The Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation (KNBSB) has released the schedule for the upcoming season in the Dutch Hoofdklasse. Last year’s finalists and this time’s European Cup participants Neptunus Rotterdam and L&D Amsterdam will open the new season with a three-game series from April 7 to 10. The opener will be played on a Thursday evening at the Familie Stadium in Rotterdam, home of the reigning champion Neptunus. The other six teams, including newcomers UVV, will kick off the schedule one week later.
The Hoofdklasse season will be interrupted from June 13 to July 7 for the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam. The playoffs and play-downs are scheduled to begin on August 11, the Holland Series on September 3. After bringing the best-of-seven series back to the championship series this year, there will be another format change in the postseason. The usual best-of-five semi-final and playdown series will be replaced by a round-robin format, which increases the schedule to at least 51 games for each team. Similar formats are used in Europe by the French Elite League and the Italian Baseball League.