(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Roster Dutch Team announced for WC-under 21
Nederlands
 NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
The roster for the Netherlands Baseball Team Under 21 has been announced by Steve Janssen, the Manager of the Netherlands National Team.
Janssen also will head the coaching staff of the Under 21-team, which will participate in the first-ever World Championship Under 21 in November.
The event will take place in Taichung (Taiwan) from November 7-16.
...Last month, Steve Janssen led the Netherlands National Team...
...to the European Championship-title in the Czech Republic...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Janssen will be assisted by Wim Martinus, who also is a member of the National Team coaching staff.
They will be joined by Pitching Coach Martijn Nijhoff and former National Team-outfielder Eugène Kingsale.
On the 24-man roster are 15 players, who this season played in the Dutch big league, including seven pitchers.
Six of the selected players are from Mr. Cocker HCAW, while three are from Vaessen Pioniers and Mampaey The Hawks.
Three players are also coming from DOOR Neptunus, with whom they captured the Dutch championship two weeks ago.
One of the selected players participated with the National Team in the Haarlem Baseball Week this July, being infielder Kevin Moesquit.
When he made his debut in the Orange squad, he became the first-ever player to represent The Hawks in the National Team.
The other nine players on the roster are talented players from either Curaçao or Aruba.
Six of them are studying at universitie in the USA, three are playing on Curaçao.
Winfried Berkvens represents the Netherlands as one of the umpires.
Earlier this month, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announded the pool alignment and schedule for this newly added World Championship.
The Netherlands will start the tournament in the 5-team Group B, where it will meet Australia, Japan, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Group A will be formed by six teams: Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea and host Taiwan.
In total, 43 games are scheduled, which will be played in the Douliu Baseball Stadium and Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium.
The event opens on Friday, November 7.
The Dutch Team will see no action on that day, as its group has five teams.
The Orange squad meets Australia in its first game the next day.
After the Preliminary Round, the top-3 of each group will form a new pool, the 'Super Round Robin'.
The results of the games played between the teams concerned in the preliminary round will be carried over to the new round.
The remaining teams will play in a group for 7th throw 11th place in the Consolation Round.
The top-2 of the Super Round Robin will meet each other in the all-deciding Final on November 16.
The teams are allowed to carry six 23U players on their 21U-rosters, which will exist of 24 players, to strengthen the competition level.
A maximum of three of them are allowed to play at the same time.
The 21-Under World Championship will be played every two years.
For 2016, the hosting for the second edition was awarded to Mexico, where the event will be played in Sinaloa.
Next year, another new tournament will be launched by the WBSC, The Premier 12.
Next month, the WBSC will announce the twelve participating teams for the event, which will be the new flagship and will be a pro-player international tournament.
The event will feature the world's top-12 ranked nations and award multi-millions American dollars in prize money.
Currently, the Netherlands is ranked in fifth place and therefore is a likely partipant in the new event.
The roster for the 21-Under World Championship looks as follows:
Pitchers (10):
Vincent Anthonia (Jackson State University, USA), Tom de Blok, Maickel Rietel, Kaj Timmermans (all Mr. Cocker HCAW), Reggie Bomberg, Bayron Cornelisse, Scott Ronnenbergh (all Vaessen Pioniers), Anferney Hoeve (North Central Missouri College, USA), Entwin Reigina (Curaçao) and Floris Timmer (DOOR Neptunus).
Catchers (2):
Aldair Adamus (John Wood Community College, USA) and Max Clarijs (Mr. Cocker HCAW).
Infielders (6):
Jorin van Amstel, Kevin Weijgertse (both Mr. Cocker HCAW), Dudley Leonora (Santa Maria Pirates, Curaçao), Kevin Moesquit (Mampaey The Hawks), Kirvin Moesquit (Seminole State College of Florida, USA) and Cezan Rafaela (North Central Missouri College, USA).
Outfielders (6):
Milton Croes (Kirkwood Community College, USA), Daniel Fernandes, Urving Kemp (both DOOR Neptunus), Dennis Gustina (Santa Maria Pirates, Curaçao), Jules Peters and Steven Wharwood (both Mampaey The Hawks).
Coaching Staff:
Steve Janssen (Manager), Eugène Kingsale (Coach), Wim Martinus (Coach) and Martijn Nijhoff (Pitching Coach).
Supporting Staff:
Pepijn van Ingen (Physical Therapist), Peter Meijers (Team Manager) and Gijs Selderijk (Technical Director).
(October 27)
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