Olympia Haarlem sweep Sparks, claim Netherlands National Softball title for fifth time

Olympia Haarlem swept the five-game Softball Holland Series to claim their fifth Dutch title. Haarlem defeated the Sparks 4-1 this past weekend to complete the sweep of the finals.

Cindy van der Zanden was elected Most Valuable Player of the Holland Series. She helped the Netherlands to finish fourth place in this year's WBSC Women's Softball World Cup Finals. 

The first two games of the series were played on 5 and 6 October, with Olympia Haarlem winning both 2-1 and 12-5.

Since 2015, Olympia Haarlem has qualified eight times for the Holland Series, and seven times in a row since 2017 (there was no Series in 2020). They ended lifting the trophy in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2024.

It is the first time since 2018 that a Holland Series ends in a sweep. In that year, Olympia Haarlem won 2-0 against Terrasvogels in what was then a best-of-three. The last sweep in a best-of-five dates back to 2014. Then it was Sparks Haarlem that won 3-0 from Terrasvogels.

Neptunus was the reigning national champion. The record champion in the Netherlands is Terrasvogels, with 15 titles.