NETHERLANDS – DOOR Neptunus continued its impressive play with a three-game sweep over Mr. Cocker HCAW to extend its winning streak to seven games. The Rotterdam club is tied with the Konica Minolta Pioniers for second-place in the Dutch League behind L&D Amsterdam.

Neptunus (15-6-1) rode the arm of Diegomar Markwell in a 6-0 victory in the series opener on Saturday. The left-hander tossed one-hit ball for seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts to improve his record to 4-1 and lower his ERA to 2.66.

A pair of big innings sparked Neptunus to a 13-0 blowout win on Sunday as Kevin Heijstek (4-3) threw seven shutout innings. HCAW (6-15-1) finally managed to cross the plate in the series finale on Monday in a 10-4 loss.

L&D Amsterdam, which defeated Corendon Kinheim 11-4 last Thursday, took two of three games from Sparta/Feyenoord in a hard-fought series in which every game was decided by one run.

The Pirates (19-5) dropped the series opener 1-0 Saturday when Nick Eppinga knocked home the game-winner in the ninth, but regrouped the next day to claim a 2-1 victory.

Sparta/Feyenoord (13-9) grabbed a 1-0 advantage on Imco Rudolph’s run-scoring hit. But the reigning Dutch champion plated two unanswered runs to even the series. Jos de Jong (2-2) tossed eight innings to egister the win.

The rubber match the following day went 11 innings before the Amsterdam club notched a 4-3 victory when relief pitcher Roy Beems hit national team catcher Sidney de Jong with the bases loaded to force in the winning score.

Kinheim rebounded from Thursday’s loss to L&D Amsterdam – their seventh consecutive loss to the Pirates dating back to last season – with a three-game sweep against MediaMonks RCH.

Former Dutch League Pitcher of the Year David Bergman was dominant in a 5-0 win to start the series. The right-hander, who got off to a slow start this year, allowed just an eight-inning single in a complete-game gem to even his record at 4-4.

Kinheim (15-9) rallied late to prevail 3-1 on Sunday before completing the sweep the next day with a convincing 11-1 win. Bryan Engelhardt led the offensive charge with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with a home run and five RBIs.

DUTCH SCOREBOARD
L&D Amsterdam Pirates 11 – Corendon Kinheim 4
Corendon Kinheim 5 – MediaMonks RCH 0
Corendon Kinheim 3 – MediaMonks RCH 1
Corendon Kinheim 11 – MediaMonks RCH 1
Sparta/Feyenoord 1 – L&D Amsterdam Pirates 0
L&D Amsterdam Pirates 2 – Sparta/Feyenoord 1
L&D Amsterdam Pirates 4 – Sparta/Feyenoord 3 (11)
DOOR Neptunus 6 – Mr. Cocker HCAW 0
DOOR Neptunus 13 – Mr. Cocker HCAW 0 (7)
DOOR Neptunus 10 – Mr. Cocker HCAW 4
Konica Minolta Pioniers 10 – ADO 0 (7)
Konica Minolta Pioniers 5 – ADO 2
Konica Minolta Pioniers 2 – ADO 1 (11)

DUTCH STANDINGS

Photo courtesy of Henk Seppen/L&D Amsterdam Pirates

Tags: Netherlands