Hoboken Pioneers win Belgian Series 2022
The Hoboken Pioneers have won the fourth game of the Belgian Series 2022 against Deurne Spartans on Sunday 9th of October. That made it 3-1 in a best-of-five series, with which the Pioneers have been crowned Belgian Baseball Champion for the second year in a row (three years in a row if the shortened “corona” season is counted).
While the Spartans clearly had the upper hand in game 3, game 4 at Deurne was a one-sided affair for the Pioneers. Also present at Deurne was Antwerp Alderman of Sports, Peter Wouters, who was treated to no less than 10 home runs, including 2 grand slams, with which the Pioneers ended the game 25-10 in the seventh inning. It must be said that the conditions were perfect, warm and sunny with a strong wind from the right direction.
The champions were presented with the cup and medals by Peter Wouters and KBBSF president René Laforce.
With this, the Pioneers insure themselves for European Baseball for a second year in a row. Whether the European story in 2023 will go as well as last summer (2nd in the Confederation Cup 2022) is still doubtful because they will have to do without Kenny Van Den Branden and Thomas De Wolf, two superpowers of Belgian Baseball, who both hung up their cleats.
All photos on: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.412736557726171&type=3
Games and stats: https://belgium.wbsc.org/en/events/2022-baseball-d1/standings