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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar) European Premiere Cup: Roef! wins twice on Day 5, will play for Bronze Nederlands BUTTRIO / CASTIONS DI STRADA (Italy) - Roef! had a successful fifth day of the European Premiere Cup-tournament, as the team added two victories on Friday (August 20). First, Roef! won 6-1 against Rivas (Spain). Later on the day, Roef! completed the halted game against MKF Bollate, came from behind twice and won 3-2 in ten innings. However, the team was unable to reach the Final. Roef! ended up in a tie for second place with Poderi dal Nespoli Forli. But by winning the head-to-head game, the Italian team qualified for the Final and will meet Bollate. Roef! will play in the Bronze Medal-game on Saturday and then again meets Rivas. Roef! opened the event on Monday with a 7-0 shutout-win against RusStar (Russia). On Monday-evening, the game against Bollate 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 was completed today. On Tuesday, Roef! recorded a big 11-2 victory in 4½ inning against Les Comanches from France. On Wednesday, 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 Forli (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. On Thursday, 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). Today, Roef! faced an 1-0 deficit after five innings against Rivas, but then rallied for six runs in the sixth inning to turn the game its way. Against Bollate, Roef! scored the winning run in the tenth inning. (August 20) Other scores from Day 5: Apollo Bratislava vs. Bollate 1-2; Les Comanches vs. Barracudas Zürich 2-5 (8 inn.); Rivas vs. Joudrs Praha 7-0 (4½ inn.); Apollo Bratislava vs. RusStar 3-2 (8 inn.); Barracudas Zürich vs. Forli 4-14 (4 inn.); Bollate vs. Joudrs 7-0 (5 inn.). Final Standigs Preliminary Round: 1. Bollate, 2. Forli, 3. Roef!, 4. Rivas, 5. Apollo Bratislava, 6. Joudrs Praha, 7. Barracudas Zürich, 8. RusStar, 9. Les Comanches.

Roef! vs. Rivas The first three innings remained scoreless, but Rivas then opened the score. Roef! was kept scoreless for two more innings, but then struck with a 6-run rally in the sixth at bat. Both teams got a chance to open the score in the first inning. In the top of the first, Roef! faced Anyibell Ramírez. The Venezuelan righthander initially was listed in the batting order as designated player, but when the game began, she entered the circle instead of originally listed starter Kirsten Scheele. The Dutch righthander is a pick-off player this tournament in the team of the Spanish champion. Scheele plays in the Dutch big league for Sparks Haarlem. Ramírez gave up lead-off bunt-singles to Wies Ligtvoet and Kim Donkers. Next batter Elizabeth Snow's pop-up ended in an infield-fly, but Ligtvoet was able to move to third base. With runners on first and third base, the veteran Venezuelan righthander then closed by striking out next batters Nadine Marinus and Isa Los. In the bottom of the first, Rivas got the bases loaded off of starter Marjolein Merkx with two outs. Lead-off hitter Yaicey Sojo, also from Venezuela, reached on an error. With one out, Anyibell Ramírez was hit by a pitch and with two outs, American Sarah Edwards walked. Edwards also is a pick-up player, as she plays in the Italian Softball League for Taurus Old Parma. With the bases loaded, the inning ended with a force play-grounder. In the top of the second inning, it was Roef! that left three runners behind. With two outs, Charlotte Drijvers singled, Onaisha Franka walked and Wies Ligtvoet also singled. A grounder closed the at bat. Marjolein Merkx struckout the first two batters in the bottom of the second inning, then hit María Caicoya with a pitch, but she was caught stealing. Roef! didn't got a scoring opportunity in the third and fourth inning, while Rivas left a runner behind on first base in its third at bat. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kim Horsten took over the Roef!-pitching. She walked lead-off hitter Sarah Edwards, who moved to third base via a sacrifice bunt by Miren Gozategui. After next batter Rebeca Carrera reached on a fielder's choice, Marjolein Merkx re-entered as pitcher. She got a grounder from Carmen Caicoya, which led to a force out, but also enabled Edwards to score the first run. Roef! got another big scoring opportunity in the top of the fifth inning, but again left three runners behind. With one out, Kim Donkers singled and with two outs, Nadine Marinus doubled. With first base open, Isa Los was walked intentionally. With the bases loaded, the inning ended when Sterre den Duijn struckout. In the bottom of the fifth, Shomayra Franka became the new pitcher for Roef! and gave up a lead-off single to Yaicey Sojo. With two outs, she walked Dutch guest-player Kimberly Jones, who plays for Sparks Haarlem in the Dutch big league. Franka closed by striking out Sarah Edwards. Trailing 1-0, Roef! then struck with a 6-run rally with two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Anyibell Ramírez began by striking out Lisa de Vries and Charlotte Drijvers, but saw the next four batters reach base. With two outs, she walked Onaisha Franka, who then scored the tying run when her first delivery to next batter Wies Ligtvoet was drilled into centerfield for a triple. Moments later, Ligtvoet scored the go-ahead run on a single by Kim Donkers, who was then replaced by pinch-runner Sietse Drijvers. She advanced to second base when next batter Elizabeth Snow also singled. That led to a pitching change and Kirsten Scheele took over. The veteran righthander saw Drijvers and Snow advance on a passed ball, then got the bases loaded when she walked Nadine Marinus. Scheele then gave up 2-run singles to Isa Los and Sterre den Duijn, which lifted the lead to 6-1. Now with a comfortable lead, American Sydney Watkins was inserted as new pitcher for Roef! in the bottom of the sixth. She began with a strikeout, then gave up a double, but closed with two more strikeouts. In the top of the seventh inning, Roef! left three runners behind for the third time. The team got the bases loaded with no outs when Onaisha Franka (hit by pitch), Wies Ligtvoet (single) and Kim Donkers (bunt-single) all reached base. For Ligtvoet and Donkers, these were their fourth basehits in the game. However, two infield-flies followed, then another flyout ended the at bat. But the lead didn't came into jeopardy, as Sydney Watkins retired the side in the bottom of the seventh, including two strikeouts, to end the game.

Rivas - Roef! 1-6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Roef! 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 - 6 15 2 Rivas 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 2 1 pitchers Roef! inn. SO BB H R ER Marjolein Merkx 3 5 1 - - - Kim Horsten 0.1 - 1 - 1 1 Marjolein Merkx 0.2 - - - - - Shomayra Franka, W (2-0) 1 1 1 1 - - Sydney Watkins 2 5 - 1 - - pitchers Rivas inn. SO BB H R ER Kirsten Scheele - (*) - - - - - Anyibell Ramírez, L (2-1) 5.2 9 4 10 4 4 Kirsten Scheele 1.1 - 1 5 2 2 (*) - Scheele was listed as starting pitcher, but was replaced by Ramírez when top 1st inning began Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires: HP-Galip Sönmez (Germany), 1B-Franck Lautier (France), 3B-Tomo Žezlina (Slovenia). Official Scorer-Alessandro Meli (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer-Roberto Saletti (Italy). Technical Commissioner-Wout Isbouts (Netherlands). Starting Time-10:00 AM. Time Played-2:36 hrs. Site-Campo da Softball, Castions di Strada (Italy) (complex Softball Club Castionese). Game Notes: European Premiere Cup 2021. Weather conditions at game time: Partly cloudy, 24° C (75,2° F); wind direction southwest; wind speed 14 kmh (8,7 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 42%.

Roef! vs. MKF Bollate The game between Roef! and Bollate on Monday-evening was a pitching-duel between Sydney Watkins and Greta Cecchetti. American righthander Watkins, who is a pick-up player this tournament for Roef!, gave up only one basehit. Veteran National Team-pitcher Cecchetti was pitching a Perfect Game when the game was halted in the bottom of the sixth due to the weather conditions. Sydney Watkins gave up a lead-off single to Amanda Fama in the top of the first inning. This not only was to be the lone basehit in the entire game, Fama also was to be the lone baserunner for the Italians until the game was halted. Watkins followed with a strikeout, then a line drive by Elisa Cecchetti was caught by leftfielder Wies Ligtvoet. The inning ended with a grounder by Maxime van Dalen. The player of Sparks Haarlem is a pick-up player in this tournament in the team of Bollate. Greta Cecchetti did even better and allowed no batter of Roef! to reach base until the game was suspended. The righthander dominated and struckout twelve batters. She struckout the side in the second and third inning. From the first inning on, Cecchetti struckout eight consecutive batters. When the bottom of the sixth inning began, lightning already was visible behind the outfield, but nevertheless, the at bat went underway. Nadine Marinus led off and grounded out. Hereafter, Sietske Drijvers became the twelfth strikeout-victim of Greta Cecchetti. When next batter Onaisha Franka stepped in the batter's box, heavier lighthning was visible and Slovakian Home Pate Umpire Martin Moravćík halted the game and ordered everyone to leave the field. When the game resumed today, Greta Cecchetti, who was pitching a Perfect Game, didn't return. Instead, Czech pitcher Veronika Pecková took over with two outs and she faced Onaisha Franka, who struckout. The seventh inning also remained scoreless. Sydney Watkins, who returned as pitching for Roef! retired the side. For Roef!, Wies Ligtvoet led off with a walk and Sterre den Duijn singled with one out, but a double play ended the inning. And with that, the game went into extra innings. And three more were needed to come to a decision! Both teams scored in the eighth inning. Maxime van Dalen was the tie-break runner for Bollate in the top of the eighth. She moved to third base on a grounder by Melany Sheldon, then scored on a single by Lara Cecchetti, who was later forced out. Roef! answered with a run of its own. Lisa de Vries was inserted as pinch-runner for tie-break runner Elizabeth Snow. She moved to third base on a wild pitch, then scored the tying run on a fielder's choice-grounder by Sophie Verdaasdonk. Her pinch-runner Eva van Knegsel was moved into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Isa Los, but stranded on second base. Both teams were unable to score in the ninth inning. Both left their tie-break runner behind on third base. Bollate re-took the lead in the top of the tenth inning. Tie-break runner Irene Costa scored when a throwing error followed a bunt-single by Elisa Cecchetti. The latter then moved into scoring position via a sacrifice bunt by Maxime van Dalen, but her temporary runner stranded on second base. Roef! again came back in its tenth at bat. Kim Horsten was placed on second base as pinch-runner for tie-break runner Kim Horsten. As pinch-runner Lisa de Vries did in the eighth inning, Horsten also advanced to third base on a wild pitch. She then scored the tying run on a single by Sterre den Duijn. Roef! got another baserunner when next batter Elizabeth Snow also singled. Hereafter, Den Duijn stole third base and as the pitch was wild, Snow moved into second base. With first base open, a force play was set up by walking pinch-hitter Sophie Verdaasdonk intentionally. The force play indeed came, as Den Duijn was eliminated at the plate on a grounder by Isa Los. That also kept the bases loaded and Snow then scored then winning run when the third delivery to next batter Nadine Marinus also ended in a wild pitch. With that, Roef! won 3-2 and secured a spot in the Bronze Medal-game.

Roef! - MKF Bollate 3-2 (10 inn.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E MKF Bollate 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 2 3 0 Roef! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 3 3 1 (one out when winning run was scored in the 10th inning) pitchers Bollate inn. SO BB H R ER Greta Cecchetti 5.2 12 - - - - Veronika Pecková, L (2-1) 3.2 5 2 3 3 1 pitcher Roef! inn. SO BB H R ER Sydney Watkins, W (2-1) 10 8 - 3 2 - Box Score Play-by-Play Umpires August 16: HP-Martin Moravćík (Slovakia), 1B-Ibon Arévalo Lafuente (Spain), 3B-Michal Židek (Czech Rep.). Umpires today: HP-Franck Lautier (France), 1B-Ibon Arévalo Lafuente (Spain), 3B-Michal Židek (Czech Rep.). Official Scorer August 16-Roberto Saletti (Italy). Official Scorers today-Roberto Saletti (Italy), Alessandro Meli (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer August 16-Alessandro Meli (Italy). Play-by-Play Scorer today-Francesca Valentina (Italy). Technical Commissioner August 16-Zsuzsa Balog (Hungary). Technical Commissioner today-Wout Isbouts (Netherlands). Starting Time August 16-9:20 PM. Starting Time today-3:00 PM. Time Played August 16-1:46 hrs. Time Played today-0:34 hrs. Time Played overall-2:20 hrs. Site August 16-Campo di Baseball/Softball, Buttrio (Italy) (complex White Sox Buttrio). Site today-Campo da Softball, Castions di Strada (Italy) (complex Softball Club Castionese). Game Notes: European Premiere Cup 2021. On August 16, game halted due to lightning in bottom 6th inning with two outs, no baserunners, no count on the batter and a 0-0 score. Game completed today in Castions di Strada. Weather conditions at game time (August 16): Partly cloudy, 26° C (78,8° F); wind direction north-northeast; wind speed 19 kmh (11,8 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 73%. Weather conditions at game time (today): Sunny, 30° C (86° F); wind direction southwest; wind speed 10 kmh (6,2 mph); wind force 2 Bft; humidity 32%.

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