Mister Baseball

by Pim van Nes

Both number one Corendon Kinheim and number two 2 DOOR Neptunus in the present ranking of the Hoofdklasse lost a game yesterday. Neptunus was defeated 5-8 by L&D Amsterdam in Rotterdam and Kinheim lost an appeal case filed by Konica Minolta Pioniers. Numbers three, four and five Amsterdam, Pioniers and Sparta/Feyenoord won their yesterday’s games and consequently close in to Kinheim and Neptunus. The latter two will clash tomorrow in Haarlem and on Sunday in Rotterdam, whilst their runners-up play easier games.

The independent appeal committee of the Netherlands federation KNBSB overruled an earlier decision by KNBSB punishing Pioniers for the bench clearing brawl in the game versus Kinheim on May 18. Pioniers was given the loss of the game and Kinheim got the win, but the new decision has cancelled the complete game. The two clubs have to fix a new date  before the playoffs, which will take off on September 18. Pioniers-Kinheim has to be restarted at a 5-5 score in the sixth inning with players eligible for Hoofdklasse games four months ago. For time being Kinheim is ranked without the win on May 18 and Pioniers without the loss.

The most crucial game in the Hoofdklasse last night was number two Neptunus versus number three Amsterdam. Neptunus was led by Olympic winning pitcher Leon Boyd and Amsterdam brought Olympic All Star Sidney de Jong as best catcher from Beijing. Former Neptunus catcher Maikel Benner as second batter for Amsterdam delivered the first hit in the game off Boyd. In the second inning Benner singled again, batting in Zair Koeiman for the 3-0 lead for his club. Koeiman in his first at bat had doubled with Ryan Murphy and Kenny Berkenbosch on bases.

Neptunus batter number Mike Bazuin opened the contra attack in the third inning with his leadoff double, advanced on a bunt by Eugene Kingsale and scored on a single by Andy Leer. The Belgian second base man Benjamin Dille drove in Kingsale and Leer tying the score at 3-3, but as the only foreign batter for Neptunus he was also the best in the box score with a walk, two singles and a double.

In the fifth inning Amsterdam took the lead again and for good by scoring the two last runs off Boyd in his four-plus innings, pitching to four Amsterdam batters in the fifth. Catcher De Jong and DH Fausto Alvarez ran for the 4-3 and the 5-3 Amsterdam lead. Three more runs were added on Neptunus relievers Gregory Gustina and Berry van Driel in the seventh and eighth innings, before DOOR responded in the bottom of the eighth. Three doubles and two runs however were too little and too late for a final score of 5-8.

In the ninth inning closers Dushan Rusic (Australia) and Pim Walsma saved their defense and Amsterdam turned victorious. Winning pitcher was Jos de Jong striking out six in 7 1/3 innings and Pim Walsma received the save for Amsterdam. With former Major League player Rikkert Faneyte as a quiet manager in the dugout, L& D Amsterdam will meet the MediaMonks RCH twice this weekend, which may enable them to reach the second spot in Hoofdklasse ranking. Present number two Neptunus tries to conserve its position with a shot of vitamin Adriana in Sunday’s game versus Kinheim.

Pim van Nes
Baseball writer for
www.honkbalsite.com
www.sporttribune.nl
www.baseball.it

	Time	Home	Visitor	Result
Thursday, August 28 2008
	19:45	ADO	Corendon Kinheim	01:08 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Corendon Kinheim 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 9 3 ADO 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 4
	19:45	DOOR Neptunus	Amsterdam Pirates	05:08 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Amsterdam Pirates 0 3 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 8 13 1 DOOR Neptunus 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 11 3
	19:45	MediaMonks RCH	Konica Minolta Pioniers	02:11 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Konica Minolta Pioniers 1 4 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 11 16 5 MediaMonks RCH 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 6
	19:45	Mr.Cocker HCAW	Sparta/Feyenoord	01:03 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Sparta/Feyenoord 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 6 1 Mr.Cocker HCAW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 5
Saturday, August 30 2008
	14:00	Amsterdam Pirates	MediaMonks RCH	05:03 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E MediaMonks RCH 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 12 3 Amsterdam Pirates 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 5 9 0
	14:00	Corendon Kinheim	DOOR Neptunus	02:00 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E DOOR Neptunus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 Corendon Kinheim 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 9 2
	14:00	Mr.Cocker HCAW	Konica Minolta Pioniers	02:13 (8)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E Konica Minolta Pioniers 1 2 2 0 0 3 1 4 13 13 2 Mr.Cocker HCAW 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 4
	14:00	Sparta/Feyenoord	ADO	03:02 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E ADO 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 4 Sparta/Feyenoord 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 4 3
Sunday, August 31 2008
	14:00	ADO	Sparta/Feyenoord	05:04 (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Sparta/Feyenoord 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 8 4 ADO 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 5 7 6
	14:00	DOOR Neptunus	Corendon Kinheim	14:04 (8)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E Corendon Kinheim 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 6 5 DOOR Neptunus 0 9 3 0 0 1 0 1 14 14 0
	14:00	Konica Minolta Pioniers	Mr.Cocker HCAW	13:00 (7)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Mr.Cocker HCAW 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 Konica Minolta Pioniers 5 0 0 0 7 1 0 13 9 0
	14:00	MediaMonks RCH	Amsterdam Pirates	01:11 (7)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Amsterdam Pirates 0 0 0 0 7 4 0 11 12 3 MediaMonks RCH 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 3

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