Kinheim still 1/2 Game in front of the Neptunes in Dutch Major League
Corendon Kinheim continues to lead the Dutch Major Leagues with a 4-2 win over Sparta/Feyenoord this past Saturday. Kinheim (31-7) holds a slim half-game advantage over DOOR Neptunus (30-7-1) who blanked the Konica Minolta Pioniers.
Jean-Paul GULINCK pitched 1.1 innings of perfect relief to earn the victory for Kinheim while Michiel VAN KAMPEN picked up his eigth save of the season. Ace pitcher Vaughan HARRIS (9-0) scattered seven hits over 6.2 innings and one run in a no-decision effort.
Kinheim’s Danny ROMBLEY was 2-for-4 and is now hitting .398 (66-for-166) on the season. Denny BELJAARDS also added a couple of hits for the league leader’s who were outhit 9 to 5 by Sparta/Feyenoord.
Rien VERNOOIJ, an 18 year-old third bagger for Sparta/Feyenoord,will reportedly sign a professional contract later this week with the New York Mets. A member of the Dutch Junior national team VERNOOIJ made his debut last year with DOOR Neptunus which has a working agreement with Sparta/Feyenoord.
Neptunus kept pace with Kinheim as ace hurler Leon BOYD turned in another fine performance in a 7-0 shutout against the playoff-bound Pioniers. The Best Pitcher award winner at the recent World Port Tournament, BOYD fanned eight hitters while allowing only one hit over eight shutout innings. American Import Chris RYAN tpitched a perfect ninth inning to record his third save of the season.
Benjamin DILLE led the hit parade going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and RBI’s. Lennart KOSTER was 2-for-4 and is now hitting .341 while sweet-swinging Evert-Jan ’t HOEN drove in two runs for the European powerhouse. The Pioniers Edwin DE GRAAF collected the only hit of the game for Konica Minolta.
With the regular season winding down to a close on August 28 the four playoff teams will be Kinheim, Neptunus, Amsterdam, and Konica Minolta. With the exception of the Pirates, the other three playoff-bound teams battled for the Dutch Major League title last year as well. Amsterdam will be making their first playoff appearance since 1992.
Mr. Baseball will provide a preview of the Dutch Major League later this week.
