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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) European Premiere Cup: Roef! records two shutout-wins on Day 4 Nederlands BUTTRIO / CASTIONS DI STRADA (Italy) - After having lost twice in extra innings on Wednesday, Roef! won its next two games on Thursday (August 19), Day 4 of the European Premiere Cup-tournament in Italy. Roef! recorded two shutouts, first winning 10-0 against Apollo Bratislava (Slovakia) in the afternoon, then adding a 2-0 win in the evening against Barracudas Zürich (Switzerland). Roef! opened the event on Monday with a 7-0 shutout-win against RusStar (Russia). On Monday-evening, the game against MKF Bollate from Italy was halted with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning due to heavy lightning. There was no score at that moment. The game will be completed on Friday-afternoon in Castions di Strada. On Tuesday, Roef! recorded a big 11-2 victory in 4½ inning against Les Comanches from France. Yesterday, the team from Moergestel suffered two tough losses. Roef! had the lead both times, but then lost in extra innings. First, Roef! led 3-1 in the sixth inning against Poderi dal Nespoli Forlì (Italy), but lost 6-5 in eight innings. In the evening, Roef! led 6-1 halfway the second inning against SK Joudrs Praha (Czech Republic), but lost 10-9 in nine innings. Although the two losses probably will be decisive for reaching the Final, there are still some scenarios possible on the final day or the Preliminary Round. On Friday, Roef! first meets Rivas (Spain), then completes the game against Bollate. (August 19) Other scores from Day 4: Rivas vs. RusStar 1-0; Forlì vs. Les Comanches 10-3 (4½ inn.); Forlì vs. Bollate 0-7 (6 inn.); Joudrs Praha vs. Les Comanches 2-4.

Roef! vs. Apollo Bratislava Roef! scored at least twice in all four at bats the team got in this game against Apollo Bratislava, which was kept scoreless. Roef! opened the score quickly in the bottom of the first inning. Wies Ligtvoet led off with a walk, advanced from first to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Kim Donkers and scored on a single by Elizabeth Snow. The latter then moved into scoring position when Nadine Marinus walked and scored on a following single by Isa Los. With two outs, the team got the bases loaded when Onaisha Franka struckout, but reached on an error. Hereafter, three runners were left behind, when another strikeout closed the at bat. And that was the third strikeout in a row for Hana Rudohradská, who went the distance for the Slovakian team. Roef! took more distance via a 3-run rally in the second inning. This time, Lisa de Vries and Wies Ligtvoet opened the at bat with a walk, then the first scored when Kim Donkers reached on an error. With one out, Ligtvoet went on to score on a sacrifice fly by Nadne Marinus. Hereafter, Donkers advanced to third base on a single by Isa Los and scored the next run in a double steal-situation. Two more runs were added in the bottom of the third. Charlotte Drijvers led off with a single and moved on a grounder by Lisa de Vries. She then advanced to third base on an infield-hit by Wies Ligtvoet and scored when that was followed by a throwing error. Ligtvoet moved to second base on the error, advanced on a single by Kim Donkers and scored on a sacrifice fly by Elizabeth Snow. In the meantime, Roef!-starter Sydney Watkins encountered no problems. She did gave up a lead-off single to Dominika Mešťanová in the first inning, but she was eliminated in an inning-ending double play and remained the lone baserunner for Apollo Bratislava. The American righthander then struckout the side in the second and third inning. In the top of the fourth inning, Kim Horsten took over the pitching and also retired the side, including two strikeouts. In the bottom of the fourth, Roef! reached the mercy-rule 10-run difference. Isa Los led off with a walk, then Sietske Drijvers followed with an infield-hit. When that was followed by an error, Los scored and Drijvers advanced to second base. She then moved to third base on a grounder by Onaisha Franka and scored on a single by her sister Charlotte Drijvers. The latter then scored the tenth run on a walk-off triple by Lisa de Vries.

Roef! - Apollo Bratislava 10-0 (4 inn.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Apollo Bratislava 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 4 Roef! 2 3 2 3 - 10 9 0 (one when 10-run difference was reached in fourth inning) pitcher Apollo Bratislava inn. SO BB H R ER Hana Rudohradská, L (0-1) 3.1 3 6 9 10 7 pitchers Roef! inn. SO BB H R ER Sydney Watkins, W (1-1) 3 7 - 1 - - Kim Horsten 1 2 - - - - Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires: HP-Loretta Lamiere (Italy), 1B-Franck Lautier (France), 3B-Tomo Žezlina (Slovenia). Official Scorers-Arianna Pagani (Italy), Francesca Valenti (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer-Stefano Burlini (Italy). Technical Commissioner-Zsuzsa Balog (Hungary). Starting Time-12:30 PM. Time Played-1:10 hrs. Site-Campo di Baseball/Softball, Buttrio (Italy) (complex White Sox Buttrio). Game Notes: European Premiere Cup 2021. Weather conditions at game time: Sunny, 27° C (80,6° F); wind direction southwest; wind speed 10 kmh (6,2 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 35%.

Roef! vs. Barracudas Zürich In its second game today, Roef! scored in the first and second inning. That proved to be enough. However, opponent Barracudas Zürich got a chance to open the score in the top of the first inning, as the Swiss team got the bases loaded with one out. Starting pitcher Jessica Tolmie gave up a lead-off single to Meredith Ramsey. With one out, she hit pick-up player Annemiek Jansen, who plays in the Dutch big league for Tex Town Tigers. Herafter, the bases got loaded when Tolmie also hit Mariah Jameyson, who in 2018 and 2019 played in the Dutch big league for DSS. But the righthander then struckout the next two batters and the three runners were left behind. Roef! then opened the score with two outs in the bottom of the first inning off of Elizabeth Engler. With two outs, the American righthander gave up a double to Elizabeth Snow, whose temporary runner Kim Donkers then scored when Nadine Marinus followed with a single. After the Roef!-defense had turned a double play in the top of the second inning, the team added another run moments later. Sterre den Duijn led off the second inning with a triple and scored on a following single by Sophie Verdaasdonk. With one out, Onaisha Franka reached on an infield-hit, but the team left runners behind on second and third base. With a 2-0 lead, Shomayra Franka took over the pitching for Roef! in the top of the third inning. She retired the side in the third and fourth inning. In the fifth, Elizabeth Engler led off for Barracudas and reached on an error, but another double play followed. In the top of the sxith, Marjolein Merkx became the third pitcher for Roef! and saw the first two batters reach base. American Meredith Ramsey led off with a walk and Kimberly Zehnder reached on an infield-hit. In 2017, Zehnder played in the Dutch big league for Tex Town Tigers. But with runners on first and second base, Annemiek Jansen was called out for making contact with a pitch while standing out the batter's box. An infield-fly accounted for the second out, then the inning ended when Ramsey was caught stealing at third base. The Swiss defense turned a double play in the third inning, but Roef! got another runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Elizabeth Snow was hit by a pitch and Nadine Marinus singled. The inning ended when Snow was forced out at third base on a grounder by Isa Los. Roef! was retired in order in the bottom of the sixth. In the top of the seventh inning, Sydney Watkins became the fourth pitcher for Roef! and retired the side. She closed the game with a strikeout.

Roef! - Barracudas Zürich 2-0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Barracudas Zürich 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0 Roef! 1 1 0 0 0 0 X - 2 7 1 pitchers Barracudas Zürich inn. SO BB H R ER Jessica Rölli - (*) - - - - - Elizabeth Engler, L (0-1) 6 1 1 7 2 2 (*) - Rölli was listed as starting pitcher, but was replaced by Engler when bottom 1st inning began pitchers Roef! inn. SO BB H R ER Jessica Tolmie 2 3 - 2 - - Shomayra Franka, W (1-0) 3 1 - - - - Marjolein Merkx, H (1) 1 - 1 1 - - Sydney Warkins, SV (1) 1 1 - - - - Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires: HP-Galip Sönmez (Germany), 1B-Roberto Valentinis (Italy), 3B-Loretta Lamieri (Italy). Official Scorers-Roberto Saletti (Italy), Stefano Burlini (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer-Arianna Pagani (Italy). Technical Commissioner-Zsuzsa Balog (Hungary). Starting Time-5:30 PM. Time Played-1:38 hrs. Site-Campo di Baseball/Softball, Buttrio (Italy) (complex White Sox Buttrio). Game Notes: European Premiere Cup 2021. Weather conditions at game time: Sunny, 29° C (84,2° F); wind direction southwest; wind speed 8 kmh (4,9 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 34%.

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