The Dutch Hoofdklasse Playoffs saw the Vaessen Pioniers winning two of three games against Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam this past weekend. The reigning champion from Rotterdam beat the Pioniers 10-5 on Sunday to avoid the sweep. Meanwhile L&D Amsterdam beat Kinheim in two of three games.
Curacao Neptunus and L&D Amsterdam are tied for first place in the playoff standings and will square off this coming game day, which is the last before Holland Series. The Pioniers take on Kinheim and could leapfrog one of the leaders with a strong series.
However the big story of this past weekend in the Netherlands has been the comeback of 41-year-old right-handed pitcher Rob Cordemans of L&D Amsterdam. The longtime veteran of International Baseball pitched two innings on Monday and took the mound for the first time since August 28 of 2015.
He was sidelined due to a shoulder injury. Between 1999 and 2015 he was named best pitcher in the Dutch Hoofdklasse nine times. It remains to be seen if he will be on the roster of the Dutch national team for the European Championship in Hoofddorp next month.
Results:
| maandag 22 augustus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinheim | 3 – 14 | L&D Amsterdam Pirates | 19644 |  |
| zondag 21 augustus | ||||
| Vaessen Pioniers | 5 – 10 | Curaçao Neptunus | 19648 | |
| zaterdag 20 augustus | ||||
| Curaçao Neptunus | 7 – 8 | Vaessen Pioniers | 19653 | |
| L&D Amsterdam Pirates | 8 – 1 | Kinheim | 19647 | |
| donderdag 18 augustus | ||||
| Curaçao Neptunus | 0 – 2 | Vaessen Pioniers | 19652 | |
| L&D Amsterdam Pirates | 3 – 5 | Kinheim | 19646 | |
Standings:
| # | Team | GW | W | G | V | MIN | Pnt | RV | RT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curaçao Neptunus | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 53 | 27 |
| 2 | L&D Amsterdam Pirates | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 43 | 26 |
| 3 | Vaessen Pioniers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 32 | 35 |
| 4 | Kinheim | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 61 |