(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
 Meulens, Janssen to lead Netherlands Team on Premier 12
Nederlands
 NIEUWEGEIN (Neth.) -
Hensley Meulens, the Hitting Coach of the San Francisco Giants, will return as Manager of the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
He will lead the squad during the inaugural Premier 12, which will be held in Taiwan and Japan in November.
Current Manager Steve Janssen will be his righthand during the event.
The Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) announced their naming on Thursday (September 10).
In the Premier 12, which will take place November 8-21, the twelve best countries (according to the ranking of the WBSC) participates.
The team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as the Orange squad will be known again during the tournament, was last led by Meulens during the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Back then, Meulens guided the Dutch to the semi-final of the event.
Janssen led the team to the European Championship-title last year, after it was left emtpy-handed in the previous two tournaments in 2010 and 2012.
Since 2010, Meulens is the Hitting Coach of the Major League-team of the San Francisco Giants, with whom he won the World Series three times (2010, 2012 and 2014).
In the press release, Meulens is quoted saying: ,,I'm honored that technisch director Gijs Selderijk has asked me on behalf of the KNBSB to coach our team during the Premier 12.
It will be a great challenge to go for the title with our best talented players.
I'm looking forward of doing this together with Steve Janssen, a very capable coach, who recaptured the European title with the Orange.''
Meulens played in the Major League himself for the New York Yankees (1989-1993), Montreal Expos (1997) and Arizona Diamondbacks (1998).
When he made his debut in 1989, he was the first Curaçao-born player to reach the Major League.
He also played in Japan and Korea for several seasons.
Meulens played for the Dutch squad during the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia, the 2001 World Championship in Taiwan and the 2002 Intercontinental Cup in Cuba.
During the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece and 2009 World Baseball Classic, Meulens was a member of the coachingstaff.
Janssen became the Manager of the Netherlands Team after completion of the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
Janssen: ,,Technical director Gijs Selderijk, Hensley Meulens and myself, together with our players, will do our very best in representing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as good as possible at the Premier 12.
It is a big honor for me to work together with a top-coach such as Hensley.
I think we can strenghthen each others qualities.
It will be a fascinating ride.''
Earlier this year, Janssen was the co-Manager of Team Europe, along with Italian Marco Mazzieri, during the 2-game Global Baseball Match in Japan.
Currently, the Netherlands is in fifth place on the world ranking list of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC).
In recent years, the Dutch Team has accomplished several impressive feats, including capturing the World Championship-title in 2011, reaching the semi-final of the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and winning the European title in 2014.
The Netherlands will play in Group A of the Premier 12, meeting Cuba, Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy and Taiwan.
The Dutch open the event against host Taiwan in the city of Taoyuan.
(September 10)
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