HAARLEM, Netherlands — When the bases are loaded and Ericson Leonora is at the plate, you might as well start clearing them yourself. The 33-year-old has come up with the bags full twice at Honkbalweek Haarlem 2026 — and twice he’s hit a grand slam.
The second came Tuesday at Pim Mulier Stadion. Representing Curaçao against the host Netherlands, Leonora stepped in with the bases loaded in the top of the third and drove a ball deep to left, clearing them in a single swing. It was his only hit of the night, and it accounted for all four Curaçao runs. Three days earlier, against Czechia, he’d done the exact same thing — another bases-loaded blast as part of a three-hit, five-RBI afternoon.
The tournament line is staggering in its efficiency: five hits in four games, two of them grand slams, ten RBI. His bases-loaded splits read like a typo — 2-for-2, two homers, eight runs driven in. Every single time Curaçao has filled the bases with Leonora due up, he has emptied them over the fence.
The man who surrendered Tuesday’s slam took it in stride. Netherlands veteran Shairon Martis, who pitched into the seventh for the win, owned the mistake and moved on. “After that home run it was like, okay, that’s all it’s gonna get,” Martis said. “I missed my location. Before that I was missing my spot, and then I regrouped and just cruised.”
Leonora’s blast fits a career that has never stopped crossing borders. Born in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, he spent the better part of a decade in the New York Yankees’ farm system before reinventing himself abroad, becoming a force in the Italian Baseball League with a career OPS north of 1.150 for clubs like Bologna and San Marino while continuing to hit in the Venezuelan winter leagues. Now, at 33, he’s wearing Curaçao’s colors in the Netherlands and authoring the signature individual performance of the tournament. A Venezuelan, by way of the Bronx and Bologna, lighting up a Dutch ballpark for a Caribbean nation. Baseball without borders, in a single batting line.
It wasn’t enough Tuesday. The Netherlands answered, and the engine all night was a young, deep Dutch lineup that outfielder Darryl Collins says runs through leadoff man Delano Selassa. “The whole tournament, Delano’s been doing the hell of a job, being the leader of us,” Collins said. “He’s been getting on base a lot and giving us the opportunity to drive him in.” Shervyěn Newton supplied the power with a second-inning homer — “He knows he has power and he’s taking advantage of it,” Collins said. “He’s our cleanup hitter, and he’s proven it the whole time.”
Behind Martis and a perfect ninth from closer Kevin Kelly, the Dutch held on for a 6-4 win before a sellout 3,750. The Netherlands improve to 2-1; Curaçao drops to 1-2.
For Collins, a Netherlands player with Curaçaoan roots, the night was also a snapshot of a widening pipeline across the Kingdom. “It opens up a lot of doors — more doors for younger players like me to play international,” he said. It’s the quiet engine beneath a tournament like this one: more nations, more rosters, more kids from Curaçao to Aruba getting a stage. On Tuesday, the brightest light on it belonged to a 33-year-old Venezuelan in a Curaçao uniform.
Round-robin play continues through July 1, with playoffs July 2-3 and the championship Saturday, July 4.
Source: KNBSB Stats (official) | Interviews by Matt Tallarini, World Baseball Network
Honkbalweek Haarlem 2026 — Schedule & Results
All games at Pim Mulier Stadion, Haarlem. Times listed CEST / ET. Every game streams live on Honkbalsoftbal.tv.
Friday, June 26
15:00 — Italy vs. Czechia — 9 a.m. ET — Postponed, moved to June 30
19:30 — Netherlands 6, Globetrotters 1 — Final
Saturday, June 27
15:00 — Globetrotters 4, Czechia 3 — Final
19:30 — Italy 2, Netherlands 0 — Final (8 inn., weather)
Sunday, June 28
11:30 — Italy 3, Globetrotters 1 — Final
15:00 — Netherlands 15, Chinese Taipei 4 — Final
19:30 — Curaçao 11, Czechia 2 — Final
Monday, June 29
15:00 — Czechia 1, Chinese Taipei 0 — Final
19:30 — Italy 11, Curaçao 3 — Final
Tuesday, June 30
11:30 — Italy 3, Czechia 1 — Final
15:00 — Chinese Taipei 10, Globetrotters 0 — Final
19:30 — Netherlands 6, Curaçao 4 — Final (this game)
Wednesday, July 1
11:30 — Italy vs. Chinese Taipei — 5:30 a.m. ET
15:00 — Curaçao vs. Globetrotters — 9 a.m. ET
19:30 — Czechia vs. Netherlands — 1:30 p.m. ET
Playoff Stage · July 2–4
Thursday, July 2 — 15:00 #3 vs. #4 (9 a.m. ET); 19:30 #1 vs. #2 (1:30 p.m. ET)
Friday, July 3 — 15:00 #5 vs. #6 (9 a.m. ET); 19:30 Loser G17 vs. Winner G16 (1:30 p.m. ET)
Saturday, July 4 — 12:00 Old Star Game (6 a.m. ET); 15:00 Championship (9 a.m. ET)
