CupWinners Cup, Grosseto/Castiglione

Dutch club HCAW played in Grosseto and Castiglione (Italy) in the CupWinners Cup-tournament from June 13-17.

Group A: Olimpija Karlovac (Croatia), Colecchio (Italy), Technika Brno (Czech Republic), HCAW (The Netherlands)
Group B: Bonn Capitals (Germany), Alby (Sweden), Grosseto (Italy), Nagykanisza (Hungary)

Tuesday, June 13
EC-2: HCAW opens with huge victory
GROSSETO (Italy) - HCAW opened the 2000 edition of the CupWinners Cup in Grosseto (Italy) with a huge 25-2 victory vs. the Italian team of Colecchio. A 27-hit attack was led by Jeffrey Cranston, Clive Mendes, Glenn Romney and Jurjan Koenen, who all had four hits. Mendes and Koenen also homered, as did Rogier v.d. Poel and Lars Koehorst, who hit back-to-back homeruns in the sixth.
HCAW opened the game with a six-run first, then added nine in the second, highlighted by a three-shot by Mendes. In the sixth, Koenen, who made an outstanding defensive catch in the fifth, contributed with a three-run homerun, before v.d. Poel and Koehorst added their homers. Colecchio, which plays in the Italian first division and played very weak, had only six hits off of four pitchers. Starter Jurriaan Lobbezoo allowed nine in the three innings he pitched, while striking out four. Colecchio scored ist two runs in the sixth when former national team player and ex-Parma player Gianguido Poma delivered a two-run double.

Colecchio - HCAW 2-25 (7 inn.)				R	H	E
HCAW	692	008	0	25	27	1
Colecchio	000	002	0	2	6	3
pitchers HCAW	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Jurriaan Lobbezoo	3	4	1	-	-	-
Danny Wout, W	2	2	-	1	-	-
Patrick de Lange	1	2	1	4	2	2
Michiel van Kampen	1	2	1	1	-	-
pitchers Colecchio	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Marco Rovelli, L	3	-	3	16	17	16
Andrea Finetti	3	1	1	10	8	8
Marco Ugolotti	1	2	-	1	-	-
Homeruns: HCAW: Clive Mendes, Jurjan Koenen, Rogier v.d. Poel, Lars Koehorst.
Umpires: HP-Olov Karlsson (SWE), 1B- Martin Weber (GER), 3B-Jiri Kroupa (CZE).

Wednesday, June 14
EC-2: Another victory for HCAW
GROSSETO (Italy) - On Wednesday, HCAW added its second victory, winning 14-2 vs. Olimpija Karlovac of Croatia. HCAW had a four-run second and third, while Rogier v.d. Poel hit his second homerun of the tournament. Starting pitcher Albert van Vuure struckout eleven in six innings, before being relieved bu Dave Draijer. HCAW had eleven hits, including eight extra basehits.

HCAW - Olimpija Karlovac 14-2 (6,5 inn.)				R	H	E
Olimpija Karlovac	000	002	0	2	4	3
HCAW	144	122	x	14	11	0
pitchers Karlovac	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Nica Zabcic, L	3	2	4	6	9	8
Dino Bogut	3	-	1	5	5	4
pitchers HCAW	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Albert van Vuure, W	6	11	2	3	2	2
Dave Draijer	1	1	-	1	-	-
Homerun: HCAW: Rogier v.d. Poel.
Umpires: HP-Fabrizio Chirici (ITA), 1B-Riccardo Cipriani (ITA), 3B-Olov Karlsson (SWE).

Thursday, June 15
EC-2: HCAW wins pool
GROSSETO (Italy) - HCAW won its four-team pool as it remained undefeated after shutting out Technika Brno (Czech Republic), 13-0. Starting pitcher Richard Beljaards allowed only one hit in six innings. HCAW had nineteen hits, including four by short stop Rogier v.d. Poel, who hit his third homer of the tournament. He missed hitting for the cycle in the first inning. He then doubled, trying to stretch it into a triple, but was tagged out in a questionable play at third. Later in the game he singled, doubled and homered. HCAW scored four in the first, highlighted by triples by Ronald Jaarsma and Jurjan Koenen. Later, rookie Fedor Götz also tripled in the fourth, as HCAW again had eight extra basehits.

HCAW - Technika Brno 13-0 (6,5 inn.)				R	H	E
Technika Brno	000	000	0	0	1	3
HCAW	410	251	x	13	19	3
pitchers Brno	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Jan Pokorny, L	3.2	1	3	12	7	6
Martin Cuta	2.1	-	2	7	6	5
pitchers HCAW	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Richard Beljaards, W	6	3	1	1	-	-
Michiel van Kampen	1	2	-	-	-	-
Homerun: HCAW: Rogier v.d. Poel.
Umpires: HP-Riccardo Cipriani (ITA), 1B-Fabrizio Chirici (ITA), 3B-Roberto Scirman (ITA).

Friday, June 16
EC-2: HCAW clinch final
GROSSETO (Italy) - HCAW clinched the final game, beating Bonn Capitals (Germany) in the semi-final 12-2. Patrick de Lange went the distance, striking out nine and giving up four hits. HCAW connected for ten hits, including three by Glenn Romney. Clive Mendes contributed with three RBI's. In the final HCAW face organizer Grosseto, who defeated Colecchio 20-1 in the semi-final.

HCAW - Bonn Capitals 12-2 (6,5 inn.) (semi-final)				R	H	E
Bonn Capitals	000	000	2	2	4	2
HCAW	200	235	x	12	10	1
pitchers Bonn	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Alexander Busse, L	5	2	4	7	7	6
Claus-Jan Hendricks	1	1	2	3	5	5
pitcher HCAW	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Patrick de Lange, W	7	9	-	4	2	2
Homerun: Bonn: Timothy Puscian.
Umpires: HP-Fabrizio Chirici (ITA), 1B-Aldo Codispoti (ITA), 3B-Riccardo Cipriani (ITA).

Saturday, June 17
EC-2: HCAW WINS CUPWINNERS CUP!
GROSSETO (Italy) - In a nine-inning thriller HCAW beat Grosseto in the final to win the CupWinners Cup. It is the first Cup-victory in HCAW's history. The game was dominated by excellent pitching of Jurriaan Lobbezoo, who struckout thirteen in eight-plus innings, giving up only six hits. In the first five innings the game was a pitching match-up between Lobbezoo and Grosseto's American Otis Green, who struckout nine in seven-plus innings.
After striking out seven in a row, starting in the second, powerhitter Luigi Carrozza hit a towering homerun in the fourth to give Grosseto the lead. In the sixth, Jurjan Koenen had a wild at bat. With runners on first and third, Koenen barely connected with the ball as it went foul, but as everyone thought it was a wild pitch, Lars Koehorst scored from third. After discussing the play with his colleagues, the home plate umpire called it a foul ball and Koehorst returned th third. On the next pitch, Koenen again fouled, but this time, Italian home plate umpire Riccardo Cipriani called a third strike. Again, the call was argued and Dutch first base umpire Leo Boom then made the correct call, saying it was a foul ball. Then, on the following pitch, Koenen drove the ball into left field, close to the foul line, for a three-run homerun! The lead was short, however, as Stefano Cappuccini hit score-tying two-run homerun in the seventh. As both the pressure and suspence grew, HCAW got runners on first and third in the eigth. With two outs and a two-strike count on the batter, first base runner Koenen left with a delayed steal, getting into a rundown. Third base-runner Jeffrey Cranston ran towards home and beat the late throw to the catcher. But, as Yogi Berra metioned over and over, it ain't over till it's over. In the ninth, Carrozza walked, then Lobbezoo struckout the next two batters, before walking Cappuccini and giving way to closer Michiel van Kampen. He also walked a batter, loading up the bases. But he pitched himself out of the jam, striking out pinch-hitter Luca Bischeri, earning a save as the celebrations began.

HCAW - Grosseto 4-3 (final)				R	H	E
Grosseto	000	100	200	3	6	0
HCAW	000	003	01x	4	5	0
pitchers Grosseto	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Otis Green, L	7 (*)	9	5	4	4	4
Emiliano Ginanneschi	1	1	-	1	-	-
(*) - Green pitched to one batter in the eighth inning.
pitchers HCAW	inn.	SO	BB	H	R	ER
Jurriaan Lobbezoo, W	8.2	13	3	6	3	3
Michiel van Kampen, SV	0.1	1	1	-	-	-
Homeruns: Grosseto: Luigi Carrozza, Stefano Cappuccini; HCAW: Jurjan Koenen.
Umpires: HP-Riccardo Cipriani (ITA), 1B-Leo Boom (NED), 2B-Fabrizio Chirici (ITA), 3B-Martin Weber (GER).

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