(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
 First softball exhibition-games are in the books
Nederlands
   AMSTERDAM / OOSTERHOUT / ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Five of the eight Dutch big league softball-teams have played an exhibition-game to prepare for the upcoming new season, which opens on Saturday, April 13.
Neptunus, which captured its first Championship-title last year, played two games last Saturday (March 23) in a 3-way series at home.
The Rotterdam-team lost 4-2 in its first game against Roef!, then recorded a 9-0 shutout-win against Onze Gezellen.
In the first game of the series, Onze Gezellen nipped Roef! with an 1-0 score.
A week earlier, on Saturday, March 16, Amsterdam Pirates and Sparks Haarlem were to play a double-header in Amsterdam.
But the teams decided to play one, long 9-inning game.
Sparks Haarlem won with a 9-7 score.
Also two weeks ago, Roef! played two games in a 3-way series in Oosterhout.
There, the team from Moergestel won 13-2 against UVV, which last season relegated from the highest edition.
The game between Roef! and host Oosterhout Twins ended with a 4-4 tie.
Sparks Haarlem traveled to Italy last weekend to participate in the Torneo Prealpi in Saronno.
More info of this tournament will be added later.
In the opening-game in Rotterdam, Onze Gezellen won 1-0 against Roef!, scoring the lone run in the sixth inning.
Roef! got several opportunities to open the score, but failed to do so.
The team left ten runners behind, six of them in scoring-position.
In the first and seventh inning, Roef! left three runners behind.
With a runner on first base and two outs in the top of the first inning, OG-starter Caressa Schoor got the bases loaded, but a grounder ended the at bat.
Schoor retired the side in her next two innings.
Lisa Hoeverts took over the OG-pitching in the fourth.
Charlotte Drijvers then led off with a walk and advanced to third base via two sacrifce bunts, but then was left behind.
In the sixth inning, Qui-lin Coeriel became OG's third pitcher.
With runners on first and second base, a grounder led to a force out at third base.
A comeback-grounder ended this scoring opportunity.
Onze Gezellen got only one baserunner in its first five innings off of Marjolein Merkx, who dominated.
In the bottom of the first inning, the righthander gave up a lead-off single to Lisa Hoeverts.
Hereafter, Merkx retired 15 consecutive batters, twelve of them with a strikeout.
From the first through fourth inning, Merkx struckout nine batters in a row.
In the bottom of the sixth, Onze Gezellen faced new pitcher Kate Geldof and struck.
Annick Jansen led off with a single and moved into scoring-position via a sacrifice bunt by Qui-lin Coeriel.
Hereafter, Jansen scored from second base when next batter Lisa Hoeverts delivered her second single in the game.
In the top of the seventh, Roef! got a big opportunity to come alongside, as it got the bases loaded with no outs via a single, bunt-single and hit by pitch.
A grounder by Emma de Brouwer then led to a force out at the plate.
With the bases still loaded, an infield-fly and a flyout ended the game.
In the second game on Saturday, Roef! was more successful and won 4-2 against reigning champion Neptunus.
Neptunus opened the score in the top of the second inning off of Roef!-starter Kim Emmen.
Laura Wissink and Ilse van de Wouw led off with a walk.
Wissink moved to third on a passed ball, while Van de Wouw stole second base moments later.
A pick-off attempt at third base then ended in an error, which enabled Wissink to score.
With one out, the inning ended when Van de Wouw was doubled up on second base after a line-drive by Zoë Lageweg was caught.
Roef! left runners behind in scoring-position in the first and second inning, but then struck with a 4-run rally in the third off of Nienke Weis.
Roef! got the bases loaded quickly via Kate Geldof, Emma de Brouwer (both singles) and Nicky Uytendaal (walk).
Hereafter, Charlotte Drijvers delivered a single, which brought in two runners and gave Roef! the lead.
Uytendaal and Drijvers advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Bente Zwanenburg and both scored on a 2-out single by Lisa Van Raemdonck.
Neptunus got one run back in the fourth off of new pitcher Lisa Van Raemdonck.
The Belgian player got the bases loaded with no outs, but Neptunus scored only once.
Lizzy Kwakernaak and Laura Wissink both walked and Ilse van de Wouw singled.
Van Raemdonck followed with two strikeouts, but then gave up a runscoring single to Kirsten Fischer.
With the bases still loaded, Van Raemdonck closed with another strikeout.
Neptunus left a runner behind on third base in the fifth.
After Ilse van de Wouw led off the sixth with a walk, Kate Geldof took over the Roef!-pitching.
She retired the next three batters, the last two with a strikeout.
And that also ended the game.
In the third game, Neptunus recorded a convincing 9-0 shutout-win against Onze Gezellen.
Neptunus scored its first two runs in the first inning off of starter Dani van Deursen.
With one out, Lizzy Uytendaal and Laura Wissink walked.
The first scored on a single by Ilse van de Wouw, the second scored in a double-steal situation.
The third run was added in the second inning when Kelly Hoenen led off with a single and scored on a 2-out single by Damishah Charles.
Neptunus scored its fourth run in the fourth at bat.
This time, Kelly Hoenen singled with one out and scored on another 2-out single by Damishah Charles.
Neptunus doubled its lead with a 4-run rally in the fifth inning with only one run being earned.
Lead-off hitter Laura Wissink reached second base on an error.
With one out, Zoë Lageweg walked.
When she stole second base, Wissink scored.
Judith Buschman then delivered a runscoring single and reached third base herself when that was followed by an outfield-error.
Buschman scored when next batter Kelly Hoenen connected for her third single.
With two outs, Hoenen scored on a triple by Mirthe Weis.
Laura Wissink scored the ninth run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Judith Buschman.
Onze Gezellen collected six basehits, including two by Desiree Adriaansz, off of pitchers Annelieke Swinkels and Lizzy Kwakernaak.
The Haarlem-team got a runner in scoring-position in the first inning when Esmee Toet (who last year played for Neptunus) led off with a walk and moved on a grounder.
But she was then caught stealing at third base.
In the third inning, Sofie van Doorn doubled, but stranded on second base.
OG came closest to a run in the fourth inning.
With two outs, newcomers Lisa Hoeverts (ex-UVV) and Chimene Netten (ex-Neptunus/Storks Sirens) singled.
Next batter Desiree Adriaanz also singled.
Hoeverts tried to score, but was eliminated at the plate, which ended the at bat.
Coming weekend, six big league-teams will participate in the 39th edition of the annual J.C.J. Mastenbroek Tournament in Enschede, organized by Tex Town Tigers.
Joining TTT are Amsterdam Pirates, Neptunus, Olympia Haarlem, Onze Gezellen and Roef!.
Coming from abroad are SK Joudrs Praha from Cezchia and Zürich Barracudas from Switzerland.
TTT opens the event on Friday-evening against Jourdrs.
A week later (April 6-7), Olympia Haarlem organizes the 36th edition of its annual international Jan de Wit Tournament.
Besides Olympia, other Dutch big league-teams in the tournament are Euro Stars and Onze Gezellen.
Joining these three teams are Bonn Capitals Germany Under-22 (both Germany), The Mix (Great Britain), Czechia Under-22 White and Czechia Under-22 Navy (both Czechia).
Also that weekend (on Saturday), Neptunus will host a 3-way series with Sparks Haarlem and Wesseling Vermins from Germany.
(March 28)
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