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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Fred Versluis) Olympia Haarlem wins title with comeback, extra-inning, walk-off win in Game 3 Holland Series Nederlands HAARLEM (Neth.) - Olympia Haarlem came back from behind, came alongside with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, then won 9-8 in the eighth against Sparks Haarlem to win Game 3 of the best-of-three Holland Series and capture its third Championship-title. By winning the title, Olympia Haarlem qualied for participation in the European Premiere Cup next season, while Sparks Haarlem will participate in the tournament for the European Cup Winners Cup. On Saturday, the teams split a double-header on Day 1 of the Championship Series. Sparks Haarlem opened with an 8-2 win, but Olympia Haarlem then struck late in Game 2 and won 6-3. Today, Sparks Haarlem led 5-0 halfway the second inning and led 8-4 after the fifth inning, but then, the game developed into a Hickcockian thriller. Halfway the seventh inning, the lead of Sparks had diminished to 8-7. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Sparks Haarlem came within one strike of winning the game, but Olympia Haarlem came alongside to force extra innings and then struck in the eighth to win the Holland Series. Olympia Haarlem collected 18 basehits in today's game, including homeruns by Mariëlle Vleugels and Yindi Beekveldt. Eleven of these basehits were recorded in the first five innings, seven more were added in the deciding final three at bats. Mariëlle Vleugels was 4-for-4 (with an intentional walk), scored twice and became the winning pitcher. Although not all statistics of previous Holland Series are available, Vleugels almost surely became the first player with four hits in one game. Brenda Beers produced three basehits. There were seven players with two or more hits. The deciding basehits were hit by Jessie van Aalst. She delivered a 2-run single in the sixth (batting in the sixth and seventh run) and batted in the tying run in the seventh. In Game 2 on Saturday, Van Aalst delivered a 2-run triple that tied the score which turned the game around for Olympia Haarlem. After today's game, the rightfielder was named Most Valuable Player of the Holland Series. There were six intentional walks issued in today's game, including four Sparks Haarlem-batters. That is the highest total since six intentional walks were thrown in Game 2 of the 2007 Holland Series between Terrasvogels and Sparks Haarlem. Five of these walks were for Terrasvogels-hitters. Today, Riangela Flanegin and Zoe Hicks both got two intentional walks. That also marks the first time since the 2007 Series that a player gets two intentional walks in one game. Back then, Dana Horeman, Nina van Huissteden and Sandra Gouverneur (all Terrasvogels) all got two intenational walks in one game. Since the first Holland Series was played in 1982, this marks the eleventh time that the team that finished in first place in the regular season, but then loses the Season Final. The last time was in 2012 when Alcmaria Victrix finished third and then won the Holland Series against Sparks Haarlem, which had then also finished in first place. For Sparks Haarlem, this was the fourth time that it won the season, but then was left empty-handed in the Final. Besides this year and 2012, Sparks was eliminated in 2003 in the Play-Offs by DSC '74 (the predecessor of Olympia Haarlem), which finished fourth and went on to capture the title. In 2013, Sparks faced Terrasvogels, which had finished in second place, but won the Holland Series. Terrasvogels finished first in the season five times, but then another team won the title. It happened to Twins Oosterhout twice. However, on the other hand, Sparks Haarlem also has captured the title itself after not finishing in first place in the season. In 1996, 2004, 2005 and 2006, the team finished in second place, but then went on to win the Holland Series, like Olympia Haarlem did this year. These four non-first place Championship-titles are the most for one team. (October 17) Related Article: Sparks Haarlem, Olympia Haarlem split double-header on Day 1 Holland Series. (October 16)

...The players and staff of Olympia Haarlem celebrate the Championship-title... ...Back: Ingeborg Berk-Cleeren (1B Coach), Stanley Doney (Head Coach),... ...Cindy van der Zanden, Jessie van Aalst, Alyson Spinas-Valainis,... ...Rachel van Veen, Daphne Onderwater, Julia van der Meer,... ...Mariëlle Vleugels, Colinda de Vries (Team Scorer),... ...Lars Looijen (Team Manager) and Nils Mica (Assistant Coach)... ...Front: Steven Manson (Battery Coach), Machteld Rector, Michelle van der Meer,... ...Anna Prins, Quilen Dirksz, Yindi Beekveldt, Lisa Hop and Brenda Beers... (© Photo: Fred Versluis)

Most Championship-titles, Clubs Titles Club 15 Terrasvogels 12 HHC 11 Sparks Haarlem 9 HCAW 7 DSS 3 Kinheim, Olympia Haarlem 2 Tex Town Tigers Holland Series Stats & Facts For Olympia Haarlem, the title is its third in club-history. After the 2007 season, Olympia Haarlem was created when DSC '74 merged with baseball/softball-club TYBB, soccer-club DCO and G-soccer-club HIS. As DSC '74, the club won the softball-title in 2003. As Olympia Haarlem, the softball-team then won back-to-back Championship-titles in 2017 and 2018. Today, Olympia Haarlem became the 69th 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. This was only the third Holland Series in history in which two teams from Haarlem participated. In all three Series, it were Sparks Haarlem and Olympia Haarlem who faced each other. They did so before in 2015 and 2017. When Terrasvogels from nearby Santpoort is included, there have been 18 Holland Series between teams from the Haarlem-area. The most titles (37) have been won by a Haarlem-based club. When nearby Santpoort, Bloemendaal and Heemstede are included, the total championships by teams from the Haarlem-area is 54. With 37 titles, Haarlem is by far most successful softball-city in the country. The most successful baseball-city is Amsterdam with 35 titles. Also today, the baseball-team of L&D Amsterdam Pirates prolonged its Championship-title by winning the deciding Game 7 of the best-of-seven Holland Series against Curaçao Neptunus. Most Championship-titles, Cities Titles City 37 Haarlem 15 Santpoort 9 Bussum 2 Enschede 1 Alkmaar 1 Bloemendaal 1 The Hague 1 Heemstede 1 Oosterhout 1 Moergestel For Olympia Haarlem, this was its fifth participation in the Holland Series and fourth in a row. For Sparks Haarlem this was its 20th participation in the Championship Series, but the first since 2017. Terrasvogels is the recordholder with 22 participations. In total, eleven different clubs (or nine when HHC/Sparks Haarlem and DSC '74/Olympia Haarlem are combined) participated in a Holland Series. Today was the eleventh extra-inning game in Holland Series-history. It was the fourth extra-inning game in which the winning team won the Championship-title. The other extra-inning Championship-titles were captured in 2008, 2016 and in 2019. In 2008, Tex Town Tigers won 4-3 in eight innings against Sparks Haarlem in Game 4. In 2016, Sparks Haarlem won 1-0 in eight innings against Terrasvogels in what then was only a best-of-one. And two years ago, Roef! won 3-1 in eight innings in Game 3 against Olympia Haarlem. Today was only the second, extra-inning, walk-off victory in a deciding game. On October 8, 2016, Sparks Haarlem won 1-0 in the eighth inning against Terrasvogels. Back then, tie-break runner Chantal Versluis scored on an error on a fielder's choice-grounder by Jenny Kinburn. With that, today's walk-off single by Quilen Dirksz is the first walk-off single in a Championship-clinching extra-inning Holland Series-game. Eleven players played in the first Holland Series-games of their career, being Quilen Dirksz, Lisa Hop, Daphne Onderwater, Anna Prins, Machteld Rector (all Olympia Haarlem), Riangela Flanegin, Rachel Henks, Zoe Hicks, Lorraine Kieft, Nina Oomes and Ismay Poot (all Sparks Haarlem). Cindy van der Zanden (Olympia Haarlem) became the first player to win a Championship-title with three different teams. She won the title with Sparks Haarlem in 2015 and 2016, then with Roef! in 2019. One umpire also made her Holland Series-debut, being Tommasita Pavan. Olympia Haarlem's Head Coach Stanley Doney became the eighth Head Coach in history with three or more Championship-titles and the sixth to accomplish that with one club (with one of them doing it twice). The list is headed by Hans Janssen, who won six titles, three with DSS and three with Terrasvogels. 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 Stanley Doney Olympia Haarlem 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 Ton Hendriks Sparks Haarlem 2 Paula van der Mark HHC 2 Don Wedman Terrasvogels 2 Toon Verzijlberg DSS This was the 35th Holland Series. In 1982, another set-up of the season was introduced. Since then, in most of the following seasons, the four best teams of the regular season went on to the Play-Offs to decide the two finalists who would then meet in a best-of-Championship-series. By setting a format that the fop-four would go to the Play-Offs, all games in the season would remain important and they became even more important as there was something to win for the team in first place. Some years ago, it was decided that a team that won an European Cup in one year would not automatically qualify for that event the following year, as all teams had to qualify in the year preceeding the tournament. With that, the winner of the regular season in the Dutch big league would qualify for participation in the European Cup Winners Cup-tournament, also when it would not reach the Holland Series in the following Play-Offs. When that team would go on to win the Championship-title, it would qualify for the European Premiere Cup and the losing team then would qualify for the Cup Winners Cup. In 1982, the Championship was decided via a postseason for the first time. 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 then 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. 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 20 Sparks Haarlem 9 HCAW 5 Olympia Haarlem 5 Twins 3 Tex Town Tigers 2 HHC 1 Alcmaria Victrix, DSC '74, DSS, Roef! 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. 2001 also was the lone year in which a best-of-seven Holland Series was scheduled, but returned to the best-of-five format the next year. 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. In 2015, another new format was introduced. 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 during the Season Finals. 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 one of the participating teams. 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. In 2017 and 2018, 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 Final Series became a best-of-three again in 2017. Most Postseason-participations PS Club 32 Terrasvogels 28 Sparks Haarlem 16 Twins 13 HCAW 9 Olympia Haarlem 7 Bloemendaal, Tex Town Tigers 5 Amsterdam Pirates 4 DSC '74, DSS, HHC 3 Alcmaria Victrix, Roef! In 2019, despite an unsuccessful introduction in 2015, the top-four again had to play an additional Qualification Round after completion of the regular season to determine the pairing of teams for the following Play-Offs. However, after three weeks of playing, the final standing of the Qualification Round was the same as in the regular season, which made the additional round useless. The two best teams of the additional round met in a Play-Off and the winnner advanced to the Holland Series. The losing team then met the winner of the best-of-three between the third and fourth best teams in a backdoor-series to determine the second finalist. Last year, the regular season started late due to measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19). Before the start of the season, it was decided that there would be no postseason (Play-Offs, Holland Series). Instead, the team in first place of the regular season also would be crowned as Dutch champion. However, half October, the season was abruptly ended due to new measures. At that moment, Sparks Haarlem and Roef! were tied for first place, but it It was then decided that there would be no champion in 2020. This season, there were no Play-Offs, but the Holland Series returned. Instead of the best four teams advancing to the postseason, the teams in first and second place advanced to the Holland Series. Since 1982, a Play-Off Round was on the schedule 33 times. Terrasvogels participated in 32 of these Play-Offs, which is the record. Since 1997, the team qualified for the Play-Offs annually through 2019 after having missed its lone Play-Off in 1996. Sparks Haarlem reached the Play-Offs annually since 1994 (also through 2019) and has now played in 27. Olympia Haarlem played in eight Play-Off Rounds from 2011 through 2019.

Game 3 - Olympia Haarlem vs. Sparks Haarlem ...Brenda Beers has just received the Championship... ...Shield from KNBSB-Secretary Peter van der Aart... (© Photo: Fred Versluis) Sparks Haarlem struck early, scoring three runs in the first inning and adding two more in the second at bat to take an early and what appeared to be a comfortable lead. However, the game turned around from the sixth inning on. The 18 basehits recorded today by Olympia Haarlem are the most in a Holland Series-game since Tex Town Tigers collected 16 in Game 1 of the 2008 Series against Sparks Haarlem. There were a lot of baserunners in today's game and a lot of them were left behind. Sparks Haarlem left twelve runners behind, including nine in scoring position. Olympia Haarlem left thirteen runners behind, seven of them in scoring position. In the top of the first inning, Kimberly Jones led off the game for Sparks Haarlem with a single off of starter Lisa Hop. She moved into scoring position on a passed ball and scored on a following triple by Suka Van Gurp. With one out, Riangela Flanegin walked and moved to second base on a grounder by Lorraine Kieft. With first base open, a force play was set up by walking Zoe Hicks intentionally. However, two more runs were added. With the bases loaded, Van Gurp scored when Bobbi Scheurkogel walked, then Dervisa Mutic followed with a runscoring single. Three runners were left behind when a flyout ended the at bat. Sparks Haarlem added two more runs in the second inning. After Kimberly Jones led off with a walk, Alyson Spinas-Valainis took over the Olympia-pitching, but she was greeted with a double by Suka Van Gurp. After Spinas followed with a strikeout, Riangela Flanegin was walked intentionally. But with the bases loaded, the force play again didn't come, as Lorraine Kieft delivered a 2-run double that lifted the lead to 5-0. Olympia Haarlem was retired in order in its first inning by Sparks-starter Kirsten Scheele, but lead-off hitter Brenda Beers drove the ball into deep centerfield, where it was caught just in front of the fence on the warning-track by Nina Oomes. The team then scored twice in the second at bat. First, Mariëlle Vleugels led off with a homerun down the leftfield-line. Hereafter, Lisa Hop singled, stole second base and scored on a single by Rachel van Veen. She then advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Quilen Dirksz and a grounder by Alyson Spinas, but was left behind. After Sparks was retired in order in the top of the third, the suspense came back when Olympia scored two more runs in the bottom of the third. Brenda Beers led off with a bunt-single and advanced to third base on a single by Cindy van der Zanden. Next batter Jessie van Aalst grounded into a double play, but that also created a run, as Beers scored. With two outs, Mariëlle Vleugels and Lisa Hop singled, which led to a pitching change. Rebecca Soumeru took over, but she gave up a runscoring single to Rachel van Veen, which made it a 5-4 score. With runners at the corners, the inning ended with a flyout. Sparks Haarlem then came back in the fourth and fifth inning by adding three more runs and appeared to have another comfortable lead. However, team also left the bases loaded for the second time. ...Jessie van Aalst with the Award... ...for Most Valuable Player... (© Photo: Fred Versluis) In the top of the fourth, Suka Van Gurp led off with a single. With that, she now only missed the homerun to hit for-the-cycle, as she tripled in the first and doubled in the second. Van Gurp then scored when Maxime van Dalen followed with a double. With first base open, Riangela Flanegin again was walked intentionally. The two runners were then advanced via a sacrifice bunt by Lorraine Kieft. That left first base open again and once more, an intentional walk was issued, this time for Zoe Hicks (which also was her second time). But just as in the first and second inning, the force play didn't come, as Van Dalen scored on a sacrifice fly by Bobbi Scheurkogel. However, with the bases still loaded, the inning ended with a flyout. In the fifth inning, Kimberly Jones led off for Sparks with a single and another pitching change followed. Mariëlle Vleugels took over and got a force play-grounder from Suka Van Gurp, which led to the elimination of Jones at second base. Moments later, Van Gurp scored her fourth run in the game on the second double by Maxime van Dalen. Because of the fielder's choice/force out-grounder, the run scored by Van Gurp was transfered to and credited to Spinas. Van Dalen was left behind on second base, as two flyouts followed. From here, Sparks Haarlem was held scoreless by Mariëlle Vleugels. Sparks Haarlem led 8-4, but that lead proved to be not enough. Olympia Haarlem left two runners behind in scoring position in its fourth and fifth at bat. With two outs in the fourth, Brenda Beers singled and stole second, then Cindy van der Zanden walked, but they were left behind. In the fifth, Mariëlle Vleugels led off with a single, then her pinch-runner Daphne Onderwater advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Lisa Hop. With an 1-0 count on next batter Rachel van Veen, the game was interrupted briefly as Sparks 2B Suka Van Gurp apparently didn't feel well and kneeled down. After being taken care off, she stayed in the game. Van Veen flied out and Onderwater moved to third base on a 2-out single by Quilen Dirksz, but two runners were left behind. After Sparks Haarlem was retired in order in the top of the sixth, Olympia Haarlem narrowed the deficit to 8-7 in its sixth at bat. Yindi Beekveldt led off with a deep homerun, then Brenda Beers followed with a triple into deep right/centerfield. The ball was then thrown back to 2B Suka Van Gurp, who held onto the ball instead of throwing it to third base while Beers was running towards that base. Shortly hereafter, another interruption followed, as Sparks Haarlem Bench Coach Rob Boersma came out to talk to pitcher Rebecca Soumeru and the infielders. However, Suka Van Gurp apparently still didn't feel and while Boersma talked with Soumeru and the others, she signaled somewhat to the dug-out well and walked off the field. After a brief talk with Head Coach Peter van Dalen, she went into the dug-out. Leftfielder Zoe Hicks took over at second base and Van Gurp was replaced by Ismay Poot, who became the new rightfielder, as Dervisa Mutic moved from rightfield to leftfield. With Beers on third base, Cindy van der Zanden reached on an error and stole second base. Next batter Jessie van Aalst hit the ball through the right side of the infield for a 2-run single that made it an 8-7 score. This time, it was Sparks that made a picthing change, as starter Kirsten Scheele returned in the circle. She gave up a single to Mariëlle Vleugels (her fourth basehit in the game) and saw the runners move to second and third base on a grounder by Lisa Hop. This time, with first base open, it was the coaching of Sparks Haarlem who decided to issue an intentional walk to set up a force play. Rachel van Veen got the free pass and for the Sparks-defense, the force play-grounder indeed came. A grounder by Quilen Dirksz towards first base led to the force out at the plate of Van Aalst. Olympia then left three runners behind when a grounder ended the at bat. ...Stanley Doney led Olympia Haarlem to... ...a Championship-title for the third time... (© Photo: Fred Versluis) A crucial play in the top of the seventh inning then came for Sparks Haarlem. With one out, Kimberly Jones singled and with two outs, Maxime van Dalen was hit by a pitch. Hereafter, a grounder by Riangela Flanegin ended in an error by short stop Machteld Rector and the ball jumped away from her. Jones advanced, but also was waved home trying to score an insurance run. However, Rector was able to quickly pick up the ball and got it in time to catcher Brenda Beers, who had enough time to tag out the sliding Jones, which ended the at bat. In Saturday's Game 2, two Sparks-runners were eliminated at third base on crucial moments. Sparks Haarlem then came very close to winning the game. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the first two batters were retired, then Kirsten Scheele had an 0-2 count on the next batter. With that, Sparks was one pitch away from the win and the title. But then Olympia Haarlem struck again and once more, Cindy van der Zanden and Jessie van Aalst were involved. With two outs and having an 0-2, the next pitch to Van der Zanden was a ball, then a foul ball followed. Hereafter, Van der Zanden hit Scheele's fifth pitch into left/centerfield for a double. Another 2-strike count followed on next batter Jessie van Aalst. With an 1-2 count, Van Aalst also fouled off a pitch, then connected for a single that enabled Van der Zanden to score the tying run. Van Aalst advanced to second base on an error. Another intentional walk followed, this time for Mariëlle Vleugels. A foul-out ended the at bat and the game went into extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Riangela Flanegin was the tie-break runner for Sparks Haarlem. She moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Lorraine Kieft, but she was left behind when a grounder and flyout followed. In the bottom of the eighth, Lisa Hop was on second base as Olympia's tie-break runner. After a foul fly-out accounted for the first out, Quilen Dirksz drove the ball into centerfield for a walk-off single, as Hop scored the winning run. And with that, Olympia Haarlem completed the come-from-behind victory and captured the Championship-title. Famous legendary British movie-director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) would have been proud of the development of this game and this Holland Series. Hitchcock was known for his mystery and suspenseful movies and earned the nickname 'Master of Suspense'. When sometimes writes about Hitchockian situations of developments, it means that there was a lot of suspense. And no one can deny that this game and this Series had suspense from beginning till the end. For your information, between 1925 and 1976, Hitchcock directed 54 movies, full of suspense and unexpected twists, including wellknown movies as The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Rebecca (1940), Spellbound (1945), Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963).

...Left: Head Coaches Stanley Doney and Peter van Dalen have hand in their... ...starting line-ups to Home Plate Umpire Gerrit-Jan van der Hoeven... ...Right: Arjan de Wever (1B), Gerrit-Jan van der Hoeven (HP) and Patrick Reus (3B) were the Umpires today... ...The players of Sparks Haarlem and Olympia Haarlem line up during the introductions before the game... ...Left: Kimberly Jones reaches 2nd base on a passed ball in the 1st inning... ...Short stop Machteld Rector waits for the ball, 2B Rachel van Veen looks on... ...Right: Suka Van Gurp runs towards 3rd base with a triple in the 1st inning... ...Left: Centerfielder Nina Oomes catches a fly from Brenda Beers on the warning-track, as... ...watched from behind the fence by Quick Amersfoort Head Coach Sanne Bolhuis (1st inning)... ...Right: Head Coach Peter van Dalen celebrates the 2-run double by Lorraine Kieft (2nd inning)... ...Left: Lisa Hop steals 2nd base in the 2nd inning; Short stop Riangela Flanegin waits for the ball... ...Right: Nina Oomes is eliminated by 1B Mariëlle Vleugels after her bunt in the 2nd inning... ...Left: Rebecca Soumeru took over the pitching for Sparks Haarlem in the 3rd inning... ...Right: Suka Van Gurp scores in the 4th inning, while catcher Brenda Beers waits for the ball... ...Left: Bobbi Scheurkogel hits a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning... ...Right: Brenda Beers steals 2nd base in the 4th inning, short stop Riangela Flanegin tries to catch a high throw... ...Left: Head Coach Peter van Dalen high-fives daughter Maxime after her 2nd RBI-double (5th inning)... ...Right: This dog clearly doesn't care who is winning today... ...Left: Brenda Beers hits a triple in the 6th inning; 3B Kimberly Jones waits for the ball... ...Right: Kimberly Jones is about to be eliminated at the plate by catcher Brenda Beers in the 7th inning... ...Celebration and disappointment.. ...At left, the players of Olympia celebrate the walk-off win, at right, the players of Sparks are of course disappointed... ...Left: Players, coaches and staff of Olympia Haarlem celebrate winning the title... ...Right: Sparks Haarlem Head Coach Peter van Dalen talks with his players after the game... ...The players of Sparks Haarlem congratulate the players of Olympia Haarlem with the title... (© All Photos: Fred Versluis)

Olympia Haarlem - Sparks Haarlem 9-8 (8 inn.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E Sparks Haarlem 3 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 - 8 10 2 Olympia Haarlem 0 2 2 0 0 3 1 1 - 9 18 1 (one out when winning run was scored in the eighth inning) pitchers Sparks Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Kirsten Scheele 2.2 - - 7 4 4 Rebecca Soumeru 2.1 (*) 1 1 7 3 2 Kirsten Scheele, BS (1), L (1-1) 2.1 1 2 4 2 1 (*) - Soumeru pitched to four batters in the sixth inning pitchers Olympia Haarlem inn. SO BB H R ER Lisa Hop 1 (*) - 4 3 4 4 Alyson Spinas-Valainis 3 (**) 2 4 5 4 4 Mariëlle Vleugels, W (1-0) 4 1 - 2 - - (*) - Hop pitched to one batter in the second inning (**) - Spinas pitched to one batter in the fifth inning Homeruns: Olympia: Mariëlle Vleugels (1)(2nd,solo,0 outs,off Scheele), Yindi Beekveldt (1)(6th,solo,0 outs,off Soumeru). Box Score Play-by-Play Final Standings Scores Schedule Team Rosters Umpires: HP-Gerrit-Jan van der Hoeven, 1B-Arjan de Wever, 3B-Patrick Reus. Official Scorer-Dennis Duin. Play-by-Play Scorer-Huub Nelissen. Public Address Announcer-Eric de Vries. Scoreboard Operator-Peter Warmerdam. Starting Time-2:02 PM. Time Played-2:51 hrs. Site-Nol Houtkamp Sportpark, Haarlem. Game Notes: Game 3, best-of-three Holland Series. 4-minute injury delay (2B Suka Van Gurp) with one out, runner on 2nd base and 1-0 count on the batter in bottom 5th inning. Olympia Haarlem wins Series, 2-1. Olympia Haarlem captures its third Championship-title. Jessie van Aalst named Holland Series Most Valuable Player. Weather conditions at game time: Cloudy, 14° C (57,2° F); wind direction south-southwest; wind speed 27 kmh (16,8 mph); wind force 4 Bft; humidity 65%.

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