Neptunus edges HCAW as UVV and Kinheim break through early

Curaçao Neptunus turned the first serious table check of the 2026 Lucky Day Honkbal Hoofdklasse into a statement night. At Familiestadion in Rotterdam, in a rematch of the 2025 Holland Series, Neptunus beat HCAW after building a 4-0 lead and then hanging on through a late rally that left HCAW empty in the ninth.

The tone was set before the first pitch, with a minute of silence for Judith te Heide, the well-known Neptunus supporter whose death was marked in front of a home crowd that knew exactly what the matchup meant. Shairon Martis gave Neptunus the kind of start that changes an early-season pecking order fast: seven innings, one hit allowed, five strikeouts and no walks. HCAW did not make him comfortable, but it never truly solved him either.

HCAW finally cracked the door in the eighth, when Tyrell Mercado Reyes lined a two-run double to get the visitors back into the game. In the ninth, Mees Robberse pushed the tying run into scoring position, but HCAW could not finish the comeback. That mattered because HCAW had opened the season with a sweep in the first weekend, just like Neptunus, and this was the first clear sign that the top of the Hoofdklasse might not stay a two-horse script for long.

The other early-season swing came in Utrecht and Haarlem. UVV picked up its first victory of 2026, a useful breakthrough after opening weekend had already produced three lopsided results on Opening Day, 10 April, and left several clubs searching for traction. In Haarlem, Kinheim beat Twins Oosterhout in what was already framed as a fight for playoff spots, with Rick Rizvic steadying Kinheim while Twins starter Jurgen Zwitzer lost control in the middle innings.

Zwitzer’s inning unraveled after RBI singles from Luca van Gorkum and Jaïr van Borkulo, then four straight walks loaded the bases and handed Kinheim all the room it needed. With Neptunus still perfect at home, HCAW already forced into a scrap after its early sweep, UVV off the mark and Kinheim taking an early edge over Twins, the second round has started to separate clubs that can survive pressure from the ones already chasing the pack. KNBSB’s 2026 speeldagenkalender and the changed competition structure already promised a reshaped race; these results gave it a shape.