Dutch champion Amsterdam Pirates suffered a painful loss (18-24) last night. PhD student RCH from Heemstede struck hard in the seventh inning with 23 (!) runs. That means the most runs ever in a single inning in the big league. †This should not continue to simmer,” said Pirates coach Ronald Jaarsma.
However, RCH had little to say in the first six innings against Pirates. “We really played like the champions of the Netherlands”, says Ronald Jaarsma, who experienced an unfortunate baptism of fire as a coach of Pirates. “We were very dominant offensively and defensively. Then you only have to make three outs and then you have the spoils.” At that time, RCH was mainly concerned with limiting the damage. “It is a lost cause against the national champion”, thought Ties van der Beeke of RCH. “We had actually already given up. It had become half a training for everyone.”
With an 18-1 lead in their pocket, they started the last inning of the evening. “Our pitcher Angela was unable to finish the game, after which three different pitchers took their places”, Jaarsma looks back on the seventh inning. “With that position we had room to try some things. Then the question is to what extent you will use all the arms, which we also need this weekend. By then it was already too late. The bleeding was unstoppable. For me especially a blow because we can first bring a performance that is so strong and then we break all records in a negative way.”
pitcher problem
The disastrous inning, in which no fewer than sixteen walked and eight basehits were scored, also exposed the problem at Pirates. Pitchers Tom de Blok and Mike Groen are injured, Donny Breek is looking for his form and Connor Prins made his debut in the Dutch big league. “We knew this problem in advance. At the beginning of the season we had factored in a problem with the pitching.” In the end, the inning lasted over an hour and more than a hundred balls were thrown.
“Actually, we had already given up”
“I tried to keep myself calm”, says Jaarsma, who thinks there was fear in his team. “Everything came crashing down. The inning took so long because the pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone. It seemed as if the next pitcher who took over was also injected with the virus. It was a complete offday.”
Dream scenario
For RCH, the resounding victory meant a fine return to the main division. “This is really a dream scenario,” says Van der Beeke, who experienced a big party in the RCH dressing room afterwards. “Social media and whatsapp groups have exploded. There is also a lot of talk about it within the club.”
“It seemed as if the next pitcher to take over was also injected with the virus”
At Pirates, the grapes are sour after the breakdown on their own field. †At the moment we are the laughingstock of the main division”, says Jaarsma, who has guessed that I am also responsible for that, so I am not running away from it. On the other hand, I also know that I saw the Dutch champion play the first six innings. That was the level we are going into the season at. We’d rather have this in the first game against RCH, than in the games that really matter. This must not continue to simmer.”
On Saturday and Sunday, RCH and Pirates will meet again. The Heemstedelingen first make their comeback on their own field and the week ends at the Loek Loevendie Park in Amsterdam.
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