In the Dutch Hoofdklasse semifinal round robin two games were played on Saturday afternoon. The Hoofddorp Pioniers beat HCAW 10-9 in a wild game. Mark Smit drove in the winning run with a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth, capping a four-run rally, which helped Hoofddorp to win after all. They had blown a 6-0 lead after seventh innings and were trailing 6-9 entering the bottom of the ninth. Shurman Marlin hit a two-run home run during the rally in the ninth. Mervin Gario connected for a home run earlier in the game. Dylan Koster and Raoell Kortstam combined for five RBI for HCAW.
In the second game of the day L&D Amsterdam prevailed 6-4 over Curacao Neptunus Rotterdam. A RBI double by Linoy Croes and a sac fly by Jesse Aussems in the ninth broke a 4-4 tie in favor of the Pirates. They trailed 1-4 after five innings, but came back to win the game. Nick Urbanus had three hits for the guests, Shaldimar Daantji four for the home side.
L&D Amsterdam and Curacao Neptunus are already qualified for the Holland Series. Curacao Neptunus clinched home field advantage in a potential game seven with Thursday’s win over the Pirates.