2016 Haarlem Baseball Week

The 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week was the 28th edition of the Haarlem Baseball Week. After only four teams participated in 2014, the field expanded slightly in 2016, with Australia, Curacao, Japan, the Netherlands and Taiwan fielding teams. Australia sent a team loaded with former minor leaguers, plus former major leaguers Luke Hughes and Trent Oeltjen. Japan sent an All-Star team from the Tokyo Big Six University League including future PL Rookie of the Year Kazuki Tanaka. The Netherlands had lots of players with experience in the US, most notably former major leaguer Yurendell de Caster and former AAA hurler Loek van Mil. Curacao had several former minor leaguers on the team. Taiwan had a few players from their 2015 Asian Championship squad.

Rosters

• Australia: Tim Atherton, Tom Bailey, Steven Chambers, Wilson Lee, Shane Lindsay, Scott Mitchinson, Dushan Ruzic, Aaron Sookee, Matt Timms, Josh Tols, Matt Williams, Trent D'Antonio, Ryan Battaglia, Darryl George, Luke Hughes, Mitch Nilsson, Aaron Sayers, Stefan Welch, Jacob Younis, Andrew Campbell, Mitch Dening, David Kandilas, Trent Oeltjen, David Sutherland. Manager: Luke Hughes. Coaches: Tony Harris, Kevin Jordan, Jim Colborn
• Curacao: Jhan Rifaela, Raydel Isabella, Evenon Martis, Jonathan Balentina, Ruderly Manuel, Hershelon Juliana, Ramses Jamanika, Claycandy Hariquez, Sherwenne Antersijn, Roderick Eustatius, Temesh Lourens, Rodienne Albertus, Johannes Gregorius, Raywendley van Gurp, Shurendell Mujica, Edinho Meyer, Rupert Ustacia, Kelvin Silvania, Dennis Gustina, Rojean Cleofa, Reyhan Fecunda, Luis Veloz, Ramiro Balentina, Ulrich Snijders, Sevard Seferina. Manager: Raymond van Gurp. Coaches: Ramsey Betorina, Sendley Reina, Mayron Wijman, Melfried Comenencia
• Japan: Tomoya Hoshi, Yuya Yanagi, Keisuke Sawada, Ichiro Tamura, Takuya Kato, Ryo Takeuchi, Kazuya Yoshino, Shuya Kanno, Kazuya Ojima, Taiki Morikawa, Ryusei Suto, Tomohiro Kiire, Taisei Yoshida, Ryoya Kaneko, Yoshikazu Kutsukake, Akihiro Yamamoto, Kazunari Ishii, Kenta Manabe, Shota Kiryu, Takuya Sato, Tatsuhiko Sato, Kazuki Tanaka, Chihiro Onishi, Manpei Kobayashi. Manager: Tomonari Mizoguchi. Coaches: Hideaki Okubo, Kazushi Hamada, Hiroshi Takahashi
• Netherlands: Tom Stuifbergen, Jim Ploeger, Lars Huijer, Tom de Blok, Mike Bolsenbroek, Diegomar Markwell, Orlando Yntema, Kevin Kelly, Berry van Driel, Bayron Cornelisse, Loek van Mil, Sander Paap, Gianison Boekhoudt, Yurendell de Caster, Kevin Moesquit, Dudley Leonora, Nick Urbanus, Dwayne Kemp, Stijn van der Meer, Gilmer Lampe, Remco Draijer, Christian Diaz, Chris Garia. Manager: Steve Janssen. Coaches: Mike Hartley, Sidney de Jong, Wim Martinus, Evert-Jan 't Hoen
• Taiwan: Yen-Ching Lu, Yi-Chung Liao, En-Sih Huang, Cheng-Che Wu, Jhih-Long Yang, Yu-Pu Wang, An-Ko Lin, Tzu-Peng Huang, Jen-Lei Liao, Jung-Hung Sen, Ming-Hung Wu, Yu-Chieh Kao, Tsung-Yu Chen, Pin-Chen Zu, Cheng-Tang Wang, Tsung-Hsien Lee, Tung-Hua Yueh, Hao-Wei Chang, Chieh-Chen Lin, Chung-Ting Chen, Tzu-Hsien Chan, Yu-Ning Tsao, Ting-An Chien, Chung-Yu Chen. Manager: Chien-Fu Kuo Lee. Coaches: Ming-Shan Kang, Chung-I Lin, Min-Shun Chiu, Shih-Yang Lee, Hao-Yi Yu

Games

July 15

• Japan 10, Curacao 1. Takuya Kato allowed one hit in five innings, fanning nine, and four relievers combined to allow one more hit in an opening rout. LF Tatsuhiko Sato had 3 hits, including a homer, while 1B Akihiro Yamamoto drove in 3. Raydell Isabella took the loss.

July 16

• Australia 9, Taiwan 5. Dushan Ruzic got plenty of offensive support in the win, with Josh Tols notching the save. En-Sih Huang was the losing hurler. 2B Luke Hughes was 3 for 5 with two runs and three RBI, falling a triple shy of the cycle. For Taiwan, LF Tzu-Hsien Chan was 3 for 4 with a homer and two RBI. 2,600 turned out for a game featuring no Dutch players.
• Netherlands 6, Curacao 1. The home team had 3,200 fans on hand for their opener. 3B Dwayne Kemp went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, breaking a 1-1 tie in the 6th with a two-run single. Diegomar Markwell got the win, while Ruderly Manuel took the defeat. 1B Kelvin Silvania had 3 hits in a loss.

July 17

• Netherlands 8, Taiwan 0. Tom Stuifbergen, Berry van Driel, Tom de Blok and Loek van Mil combine on a 14-whiff, three-hitter, holding Taiwan to one hit in the first 8 before van Mil gives up 2 in the 9th. 1B Yurendell de Caster and 2B Nick Urbanus both homer; Urbanus has 3 hits and 3 RBI. Yi-Chung Liao is the losing hurler.
• Australia 4, Japan 3. Australia remains unbeaten as Steven Chambers gets the win and Matt Timms the save. CF Mitch Dening goes 2 for 3 with two RBI. In a losing cause, LF Tatsuhiko Sato has another 3-hit day while Shuya Kanno gets the decision for Japan.

July 18

• Australia 8, Curacao 4. In a matchup of 2-0 Australia and 0-2 Curacao, Curacao bursts to a 3-0 lead in the second thanks to a walk, an error by P Tom Bailey, two singles, a passed ball and a run-scoring grounder; they will have only two other hits in the other nine innings. It is 4-4 entering the 10th before the Aussies erupt for four to make it look more lopsided than it was. Aaron Sookee got the win, Scott Mitchinson the save and Jonathan Balentina the loss. RF Trent Oeltjen had two doubles and two runs, while 3B Darryl George goes 3 for 4 with a walk, run and two RBI.

July 19

• Taiwan 7, Curacao 0. Taiwan gets their first win as RF Chung-Yu Chen goes 2 for 5 with a run and 3 RBI to lead the attack, while Tzu-Peng Huang (7 IP), Cheng-Che Wu (1 IP) and Jen-Lei Liao (1 IP) combine on a shutout. Rodienne Albertus takes the loss, though three of the four runs he allowed were unearned.
• Netherlands 7, Japan 3. The hosts matched the Australians at 3-0. It was 3-3 going into the bottom of the 7th when an error by SS Kazunari Ishii scored Stijn van der Meer with the winner. Van der Meer and 1B Yurendell de Caster each scored two, while 3B Dwayne Kemp drove in two. For Japan, 1B Akihiro Yamamoto scored twice. Berry van Driel got the win in relief while Kazuya Ojima was the losing hurler.

July 20

• Japan 1, Taiwan 0. Japan closed out round one with a five-pitcher shutout, no pitcher working more than Takuya Kato's 3 (1 H, 1 BB, 5 K), while Kazuya Ojima got the save. Yu-Pu Wang allowed the lone Japanese run in the 5th when DH Tatsuhiko Sato singled and 3B Ryoya Kaneko doubled him in.
• Netherlands 7, Australia 2. The two unbeaten teams squared off and the Dutch ran away with it. Jim Ploeger turned in a strong start, allowing four hits in seven innings, while his counterpart Wilson Lee was rocked for 7 hits and 6 runs in 2 1/3 IP. 2B Kevin Moesquit had 3 hits, including a double, while LF Gilmer Lampe and 3B Dwayne Kemp both went deep. For Australia, RF Trent Oeltjen homered. The two teams would square off again in the finals.

July 21

• Japan 2, Taiwan 1. Taiwan scored in the first off Ichiro Tamura but got nothing else. In the 6th, Japan tied it when 3B Ryoya Kaneko homered off Yen-Ching Lu. In the 8th, En-Sih Huang relieved Lu. He got one out but then SS Tung-Hua Yueh made an error on a grounder by DH Takuya Sato and Kaneko singled him to third. Jung-Hung Sen relieved and struck out one but 3B Yoshikazu Kutsukake singled in the winner. Yuya Yanagi got the win by retiring all six batters he faced, three by strikeout.
• Netherlands 9, Australia 0. Diegomar Markwell (7 IP), Berry van Driel (1 IP) and Bayron Cornelisse (1 IP) shut out the Australians while Dushan Ruzic lasted under 2 IP and reliever Matt Williams allowed 11 hits and 7 runs (5 earned). 3B Dwayne Kemp had 3 hits and C Dashenko Ricardo doubled, homered and drove in three.

July 22

• Australia 8, Curacao 7. Australia and Curacao went back-and-forth in a dramatic game. In the 4th, Australia got the first run off Ruderly Manuel. Curacao evened it in the 5th against Steven Chambers. Australia went up 2-1 in the 6th. In the top of the 7th, Curacao scored twice, taking advantage of 3 walks in 3 batters by Shane Lindsay; DH Ulrich Snijders was forced out at home or they might have gotten another tally. In the bottom of the 7th, Australia tied it when C Ryan Battaglia singled off Raydell Isabella to score 1B Darryl George.

Curacao retook the lead in the 8th against Aaron Sookee when C Ramiro Balentina singled in PR Sherwin Antersijn. They got two insurance runs in the 9th off Matt Timms when 2B Raymond van Gurp doubled in CF Dennis Gustina and then came home on a hit by backup LF Luis Veloz for a 6-3 edge. They couldn't put it away, though. Jonathan Balentina hit George and Battaglia singled. Jhan Rifaela relieved and got one out, but SS Logan Wade singled. DH Trent Oeltjen hit into a run-scoring force for out number two, but CF Mitch Dening and backup LF Andrew Campbell both singled to tie it at six.

Despite starting with two men aboard in the 10th and 11th thanks to the Schiller Rule, neither team scored thanks to good pitching by Australia's Josh Tols and Curacao's Hershelon Juliana. In the top of the 12th, a sacrifice fly by 3B Johnny Gregorius scored van Gurp for a 7-6 Curacao lead. Australia came back yet again, though. RF David Kandilas singled to score Campbell and an error by Gustina on the play brought in Dening as well with the winner.

• Netherlands 3, Japan 0. The Netherlands clinched a spot in the finals with a strong shutout as Mike Bolsenbroek gives up 4 hits, one walk and no runs in 7 and Kevin Kellij and Loek van Mil close it out. Japanese starter Shuya Kanno gives up 3 runs in 3 innings for the loss. 1B Ryoya Kaneko remains hot with two of Japan's six hits while 3B Dwayne Kemp (2 H, RBI) leads a balanced attack for the hosts.

July 23

• Taiwan 5, Curacao 4. LF/1B Kelvin Silvania hit a two-run homer off Jhih-Long Yang as a key hit for Curacao early in the 4th/5th place game. The game was 2-2 after nine. CF Rojean Cleofa hit a two-run single against Jung-Hung Su in the 10th to put Curacao ahead. Rodienne Albertus got within one out of closing out the win as Taiwan loaded the bases with two outs. C Yu-Chieh Kao kept them alive with a game-tying, two-run single, then Albertus plunked PH Ming-Hung Wu. 1B Chung-Yu Chen singled in the game-winner as Taiwan completed the comeback.

• Japan 9, Australia 4. After a 3-0 start, Australia dropped its second of the past three, their lone win coming in extra innings. Takuya Kato fans 6 in two innings of relief for the win while Tom Bailey takes the loss despite being one of Australia's better hurlers (3 R in 5 2/3 IP) today. 1B Ryoya Kaneko is again the star for Japan, with 3 hits, 2 runs and 4 RBI, while 2B/SS Taisei Yoshida scores three times. CF Mitch Dening goes 4 for 5 in a losing cause.

July 24

• Netherlands 2, Japan 0. In front of 3,200 fans, the hosts win the Haarlem Baseball Week for only the 4th time ever. Tom Stuifbergen throws five shutout innings but is matched by Yuya Yanagi. In the 6th, Berry van Driel lets Japan load the bases with two outs before Tom de Blok escapes the jam. In the 7th, the Netherlands finally get to Yanagi, aided by Japanese defensive errors. With one out, 2B Nick Urbanus singles. After an out, SS Stijn van der Meer singles and an error on the play by CF Tatsuhiko Sato makes it 1-0. A passed ball by Taiki Morikawa and a wild pitch by RP Kazuya Ojima put it at 2-0. After de Blok, Loek van Mil closes it out with two shutout innings.

Awards

The following awards were handed out:

• Jacques Reuvers Award: Ryoya Kaneko, Japan
• Carl Angelo Award: Trent Oeltjen,  Australia
• Press Award: Jim Colborn,  Australia
• Homerun King: Tatsuhiko Satoh, Japan
• Best Hitter: Ryoya Kaneko, Japan
• Best Pitcher: Takuya Kato, Japan
• Best Defending Player: Yu-Ning Tsao, Taiwan