THE NETHERLANDS – Corendon Kinheim continued their midseason surge taking two of three games against the Konica Minolta Pioniers last week to climb within one game of second place in the Dutch Major League.

Kinheim (12-8), which claimed the regular season title last year before falling to L&D Amsterdam in the Holland Series, rode the arm of David Bergman to a 4-2 win in Thursday’s series opener. The right-hander limited the potent Pioniers’ offense to just a pair of hits in seven innings, while Dirk van’t Klooster had three hits and two RBIs.

Jason Halman collected three hits and four RBIs, and Kinheim plated five runs in the opening frame in a 13-3 victory on Saturday. But, Konica Minolta foiled the sweep with a 7-1 win the next day as Ryan Murphy tossed a complete game and helped his own cause with a three-run shot.

L&D AMSTERDAM WINS ANOTHER SERIES
Dutch Major League front-runner L&D Amsterdam took two of three games against Mr. Cocker HCAW to remain the top dog in the Netherlands. With the pair of victories, the Pirates have won 16 of 20 games so far this season.

Former Minnesota Twins prospect Wesley Connor led L&D Amsterdam to a 7-5 win in the series opener on Thursday. The talented leadoff man stroked five hits and knocked home a pair of scores, and veteran Cuban slugger Fausto Alvarez Rizo added two RBIs for one of Europe’s elite squads.

Mr. Cocker (6-12-1) took the next game on Saturday, 3-2, behind an impressive outing by Joey Eijpe. The HCAW starter locked horns with Australian southpaw Adam Blackley in a low-scoring affair and came out on top after limiting the hard-hitting Pirates to just two hits in a complete-game effort.

In the rubber match on Sunday, L&D Amsterdam cruised to a 7-2 win over Mr. Cocker HCAW to remain three games ahead of the pack in one of Europe’s premier leagues.

NEPTUNUS CRUSHES MEDIAMONKS
DOOR Neptunus captured three easy victories over MediaMonks RCH to pull even with Konica Minolta for the second spot in the Dutch League with identical 12-6-1 records.

The Rotterdam-based club trailed RCH 5-0 Thursday heading into the third before erupting for 13 unanswered scores to coast to a 13-5 win. Two days later, Kevin Heijstek pitched a three-hit shutout to lead Neptunus to a 14-0 rout.

In the series finale on Sunday, Neptunus broke open a close contest with five eighth-inning runs to finish off the sweep with a 6-1 victory against the MediaMonks (1-18). Eugene Kingsale belted a solo home run and closer Berry van Driel picked up the win out of the bullpen.

SPARTA/FEYENOORD SWEEPS ADO
Sparta/Feyenoord used strong pitching to claim a three-game sweep over ADO, and move within a half game of second-place DOOR Neptunus and Konica Minolta. Sparta/Feyenoord – which limited ADO to just three runs in last week’s series – improved their season card to 12-7.

Rob Cordemans fanned 14 while allowing a run on four hits in a 11-1 victory on Thursday, and Tim Roodenburg followed with seven scoreless innings in Game Two Saturday to help the Rotterdam-based club secure a 3-0 win.

ADO (4-14-1) threatened to upset Sparta/Feyenoord in the series finale on Sunday. However, Nick Eppinga’s game-winning hit in the seventh completed the comeback from an 0-2 hole and wrapped up the sweep.

Photo courtesy of Henk Seppen/L&D Amsterdam Pirates

Tags: Netherlands