Three of the four games played on Saturday ended in a one-run victory, as a 3-game series opened in the Whitsuntide Weekend. The next games will be played on Sunday and Monday.
At Hoofddorp, last placed MediaMonks RCH suprised with a 4-3 victory at Konica Minolta Pioniers, as its Canadian/British pitcher Ryan Murphy had another fine outing. Pioniers took a 1-0 lead in the first at bat, but RCH came back with two runs in the fourth on doubles by Nick Heij and Jan Drabek (RBI) and an RBI-single by Ryan Murphy himself. Pioniers came alongside in the fifth when Marcel Venema was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Pionier-starter Roger Kops also pitched a good game and only allowed baserunners in the fourth when RCH scored twice. He then saw two batters reach base in the eighth and was relieved by Erik Jan Lind. RCH then re-took the lead when Jeroen Bakker was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and scored an additional run when third baseman Marcel Venema opted to throw a grounder hit towards him to first base instead of at home, enabling Kevin Gerard to score. In the home of the eighth, Jourick Blanco led off with a line drive homerun, but that was all for Pioniers. The team stranded ten runners, as some batters went after wrong pitches. Canadian/Polish pitcher Marek Deska pitched the ninth for RCH and earned a save. Pioniers' newest addition, Venezuelan RHP Nelson Santander Olajo made his debut and went 0-for-1 as the Designated Hitter to make him eligible to play, as foreigners has to play in an official game before June 1. For RCH, this was their first victory under new Head Coach Marlon Fluonia, who took over last weekend.
At The Hague, Amsterdam Pirates came from behind to hand ADO a 5-4 loss. ADO broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fifth inning on a single by Marvin Bleij (who was 3-for-5) and a sac-fly by Harvey Monte (who was 3-for-4). Pirates came back with a run in the sixth, but moments later, ADO also scored again to make it 4-2. In the eighth inning, with two outs, Pirates scored three runs to take a 5-4 lead. In the eighth, Pirates got the bases loaded off starter Elvis Polanco, who was then relieved by Berry van Driel. A strikeout and a flyout followed, but then Zaïr Koeiman singled in two runs to tie the score, followed by an RBI-single by Fausto Álvarez Rizo, who had entered the game earlier as a replacement for Pirates' newest addition Australian/Italian RHP Adam Bonaddio, who went 0-for-1 as the DH and therefore played in an official game before June 1. Kenny Berkenbosch was credited with the win, while Kevin Miner threw the last two innings to earn a save.
At Rotterdam, DOOR Neptunus and Corendon Kinheim played a very attractive game with some nice defensive plays, which was won by Neptunus, 2-1. After leaving the bases loaded in the inning before, Kinheim took a 1-0 lead in the sixth on a single by Dirk van 't Klooster. But in the home of the sixth, Neptunus came alongside off David Bergman, who threw in his 100th career big league-game. In the inning, Raily Legito doubled and scored on a sac-fly by Jeffrey Arends. Neptunus then got the bases loaded, but Bergman ended the inning by striking out Jeroen Sluijter. In the next at bat, Neptunus took the lead off reliever Duko Jansen. With two outs, Raily Legito walked and then appeared to score easily on a double to deep left-centerfield by Evert-Jan 't Hoen (who went 3-for-4). However, centerfielder Danny Rombley retrieved the ball quickly and threw it to short stop Roel Koolen, who made an outstanding and strong throw to catcher Tjerk Smeets, making the scoring of Legito a close play. But Legito's hand just beat Smeets' tag to give Neptunus a decisive 2-1 lead. Neptunus-starter Leon Boyd struckout eleven batters and gave up only three hits and raised his record to 6-0. With the loss, Kinheim's 6-game winning streak ended.
At Bussum, Instant Holland Almere '90 held an 8-0 lead in the third inning against Mr. Cocker HCAW, but finally won 10-6. In the first inning, Bryan Engelhardt hit a 3-run homerun to give Almere an early lead, then the team rallied for five runs in the third at bat, highlighted by a 2-run single by Emile Haswell, who made his comeback in the team, and a 2-run double by Emeron Lourens. HCAW scored three runs in the home of the third, but then Almere added two more in the sixth inning to make it 10-3. In the last three innings, HCAW scored three more runs, but was unable to turn the game around. HCAW now has lost six games in a row. Nick Veltkamp, Monday's scheduled starting pitcher, started tonight for Almere, while announced starter Patrick de Lange threw two innings in relief. It is not known yet who now will start on Monday, but that might be either RHP Forstin Coenraad or RHP Cliff Foster, depending if they are needed in Sunday's game.
