L&D Amsterdam Pirates – DOOR Neptunus 9-6, 4-2, 5-4
The PIRATES swept their series against NEPTUNUS this past weekend in the Dutch Hoofdklasse and moved back into first place of the standings. In game one on Thursday Kenny Berkenbosch and Pavel van Zaane combined to hit 7-8 with four runs scored and two RBI. Wesley Connor drove in two, as AMSTERDAM scored the three game-winning runs in the bottom of eighth of a 9-6 win. Jeffrey Arends homered and brought home three for DOOR.
On Saturday Adam Blackley allowed just two runs (1 ER) on five hits and three walks in six innings to lead L&D to a 4-2 win. Connor scored twice, while Marvin Bleij drove in two. One day later the reigning champion prevailed again, this time by a score of 5-4. Connor and Maikel Benner had two RBI each. Van Zaane went three-for-three with two runs scored and a RBI. NEPTUNUS’ Eugene Kingsale crossed the plate twice for runs.
Konica Minolta Pioniers – MediaMonks RCH 14-0 (7), 6-5 (10), 6-5
The PIONIERS also won all three games of their series against the MEDIA MONKS and passed NEPTUNUS in the standings for second place. In game one on Thursday, they celebrated a lopsided 14-0 shutout in seven innings. Ryan Murphy picked up the win with seven scoreless six-hit, one-walk innings, striking out seven. Michael Duursma and Norbert Lokhorst each had three hits and scored three times. Murphy drove in three.
Games two and three were much closer, as KONICA MINOLTA won both by a score of 6-5. On Saturday they needed a RBI groundout by Lokhorst in the top of the tenth to seal the win. Ferd van Stekelenburg hit a two-run homerun for RCH. On Sunday they trailed 4-5 going into the ninth, but RBI singles by Joey Treurniet and Andley Simmons turned the score into their favor. Anthony Sandstrom had put the MEDIA MONKS in front with a three-run double in the top of the sixth.
Mr. Cocker HCAW – ADO 4-4, 3-1, 2-9
Due to the regulations in the Netherlands (no new innings after 10.50pm), MR COCKER and ADO had to settle for a tie after eleven innings of play on Thursday evening. HCAW had tied the contest in the bottom of the ninth on a RBI single by Bart Gabriels and a two-run single by Jason Rees. In game two on Saturday, MR COCKER used 6 1/3 solid innings of German national team pitcher Andre Hughes to win 3-1. The southpaw allowed just one run on seven hits and two walks. On Sunday ADO reached a split in the series with a 9-2 win behind two RBI each by Rene Verbrugge (4-5), Boudewijn van Elswijk (3-5) and Koen Meershoek.
Sparta/Feyenoord Rotterdam – Corendon Kinheim 3-2, 0-6, 0-1
After losing game one on Thursday 2-3 against Rob Cordemans (8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 11 SO), KINEHEIM answered with two shutouts on the weekend to win the series against SPARTA/FEYENOORD. On Saturday Duko Jansen allowed just seven hits in eight scoreless innings of a 6-0 victory. Dirk van’t Klooster homered and drove in four. Danny Rombley and Jason Halman each scored twice. One day later in Rotterdam, CORENDON again held the SPARTA/FEYENOORD bats in check, winning 1-0 thanks to a RBI single by Dirk van’t Klooster in the eighth inning. Patrick Beljaards gave up seven hits and two walks in 7 2/3 innings for the win.
Box scores available on KNBSB-stats.nl
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | R+ | R- | .pct | GB | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DOOR Neptunus | 32 | 9 | 249 | 97 | .773 | 0 | W3 |
| 2 | L&D Amsterdam | 29 | 12 | 258 | 153 | .702 | 3 | W6 |
| 3 | Konica Minolta Pioniers | 27 | 13 | 252 | 135 | .666 | 4.5 | W2 |
| 4 | Corendon Kinheim | 26 | 16 | 227 | 166 | .619 | 6.5 | L2 |
| 5 | Sparta/Feyenoord | 24 | 17 | 155 | 138 | .583 | 8 | W1 |
| 6 | Mr.Cocker HCAW | 11 | 30 | 145 | 260 | .273 | 21 | L8 |
| 7 | ADO | 10 | 31 | 113 | 269 | .250 | 22 | L1 |
| 8 | MediaMonks RCH | 5 | 36 | 88 | 269 | .130 | 27 | L12 |
Photo: © Ron Wickert, www.eott.nl
