2012 Holland Series

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2012 Holland Series: Corendon Kinheim (27-15) defeated DOOR Neptunus (33-9), 4 games to 0

Introduction

The 2012 Holland Series was the 26th Holland Series. It was won by Corendon Kinheim in a stunner, as Kinheim had fired head coach Eelco Jansen in the first round of the playoffs after a slow start. They rallied after that under replacement Hans Lemmink and swept DOOR Neptunus in the Series. The Series MVP was David Bergman, who went 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA, winning both the opener and the clincher.

Teams

Kinheim

Kinheim had finished third in the regular season at 27-15 with 225 runs (3rd in the 2012 Hoofdklasse) and 140 runs allowed (tied for 3rd). The offense was led by 1B Bryan Engelhardt (.340/.450/.630), who was second in the league in home runs (8), first in slugging, 4th in OBP and tied for 4th in RBI (33). Also lending hands were 3B Mervin Gario (.333/.506/.402, the leader in OBP, second with 34 walks and third with 39 runs in 39 games), C-OF Quintin de Cuba (.313/.446/.478) and CF Remco Draijer (.301/.414/.424, 3rd with 14 SB). Their pitching staff featured a strong three-man rotation of David Bergman (9-3, 1.52, 101 K in 100 2/3 IP), Luke Sommer (10-2, 2.05) and Nick Veltkamp (6-4, 2.69) while Arshwin Asjes (11 Sv, 0.98) was the closer. Asjes led the league in saves, Sommer tied for second in wins and was fifth in strikeouts (76) while Bergman tied for first in strikeouts, was 5th in ERA and tied for fifth in wins.

Neptunus

Coached by Jan Collins, Neptunus was second in the regular season in record (33-9), runs (300) and fewest runs allowed (106), all behind the defending champion L&D Amsterdam Pirates (which fell in the playoffs). Their top offensive players were Rafaël Jozefa (.325/.443/.442, a league-leading 44 runs, 2nd with 42 RBI, tied for 4th with 29 walks), Dwayne Kemp (.323/.361/.491, second with 82 total bases and tied for first with five triples), Rien Vernooij (.311/.372/.493, first with 43 RBI and 4th with 73 total bases) and Jeffrey Arends (.310/.406/.497, 5th in slugging, tied for 3rd with 13 doubles). Their pitching staff was led by Diegomar Markwell (11-1, 1.34), who led the league in wins and was 4th in ERA. Tim Roodenburg (3-1, 1.55), Kevin Heijstek (8-3, 1.71), Dushan Ruzic (2-2, 7 Sv, 2.68, 47 K in 40 1/3 IP) and Bobby Carrington (4-2, 2.79) also lent arms support.

Games

August 16

Game 1 in Familiestadion

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kinheim	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	8	1
Neptunus	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	7	4
Win: Bergman (1-0) Loss: Markwell (0-1) Save: Asjes (1)

The Series began with a pitching duel of two Dutch national team mainstays, David Bergman (Kinheim) and Diegomar Markwell (Neptunus), neither of whom allowed a run for the first five innings.

Kinheim looked to score in the second but were prevented by bad baserunning. 1B Bryan Engelhardt drew a walk then C Ramiro Balentina beat out an infield hit. An error on the play by SS Dwayne Kemp advanced the runners; Engelhardt tried to score but was thrown out by 2B Benjamin Dille. LF Quintin de Cuba singled. 2B Roy Seltenrijch grounded to Markwell, who threw home to retire Balentina. DH Niels van Weert singled; de Cuba kept running despite the advice of coach Hans Lemmink and was thrown out at home as well.

The next major chance came in the 6th and this time Kinheim did not blow it. SS René Cremer hit into a 2-base error by LF Adrian Anthony. RF Dirk van 't Klooster hit into Kemp's second error of the day, then Engelhardt doubled for a 1-0 lead. They added some insurance in the 7th. De Cuba and Seltenrijch opened with walks from Markwell, then van Weert bunted them over. CF Remco Draijer hit into a run-scoring fielder's choice, de Cuba this time beating a throw to the plate. Cremer hit into a run-scoring force for a 3-0 lead.

Bergman, pitching on his 31st birthday, tired in the bottom of the 7th. 3B Raily Legito hit into an error by his counterpart, Mervin Gario. After Kemp struck out, Dille doubled Legito to third. A passed ball by Balentina made it 3-1. DH Rien Vernooij walked and RF Lennart Koster singled to close the gap to one run. Pim Walsma relieved and did his job, getting C Mourik Huijser to ground into an inning-ending twin killing.

In the 8th, Neptunus posed a scare. 1B Rafaël Jozefa hit a two-out double. Arshwin Asjes relieved Walsma and walked Legito to put the potential go-ahead run on base. He recovered to retire cleanup man Kemp to end the inning. In the top of the 9th, Kinheim got insurance, as Seltenrijch doubled off Jorian van Acker. Berry van Driel relieved, but van Weert greeted him with a single. Draijer singled as well, scoring Seltenrijch for a 4-2 lead. Cremer bunted the runners into scoring position, then van 't Klooster grounded into a force at the plate. A wild pitch again put two men in scoring position before Gario grounded out. Asjes struck out two in the bottom of the 9th, allowing only a 2-out Koster single, to wrap up the save.

August 18

Game 2 in Familiestadion

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Kinheim	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	7	1
Neptunus	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	2
Win: Walsma (1-0) Loss: Ruzic (0-1) Save: Asjes (2)

Kinheim's Nick Veltkamp and Neptunus's Kevin Heijstek both pitched shutout ball for the first four innings, though Kinheim had stranded six runners in that period. In the fifth, they finally got through. SS René Cremer laid down a bunt hit. With one out, 3B Mervin Gario grounded into an error by Neptunus SS Dwayne Kemp. 1B Bryan Engelhardt then hit a sacrifice fly to center. In the bottom of the 5th, Neptunus tied it back up. RF Lennart Koster hit into a Cremer miscue with one out, then C Mourik Huijser and CF Shaldimar Daantji hit back-to-back singles. A walk to LF Adrian Anthony loaded the bases but reliever Steven van Groningen escaped the jam.

Neither team had a serious offensive push again until the 9th. 2010 Holland Series MVP Dushan Ruzic relieved Heijstek but the Aussie did not have his best game. CF Remco Draijer drew a walk and was bunted over by Cremer. RF Dirk van 't Klooster doubled in Draijer, then came home on a Gario single for a 3-0 lead. Ruzic then walked Engelhardt intentionally and hit C Quintin de Cuba before recovering to strike out 2B Roy Seltenrijch and get DH Niels van Weert on a grounder.

In the bottom of the 9th, Kinheim turned to Arshwin Asjes, relieving Pim Walsma as the 4th Kinheim hurler. Kemp greeted him with a single but 1B Rien Vernooij, Koster and Huijser all grounded out.

August 19

Game 3 in Pim Mulier Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Neptunus	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	9	0
Kinheim	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	-	7	14	2
Win: Sommer (1-0) Loss: Roodenburg (0-1)

Going home, Kinheim continued their winning ways. Neptunus took their only lead in the second. With one out, RF Lennart Koster reached on a dropped third strike and error by Neptunus C Ramiro Balentina. C Mourik Huijser singled, but CF Shaldimar Daantji hit into an out at home. DH Urving Kemp singled in Huijser.

In the bottom of the second, Kinheim got all the runs they needed. LF Quintin de Cuba drew a one-out walk from Tim Roodenburg, then 2B Roy Seltenrijch and DH Niels van Weert both singled to load the bases. CF Remco Draijer delivered the big blow, a bases-clearing triple. Roodenburg hit SS René Cremer, then RF Dirk van 't Klooster singled to score Draijer and make it 4-1.

Van 't Klooster finished 4 for 5 with 2 RBI while Draijer had 4 RBI.

August 21

Game 4 in Pim Mulier Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Neptunus	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	6	2
Kinheim	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	5	-	9	9	0
Win: Bergman (2-0) Loss: Markwell (0-2)

Kinheim completed the sweep with a combination of a balanced offense (8 players scored runs) and a stellar pitching performance from Series MVP David Bergman (13 K in 8 IP). While the final score was 9-2, it remained close for most of the day.

Kinhewim went ahead in the second on a solo homer by RF Dirk van 't Klooster off Diegomar Markwell. In the 4th, they got two more on a double by 3B Mervin Gario and a 2-run jack by 1B Bryan Engelhardt. Neptunus closed it to 3-1 in the 7th when 1B Rien Vernooij homered off Bergman to end his shutout bid. In the bottom of the 7th, Kinheim went back up by Markwell plunked LF Quintin de Cuba. Jorian van Acker relieved and 2B Roy Seltenrijch bunted de Cuba over. SS Björn Henrichs drew a walk. Berry van Driel came in to replace van Acker and CF Remco Draijer greeted him with a RBI single.

Neptunus got their last run in the top of the 8th when CF Shaldimar Daantji hit a one-out single and LF Adrian Anthony doubled him in with two outs. In the bottom of the 8th, Kinheim made a 4-2 game into a 9-2 blowout. It started when Engelhardt drew a leadoff walk and stole second. C Ramiro Balentina hit a fly to right, which was dropped by Lennart Koster. Van Driel intentionally walked de Cuba to load the bases. Dushan Ruzic was summoned as the 4th Neptunus hurler. Seltenrijch grounded into a forced at home. Henrichs singled to make it 5-2, then Draijer hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-2 edge. DH Niels van Weert grounded into a three-base, two-run error by Ruzic. Van 't Klooster then singled him in to close the scoring. Arshwin Asjes relieved Bergman in the 9th with the game already put away and wrapped it up, allowing only a single to Dwayne Kemp.