by Pim van Nes
Last weekend Familie Stadium in Rotterdam hosted Holland Series Games 1 and 2 between home team Curacao Neptunus and visitors Corendon Kinheim from Haarlem. Title defending champion Neptunus both on Saturday and on Sunday needed only 8 attacks to keep to win the games: 7-1 and 9-2. Holland Series are Haarlem bound now for a night game on Thursday and a day game on Saturday.
Due to a 3 games suspension, Kinheim missed strong pitcher Tom Stuifbergen on the mound and in the dug-out, where he inspired his team to two surprise wins on one Saturday in recent play-off games versus Neptunus. Now in Holland Series, Kinheim starting pitchers David Bergman and Glenn Wassink worked fine but could not stop Neptunus. Bergman (34) was replaced after 6 innings when Kinheim was trailing 6-1 on Saturday and Wassink (21) left the Sunday game in the fifth inning with two runners on and the score at 3-2 for Neptunus. Their starting pitchers Diegomar Markwell and Orlando Yntema dominated their game during 8 innings.
After topclub founding father Frans van Aalen had celebrated his 75th anniversary on Friday, Neptunus on Sunday continued partying in Familie Stadium with the 29th birthday of Belgium born Benjamin Dille. Since 2006 regular second base man for Neptunus, but still residing in Antwerp, Dille as a 29er used his first at-bat with lead-off Dwayne Kemp on base, for a score tying homerun: 2-2. In the top of the first inning his starter on the mound Yntema had thrown his first pitch of the game on Kinheim batter Kevin Moesquit. This hit-by-pitch opened an attack by Kinheim resulting in two runs by Moesquit and Marvin Gario.
The former Brasschaet Braves and Sparta/Feyenoord player was still thirsty on his birthday and Dille singled in the fifth inning initiating a 3 runs score on two Kinheim pitchers, but especially tripled in the sixth inning driving in the brothers Urving and Dwayne Kemp. A few minutes later Dille scored the last run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Raily Legito: 9-2. Dille was ready to complete a cycle by aiming at a double in the eighth inning, but Kinheim relief pitcher Arshwin Asjes managed to strike him out. Dille‘s birthday gift TO his club consisted though of a homerun, a triple and a single from the box, four RBI, 2 runs scored and the participation in 6 defensive outs.
For Game 3 in Haarlem, Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Loek van Mil will be available for visiting team Curacao Neptunus and after that game Corendon Kinheim rotation number 1 starter Tom Stuifbergen’s suspension will be expired.
Photo by Karl Ketamo