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Interview by RTV Rijnmond with Jorian van Acker after the decisive game on Sunday.
by Pim van Nes
Despite of their long time first place ranking in Hoofdklasse regular season, despite of finishing first and thus a bonus of 3 wins for their 9 play-off games, L&D Amsterdam Pirates lost everything in game 9 last Sunday. On Saturday in Amsterdam they lost first place to visiting Curacao Neptunus and on Sunday in Rotterdam, they lost the last game versus Neptunus and their second place in ranking to Corendon Kinheim. No qualification for upcoming Holland Series, which instead will start with two games in Rotterdam, continue with 3 games in Haarlem and if necessary return for 1 or 2 games in Rotterdam.
Corendon Kinheim, despite having repeatedly opposed the new bonus wins system applied by KNBSB to the 9 play-off games and despite starting those play-offs with the lowest bonus (1 win for having finished third in regular season), qualified earliest for Holland Series. The club of manager Wim Martinus needed to win their last play-off game versus admirably resisting Vaessen Pioniers, the only club in play-offs without perspectives for qualification before the 3 games weekend. In each of those 3 games, Pioniers pushed Kinheim over the edge, but the last two times Kinheim kept hanging on the cliff and managed to climb back. When Kinheim saved their close win in Hoofddorp on Sunday, the other two Holland Series candidates had just completed the top of the 8th inning in Rotterdam.
In Rotterdam, the stadium announcer frequently informed fans and teams about the score of the other game in Hoofddorp, where home team Pioniers could help both Neptunus and Pirates, if they managed to beat Kinheim. If so, both Neptunus and Pirates would have made it to Holland Series, irrespective the result of their game 9. Pioniers scored 3 runs in the seventh inning and Kinheim trailed 5-4. At that time, everybody in Rotterdam smiled peacefully, as both Neptunus and Pirates felt safe in the race for two spots in Holland Series. In the top of the eighth inning in Hoofddorp, however, Kinheim tied the score 5-5 and everybody in Rotterdam turned nervous again. Even worse for them: in the top of the ninth inning Kinheim came back ahead with 5-6 and in the bottom they saved their 1 run gap. Holland Series spot for Corendon Kinheim.
Only one Holland Series spot remaining, Familie stadium became the podium for the all or nothing thriller between 2014 champion Neptunus and 2015 regular season winner Pirates. The latter trailing 4-2 in the game had the bases loaded in the 8th inning, but failed to reach home plate, when the bad news from Hoofddorp reached Rotterdam. This inspired Pirates pitcher Daan Hendrix to keep all three Neptunus batters away from first base by a ground-out and two fly-outs. At one out in the ninth, former pro player Nick Urbanus doubled on Neptunus relief pitcher Kevin Kelly and he scored 4-3 on the single by next batter Kenny Berkenbosch. Then L&D Pirates loaded the bases for the fourth consecutive inning and still only one man out.
It was time for Neptunus manager Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen to call his closer to the mound. His regular saving closer this season was Loek van Mil, but this Minnesota Twins Triple A pitcher had received his USA visa and his Dutch passport thanks to US Embassy in The Hague, where consular office staff had lost his passport, delaying his departure to Rochester USA for a week. On the same mound where Van Mil had failed to stop Corendon Kinheim a week before, Jorian van Acker appeared, usually mid-reliever but now closer for Neptunus in the season deciding game. He inherited three runners and one man down. As if it were just a routine job in a mid-season game, Van Acker struck out his first batter Bas Nooij and provoked his second batter Rashid Gerard to a ground-out by second base man Benjamin Dille. Game result 4-3 for Neptunus, which finished first in final ranking of the Hoofdklasse play-offs and home advantage in Holland Series.
Schedule according press release by KNBSB:
Za. 12 september: Curaçao Neptunus – Corendon Kinheim (14.00 uur)
Zo. 13 september: Curaçao Neptunus – Corendon Kinheim (14.00 uur)
Do. 17 september: Corendon Kinheim – Curaçao Neptunus (19.30 uur)
Za. 19 september: Corendon Kinheim – Curaçao Neptunus (14.00 uur)
Zo. 20 september: Corendon Kinheim – Curaçao Neptunus (14.00 uur) *
Za. 26 september: Curaçao Neptunus – Corendon Kinheim (14.00 uur) *
Zo. 27 september: Curaçao Neptunus – Corendon Kinheim (14.00 uur) *
The winner of Holland Series is national champion (“Landskampioen”) and will have the right to participate as Netherlands number one club in next European Champions Cup, joining L&D Amsterdam Pirates, which will be delegated to Europe as winner of Hoofdklasse regular season.