Scheele. In the top of the first inning, she made a throwing error on a bunt by lead-off hitter Bobbi Scheurkogel, who stole second base, but then was left behind. Scheele followed with two strikeouts, then a line drive by Lizzie Clarijs ended the at bat. Scheele retired seven batters in a row (four strikeouts), then gave up an one-out single to Gabi Obia, but two flyouts followed. In the top of the fourth, Terrasvogels scored twice. Yindi Beekveldt led off with a walk and Lizzie Clarijs singled. The two moved on a sacrifice bunt by Karin Tuk, then respectively scored on a single by Jessica Waasdorp and a grounder by Kelsy Pieneman. Terrasvogels left a runner behind in scoring position in the fifth inning. After having opened the score in the third inning, Sparks Haarlem got more scoring opportunities in the next at bats. With one out in the fourth, Caressa Schoor singled and Nina Oomes walked. Schoor moved to third base when Dervisa Mutic flied out, but the inning ended when she was picked off at third base by catcher Gabi Obia moments later. In the fifth, with one out off of new pitcher Margot van Eijl, Maxime van Dalen walked and Suka Van Gurp singled. This time, a double play ended the inning. But trailing 2-1, Sparks Haarlem came alongside in the bottom of the sixth. Denice van Dijk led off with a walk, moved on a sac-bunt by Tammie Lijbers and a single by Caressa Schoor, then scored the tying run on a double by Nina Oomes. But again, the home team left runners behind on second and third base, as a strikeout and groundout followed. Terrasvogels was retired in order in the top of the seventh, which ended with a nice catch on foul territory by 1B Maxime van Dalen. In the bottom of the seventh, Sparks Haarlem got two more baserunners. With one out, Suka Van Gurp singled. She advanced on bunt-single by Lorraine Kieft, which was fielded by 3B Katharina Szalay near home plate. With third base left vacant, Van Gurp tried to advance an additional base, but was tagged out by catcher Gabi Obia, who took over third base and arrived in time to eliminate the runner. A pop-fly ended the inning and so, the eighth inning followed. In the top of the eighth, veteran pitcher Rebecca Soumeru took over the pitching for Sparks Haarlem with Bobbi Scheurkogel being the tie-break runner at second base. She moved on a sac-bunt by Katharina Szalay, then scored the go-ahead run when Soumeru made an error on a sac-bunt/squeeze by next batter >Yindi Beekveldt. In the bottom of the eighth, Sparks Haarlem tie-break runner Denice van Dijk also moved to third base on a sac-bunt by Tammie Lijbers. But she stranded, as a strikeout and groundout ended the game.

...Left: Special areas are created besides the dug-outs for players who are not in the game... ...Right: Veteran Head Coaches Rob Walgien (Terrasvogels) and Peter van Dalen (Sparks Haarlem) meet before the game... ...Left: Kirsten Scheele was the starting pitcher for Sparks Haarlem... ...Right: Leftfielder Denice van Dijk makes a nice catch in foul territory in the 2nd inning... ...Left: Head Coach Peter van Dalen congratulates daughter Maxime with her homerun in 3rd inning... ...Right: 1B Bobbi Scheurkogel has the ball in time to eliminate Denice van Dijk in 3rd inning... ...Left: Former Sparks Haarlem-players Kim Kluijskens, Anne Blaauwgeers and Jolanda Kroesen were spectators... ...Right: Nina Oomes celebrates her double that tied the score in the sixth inning... ...Sparks Haarlem Head Coach Peter van Dalen sees how Suka Van Gurp is tagged out... ...by catcher Gabi Obia in the 7th inning... (© All Photos: Fred Versluis)

Sparks Haarlem - Terrasvogels 2-3 (8 inn.) R H E Terrasvogels 000 200 01 - 3 5 0 Sparks Haarlem 001 001 00 - 2 10 2 pitchers Terrasvogels inn. SO BB H R ER Roos-Marijn Kramer 5 1 3 5 1 1 Margot van Eijl, BS (1), W (1-0) 4 2 2 5 1 1 pitchers Sparks Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Kirsten Scheele 7 6 1 5 2 2 Rebecca Soumeru, L (0-1) 1 1 - - 1 - Homerun: Sparks Haarlem: Maxime van Dalen (1)(3rd,solo,1 out,off Kramer). Box Score Play-by-Play Standings Scores Schedule Team Rosters Umpires: HP-Gerrit-Jan van der Hoeven, 1B-Bianca Dweelaard. Official Scorer-Brigitta Zaal. Play-by-Play Scorer-Huub Nelissen. Public Address Announcer-Coert Oomes. Scoreboard Operator-Jan Zaal. Starting Time-2:00 PM. Time Played-1:55 hrs. Site-Noordersportpark, Haarlem. Game Notes: Game 1 of double-header. Edwin Pieneman (1B Coach Terrasvogels) and Patrick Howell (Assistant Coach Sparks Haarlem) both make their debut as Coach in the Golden League. Weather conditions at game time: Sunny, 23° C (73,4° F); wind direction southwest; wind speed 24 kmh (14,9 mph); wind force 3 Bft; humidity 80%.

Game 2 In the second game, Sparks Haarlem also initially took the lead. This time, Terrasvogels rallied for five runs in the sixth inning to decide the game and won 6-3. In the top of the first inning, Terrasvogels got a chance to open the score off of Rachel Henks, but then left three runners behind. Henks, who last season pitched for Amsterdam Pirates in the Silver League and today made her debut in the highest league, walked lead-off hitter Bobbi Scheurkogel, then saw Katharina Szalay reach on a bunt-single. The two moved on a sacrifice bunt by Yindi Beekveldt. Moments later, Scheurkogel got in a rundown on a grounder by Lizzie Clarijs. Next, the bases got loaded when Henks hit Karin Tuk with a pitch, but a foul-out ended the at bat. In the next four innings, Terrasvogels got only two baserunners. The first was caught stealing, the second was left behind on first base. Sparks Haarlem again failed to score in several scoring opportunities and left eight runners behind in its first four at bats. With two outs in the second inning, Ismay Poot singled and stole second base, then Nina Oomes reached on a fielder's choice, but Terrasvogels-starter Roos-Marijn Kramer closed with a strikeout. In the third inning, Sparks Haarlem got the bases loaded quickly. Dervisa Mutic led off with a bunt-single, then Kimberly Jones and Maxime van Dalen both walked. Kramer followed with a strikeout, then the inning ended with an unassisted double play. With the bases loaded, Tammie Lijbers grounded to 3B Katharina Szalay, who tagged and force out Mutic, then also tagged out Jones at third base to complete the double play end the inning. In the fourth, Sparks Haarlem left three runners behind. Denice van Dijk led off with a walk, which led to a pitching change. Margot van Eijl took over, but got the bases loaded with one out when Nina Oomes singled and debuting Tenley Boersma reached on an error. A force out at the plate followed on a grounder by Dervisa Mutic and a grounder ended the at bat. In the fifth inning, Sparks Haarlem scored two runs to open the score. The bases got loaded when Maxime van Dalen led off with a walk, Suka Van Gurp singled and Tammie Lijbers was hit by a pitch. With one out, Ismay Poot drove the ball into leftfield for a double. That brought in Van Dalen and Van Gurp, but Lijbers was eliminated at the plate. Poot stranded on third base. Sparks-starter Rachel Henks retired seven consecutive batters since the third inning and eleven of the last twelve. That streak began with a rare situation in the second inning, as a batter of Terrasvogels was called out for batting out of turn. But in the top of the sixth, Terrasvogels staged a 5-run rally that started with five consecutive basehits. Katharina Szalay, Yindi Beekveldt and Lizzie Clarijs opened with three singles, resulting in the first run. Karin Tuk followed with a 2-run double that put Terrasvogels ahead, 3-2. It also led to a pitching change, as Quincey Catsburg took over for Henks. She gave up a single to Jessica Waasdorp, but retired the next two batters. The bases got loaded when Gabi Obia walked, then a run was scored when Catsburg hit Bobbi Scheurkogel with a pitch. Moments later, the fifth run in the at bat was scored on a wild pitch, before the inning ended with a flyout. Terrasvogels added an insurance run in the seventh inning off of new pitcher Caressa Schoor. In this at bat, Yindi Beekveldt (who was 3-for-3) led off with a single, stole second base and scored with one out when a grounder by Karin Tuk ended in an error. Trailing 6-2, Sparks Haarlem got one run back in its seventh at bat. Suka Van Gurp led off with a walk and advanced on a passed ball. With one out, pinch-hitter Jackie Huijben walked and with two outs, Nina Oomes hit a runscoring single. But a grounder ended the inning and the game, leaving two runners behind. In this game, Sparks Haarlem stranded twelve runners.

...Bobbi Scheurkogel is tagged out by pitcher Rachel Henks... ...in a rundown in the 1st inning, as watched by... ...Umpire Bianca Dweelaard and Terrasvogels-Coach Rob Walgien... ...Rachel Henks and Caressa Schoor pitched for Sparks Haarlem... ...Left: Maxime van Dalen and Suka Van Gurp score for Sparks Haarlem in the 5th inning... ...Right: Yindi Beekveldt scores for Terrasvogels in the 6th inning; Catcher Tammie Lijbers tries to prevent that... (© All Photos: Fred Versluis)

Sparks Haarlem - Terrasvogels 3-6 R H E Terrasvogels 000 005 1 - 6 9 2 Sparks Haarlem 000 020 1 - 3 6 1 pitchers Terrasvogels inn. SO BB H R ER Roos-Marijn Kramer 3 (*) 3 4 2 - - Margot van Eijl, W (2-0) 4 1 3 4 3 3 (*) - Roos-Marijn Kramer pitched to one batter in the fourth inning pitchers Sparks Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Rachel Henks, L (0-1) 5 (*) 2 1 7 4 4 Quincey Catsburg 1 1 1 1 1 1 Caressa Schoor 1 1 - 1 1 - (*) - Rachel Henks pitched to four batters in the sixth inning Box Score Play-by-Play Standings Scores Schedule Team Rosters Umpires: HP-Bianca Dweelaard, 1B-Gerrit-Jan van der Hoeven. Official Scorer-Brigitta Zaal. Play-by-Play Scorer-Huub Nelissen. Public Address Announcer-Coert Oomes. Scoreboard Operator-Jan Zaal. Starting Time-4:30 PM. Time Played-2:07 hrs. Site-Noordersportpark, Haarlem. Game Notes: Game 2 of double-header. Rachel Henks and Tenley Boersma (both Sparks Haarlem) make their debut in the Golden League. Weather conditions at game time: Sunny, 23° C (73,4° F); wind direction west-southwest; wind speed 16 kmh (9,9 mph); wind force 3 Bft; humidity 83%.

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