 World Port Tournament opens on Sunday
Nederlands
 ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Next Sunday, June 30, the 14th edition of the bi-annual World Port Tournament opens in the Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, the home site of big league-club DOOR Neptunus.
The event will be three days shorter than in recent years, when the opening games were played on Thursday.
Also, instead of five teams, four teams will participate this year.
The Dutch Baseball Team will meet Curaçao, Cuba and Taiwan.
Cuba opens the event on Sunday-afternoon at 2 PM vs. Curaçao.
The Dutch Team plays its first game in the evening vs. Taiwan, starting at 7:30 PM.
The first edition of the World Port Tournament was held in 1985.
Every two years, a new tournament followed, except for 2005 when the World Championship was held in the Netherlands.
The World Port Tournament will be the first for the national squad under guidance of Belgian Steve Janssen, who took over as Manager in late April.
He succeeded Brian Farley, who stepped down as Manager a few weeks earlier.
Janssen made his debut as Manager of the National Team last Wednesday during an exhibition game in Amsterdam against the Netherlands AAA Team.
Curaçao brings an experienced team to Rotterdam, including 11 former professionals, who played in the Minor Leagues.
The former pros are C Randolph Kirindongo (Florida Marlins), OF Quincy Martina (St. Louis Cardinals), IF Edinho Meyer, OF Quincy Ascencion, OF Rojean Cleofa (all Baltimore Orioles), IF Shurendell Mujica (San Francisco Giants), RHP Dennis Neuman (Boston Red Sox), OF Christefer Obispo (Texas Rangers), C Ulrich Snijders (Milwaukee Brewers), IF Michaelangel Trinidad (Pittsburgh Pirates) and IF Raywendley Van Gurp (New York Mets).
The Curaçao-squad also has three players on its roster, who have played for the Dutch National Team, including Dennis Neuman, who was with the squad in 2009 and 2010.
The others are two pitchers, who currently play in the big league, being Duko Jansen (UVV) and Nick Veltkamp (Corendon Kinheim).
Catcher Ramiro Balentina, who also plays for Kinheim, also is on the Curaçao-roster, as is Johnny Gregorius, the brother of Major Leaguer and Dutch National Team-player Mariekson 'Didi' Gregorius (Arizona Diamondbacks).
Didi Gregorius Sr. also is with the team again as its Pitching Coach, just as he was two years ago.
The team will be managed again by former Dutch National Team-catcher Johnny Balentina, while former Dutch big league-players Sendley Reina and Aldric Dunlop serve as coaches.
The team from Cuba, which is one of the national teams that have been compiled for this year, includes several players who participate with the main national team of Cuba earlier this year in the World Baseball Classic.
As always, Taiwan travels to Rotterdam with its national team, bringing an experienced squad, which always will entertain the spectators with their Asian style of playing.
The WPT-roster of the Dutch Team looks as follows:
Pitchers:
Arshwin Asjes, David Bergman, Leon Boyd (all Corendon Kinheim), Rob Cordemans, Kevin Heijstek (both L&D Amsterdam Pirates), Bayron Cornelissen (Vaessen Pioniers), Berry van Driel, Diegomar Markwell, Orlando Yntema (all DOOR Neptunus) and Chris Mowday (RCH-Pinguïns).
Catchers:
Bas Nooij (L&D Amsterdam Pirates) and Rudy Van Heydoorn (DOOR Neptunus).
Infielders:
Jeffrey Arends (Corendon Kinheim), Jesse Aussems, Michael Duursma (both L&D Amsterdam Pirates), Dwayne Kemp (DOOR Neptunus), Stijn van der Meer (UVV) and Vince Rooi (Vaessen Pioniers).
Outfielders:
Gianison Boekhoudt, Shaldimar Daantji (both DOOR Neptunus), Quintin de Cuba, Bryan Engelhardt (both Corendon Kinheim), Roelie Henrique (L&D Amsterdam Pirates) and Danny Rombley (Vaessen Pioniers).
Field Manager Steve Janssen will be assisted by Evert-Jan 't Hoen (1B Coach), Wim Martinus (3B Coach), Tjerk Smeets (Hitting Coach) and Dave Draijer (Pitching Coach).
Compiling the Supporting Staff are Rob Tamminga (Physical Therapist), Pepijn van Ingen (Physical Therapist), Ton Meiresonne (Equipment Manager) and Peter Meijers (Team Manager).
Jesse Aussems, Gianison Boekhoudt and Chris Mowday are with the national team for the first time and made their debut last Wednesday during the exhibition game in Amsterdam.
All games can be followed through a live play-by-play, which is available via two websites:
Honkbalwedstrijden live play-by-play
KNBSB live play-by-play
(June 28)
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