Haarlem, Netherlands · Friday, June 26, 2026 · Matt Tallarini, Chief Correspondent
HAARLEM, Netherlands — On an 84-degree night at Pim Mulier Stadion, the heat that had already wiped out the tournament’s scheduled opener couldn’t slow the host. The Kingdom of the Netherlands kicked off the 2026 Honkbalweek Haarlem with a 6-1 win over the International Globetrotters, answering an early deficit with a three-run first inning and pulling away from there.
The Globetrotters — the barnstorming Baseball Jobs Overseas all-star club filling in for the Dominican Republic — struck first. In the top of the first, Lucas Scott lifted a sacrifice fly to Dutch left fielder Dwayne Kemp, scoring Tommy Van De Sanden for a 1-0 lead. It didn’t last.
A Three-Run First Turns It Around
In the bottom half, shortstop Shervyen Newton lined an RBI single to right to score Delano Selassa and tie it, 1-1. Third baseman Junior Martina followed with an RBI double into the right-center gap to bring Newton home, and Darryl Collins — picking up a run batted in in his Honkbalweek debut — grounded out to plate Jai Van Borkulo. Three batters, three runs, and a 3-1 lead the Netherlands never surrendered.
The host tacked on in the fourth, when Selassa ripped a two-run single through the left side to score Van Borkulo and Raphael Smeenk for a 5-1 cushion. Sharlon Schoop capped the scoring in the sixth with an RBI single to center, scoring Selassa to make it 6-1.
Sulbaran Sets the Tone, Hutzezon Debuts
Behind veteran manager Evert-Jan ‘t Hoen, the Dutch staff was the story. Starter Juan Carlos Sulbaran set the tone — 58 pitches, 34 for strikes — before relievers Lars Huijer, Ingmar Hutzezon, Eric Mendez and Ryan Huntington finished the job. Together the five combined for nine innings of three-hit, no-earned-run ball with 10 strikeouts.
Hutzezon, making his national-team debut, recorded his first career strikeout and drew praise from the dugout. “He come out throwing hard, throwing strikes,” bench coach Mike Dema said. The heat shaped the plan: “JC was supposed to go a little bit longer, but it was hot out there, so we helped him out, and we just kind of puzzled it to the ninth.”
Dema pointed to the roster’s mix as the key to the week ahead. “We have 10 new players on this squad, so we’re giving a lot of guys a chance,” he said, crediting veterans like Kevin Kelly, Shairon Martis and Selassa for leading the way. The Netherlands carries seven players back from its 2026 World Baseball Classic roster — Kelly, Martis, Huijer, Schoop, Selassa, Mendez and Sulbaran — into its bid for a sixth Honkbalweek gold, after titles in 2004, 2006, 2010, 2016 and 2022.
The Team Without a Flag
For the Globetrotters, the night was a debut on a bigger stage than the club has ever played. Manager Melvin Perdue, a 15-year veteran of overseas baseball, framed the loss as part of a larger mission. “It was just an amazing opportunity to be here,” he said, praising his players and the Baseball Jobs Overseas founders who built the platform from nothing over 13 years. There were flashes, too — second baseman Alex Madera’s smooth over-the-shoulder catch among them.
The Netherlands, ranked No. 10 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s world rankings, returns to the field Saturday, June 27 against Italy. As a club side, the Globetrotters’ results do not affect the world rankings; the tournament’s five national programs — the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei (No. 2), Italy (No. 14), Czechia (No. 16) and Curaçao (No. 29) — all see Honkbalweek count toward theirs.
Matt Tallarini is reporting from Haarlem throughout Honkbalweek 2026. For more on the tournament’s barnstorming entry, see our feature on the International Globetrotters. Schedule, stats and box scores via the Koninklijke Nederlandse Baseball en Softball Bond. For more international baseball, visit worldbaseball.com.
