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(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen, Robert Bos, Neptunus & Twins)
 Dashenko Ricardo MVP; Rob Cordemans Best Pitcher; More Awards
Nederlands
 HOOFDDORP (Neth.) -
Dashenko Ricardo (Corendon Kinheim) is the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 season in the Dutch big league, while Rob Cordemans was honored (again) as Best Pitcher.
It marked the ninth (!) time that Cordemans was crowned as Best Pitcher.
The winners were announced tonight (Saturday, December 12) during the KNBSB Baseball Softball Stars Awards, the annual presentation of the awards for the best baseball- and softball-players.
The event was held this year at Claus Party Centre in Hoofddorp for the first time since 1998.
In the previous four years, the awards were handed out in Rotterdam during the annual European Coach Clinic of the KNBSB, which is no longer organized due to high costs.
Also tonight, baseball-player Dirk van 't Klooster and softball-player Saskia Kosterink were honored for their impressive career and contributions to their sports.
The Slugger also was handed out again tonight.
The Slugger is the highest recognition award of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB) and is handed out to a person, persons, group, club or organization for promotional activities in order to promote the sport(s) of baseball and/or softball on national and or regional level.
Last year, the Slugger was handed out again for the first time since 1999 and then was awarded to the Organizing Committee of the World Women Softball Championship in Haarlem.
This year, the award went to two organizations, who are active now for a few years and are linked closely together.
They are the organizartion of the Battle of the Castle, which organizes a baseball-tournament annually at the site of Twins, and the organization of Collegiate Baseball League Europe.
This last organization is linked to the tournament, but also organizes a trip annually through Europe enabling talented players to play many games.
Go here for the Softball Awards
Photo Galery of the Stars Awards Night
(December 12)
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Most Valuable Player
...Dashenko Ricardo...
...Most Valuable Player...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Dashenko Ricardo was the correct choice as Most Valuable Player of the 2015 season.
The catcher of Corendon Kinheim was the second-best hitter of the league with a .420 batting average, which was only .011 behind league-leader Christian Diaz.
Ricardo also was second-best behind Diaz with a .609 slugging average and was fifth in on-base percentage (.441).
His offensive production was a big contribution for Kinheim this season.
He registered the most basehits in the league (71), was second in runs batted in (40), but was only 13th in runs scored (27).
Ricardo belted four homeruns (third highest total), but shared the league-lead in triples (4) and had the fourth-highest total of doubles (12).
With that, the catcher was the leader in total bases (103), 19 more than the second-best player Mervin Gario (Kinheim).
Ricardo also led the league with runners on base (.471) and runners in scoring position (.526).
Ricardo is the eighth player of Kinheim, who wins the MVP Award and the first since 2010.
It marked the tenth time that the award goes to a Kinheim-player, as two of them won the award twice.
The last four years, the Most Valuable Player played for L&D Amsterdam Pirates, being Vince Rooi (2011), Rob Cordemans (2012) and Bas de Jong (2013, 2014).
| Previous MVP's playing for Kinheim |
| 1989 | René Rijst |
| 1992 | Darryl Brinkley |
| 1996 | Mike Crouwel |
| 1997 | Mike Crouwel |
| 2001 | Marcel Joost |
| 2002 | Sidney de Jong |
| 2004 | Gregory Halman |
| 2006 | Tjerk Smeets |
| 2010 | Bryan Engelhardt |
| 2015 | Dashenko Ricardo |
For the first time in history, only two players were nominated for the MVP Award, since three nominations for the MVP and Best Pitcher Award were introduced some 25 years ago.
Besides Ricardo, the other was Christian Diaz (Curaçao Neptunus).
Since 2012, four players were nominated for the award, one each of the four teams that qualified for the Play-Offs.
With this, players were recognized for helping their team reaching the final four.
Diaz was the leading hitter (.431) and also had the best slugging average (.626) and on-base percentage (.545).
The outfielder scored 31 runs (8th), registered 53 hits (5th), but batted in only 19 runs (six players on the Neptunus-team had more).
When the format of four nominees would have been upheld, there were two players each of L&D Amsterdam Pirates and Vaessen Pioniers, who surely might have been considered for nomination.
After all, the award for Most Valuable Player is considered only for accomplishments in the regular season.
And it was Amsterdam that won both the first and second half of the regular season and with that, of course also finished in first place in the overall standings.
Bas Nooij and Remco Draijer had a big contribution in the season's success of Amsterdam, while Daniel Fernandes and Vince Rooi both were productive for Pioniers.
Draijer was the 6th best hitter (.350) in the league, was 3rd in on-base percentage (.467) , 5th in runs scored (33) and 7th in hits (50) and with these stats, he also led the Amsterdam-squad.
Nooij was the 14th best hitter (.310), but was 4th in on-base percentage (.445), 7th in runs scored (32), 3rd in runs batted in (37) and hit the second-most homeruns (5).
Fernandes was the 12th best hitter (.315), but was 4th in runs scored (34) and 5th in basehits (53), however, with this, he led Pioniers.
Rooi was the 15th best hitter (.307) and 7th in RBI's (28) in the league.
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Best Pitcher
...Rob Cordemans...
...9th Best Pitcher Award...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Rob Cordemans again was named Best Pitcher of the season, winning the award for the fourth time in the last five years.
That Cordemans won the award was more or less a surprise, as he was less dominating this season.
The veteran righthander led the league with an 0.84 ERA, but was ninth in innings pitched (75) and won only six games (also ninth place).
But he walked only 12 batters (third-best), allowed only seven earned runs (third-best) and was second in strikeouts (79), 17 behind league-leader Ricardo Hernandez Sanchez (Vaessen Pioniers).
It is the sixth time that a pitcher of Amsterdam Pirates wins this award and fifth year in a row.
Cordemans also was Best Pitcher in 2011, 2012 and 2013, then Kevin Heijstek won the Award last year.
| Previous Best Pitchers, Pirates |
| 1992 | Peter Callenbach |
| 2011 | Rob Cordemans |
| 2012 | Rob Cordemans |
| 2013 | Rob Cordemans |
| 2014 | Kevin Heijstek |
| 2015 | Rob Cordemans |
Since 1999, Cordemans had been named twelve times for the pitching award and now has won nine of them.
When he won the award for the third consecutive year in 2013, Cordemans became only the fifth pitcher in history to do so.
Han Urbanus (OVVO, 1953-1955), Rudi Dom (Sparta, 1966-1968) and Graig McGinnis (Giants Diemen, 1984-1986) also had won the award in three consecutive years.
Herman Beidschat won the trophy a record eight years in a row (1959-1966) while playing for EHS and Haarlem Nicols.
Beidschat is the recordholder with 10 overall best pitching-trophies.
For the first time in history, four pitchers were nominated for the award, instead of three, which had been the case in the past.
Also nominated were Kevin Heijstek (L&D Amsterdam Pirates), Kenny Van Den Branden (Curaçao Neptunus) and Pim Walsma (Corendon Kinheim).
Last years winner Heijstek led the league with nine victories (sharing with Diegomar Markwell) and had the fourth-best ERA (1.32), while striking out 69 batters (6th) and pitching 82 innings (4th place).
Van Den Branden had the second-best ERA (1.26), pitched 71 1/3 inning (12th), struckout 65 batters (8th) and won eight games (2nd).
Reliever Walsma, who shared the league-lead in games pitched (26), had the third-best ERA (1.30), but struckout 36 batters in 34 2/3 inning, while winning three games.
Despite leading in strikeouts (96) and innings pitched (86 1/3) and winning eight games, Ricardo Hernandez Sanchez was not nominated.
The lefthander finished in twelfth place with a 2.29 ERA.
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Statistical Awards
| Previous Best Hitters, Neptunus |
| 1980 | Kevin McDonald |
| 1986 | Mike Gargiulo |
| 1991 | Marcel Kruyt |
| 1992 | Eric de Bruin |
| 1997 | Marcel Kruyt |
| 2002 | Dirk van 't Klooster |
| 2005 | Dirk van 't Klooster |
| 2006 | Raily Legito |
| 2015 | Christian Diaz |
Best Hitter
The Dutch big league was led this season by Christian Diaz (Curaçao Neptunus), who batted .431 (53-for-123).
Last year, Bas de Jong (L&D Amsterdam Pirates) was the best hitter for the third consecutive season, becoming only the second player in history to do so.
The only other player to do so was Hamilton Richardson.
It is the ninth time, but first since 2006, that a player of Neptunus is the leading hitter of the season.
Homerun King
This award was won again by Bryan Engelhardt (Corendon Kinheim).
This season, Engelhardt belted eight homeruns to lead the league.
Engelhardt shared the league-lead with Gianison Boekhoudt (Curaçao Neptunus).
But Engelhardt hit his eight homeruns in 122 at bats, while Boekhoudt needed 148 at bats.
It was the third time in a row, fifth time in the last seven seasons and eighth time overall that Engelhardt led the league in homeruns.
Most Stolen Bases
The most bases were stolen this season by Gilmer Lampe (UVV), who led the league with 20.
Lampe shared the league-lead with Dwayne Kemp (Curaçao Neptunus).
Like in the Homerun-category, a tie-break rule also was used to come to a winner for this award.
Lampe was caught stealing four times, Kemp six times and so the award went to the outfielder of UVV.
With this, Lampe becomes the second player of UVV to win this award.
The only other time that a player of UVV stole the most bases was in 1978 when Jos Kervers stole 17.
The last two seasons, it was Roelie Henrique (L&D Amsterdam Pirates), who led the league in stolen bases.
This year, Henrique finished in fifth place with 14.
...Christian Diaz...
...Best Hitter... | 
...Bryan Engelhardt...
...Most Homeruns... | 
...Gilmer Lampe...
...Most Stolen Bases... |
| (© Photos: Henk Seppen) |
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Other Awards
...Benjamin Dille...
...Holland Series MVP...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Most Valuable Player Holland Series
The winner of this award already was announced after completion of the final game of the Holland Series.
The award went to Benjamin Dille of Curaçao Neptunus which won the championship-title.
It was the third time that the Belgian second baseman won the Holland Series MVP Award.
As is custom, the award is not handed out during the Holland Series, but during the Stars Awards as part of the other award-presentations.
...Bayron Cornelisse...
...Guus van der Heijden Memorial...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Guus van der Heijden Memorial Trophy
The winner of this award is for the most talented baseball-international under 23, who also has shown good accomplishments in the Dutch big league.
The award is named after Guus van der Heijden, the longtime baseball-executive and former President of the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softball Association (KNBSB).
The trophy was won this year by reliever Bayron Cornelisse of Vaessen Pioniers.
This season, Cornelisse appeared in 23 games, mostly as closer of Pioniers.
He was 1-3, but led the league with nine saves.
...Tom de Blok...
...Roel de Mon Award...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Roel de Mon Award
This award is handed out annually to the most talented youth pitcher of the year.
The award is named after legendary pitcher Roel de Mon, who in 1943 set a single-season record with 235 strikeouts.
De Mon, who once averaged 15 strikeouts per game in a four-year period, played for Schoten and SC Haarlem, as well as in the national team.
This year, the award was handed out to Tom de Blok of L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
In the regular season, the righthander was 4-0 and also earned three saves.
He pitched in 20 games (one start) and struckout 44 batters in 35 innings pitched.
It marks the ninth time that a pitcher of Amsterdam Pirates wins this award.
The other winners were Haitze de Vries (1976), Marco Loevendie (1980), Tonny Cohen (1981), Ruud Schnitker (1984), Patrick de Lange (1993), Kevin Miner (2006, 2007) and Jerremyh Angela (2011).
...Ruben Prins...
...Ron Fraser Award...
(© Photo: Neptunus) |
Ron Fraser Award
This award is handed out to the most promising youth-player.
The award is named after Ron Fraser, who was the first American Head Coach of the Netherlands National Baseball Team.
He guided the Orange squad to three European Championship-titles.
The award was won by Ruben Prins, who this season played for Curaçao Tridents, the Rookie League team of Neptunus.
This year, Prins also played for the Dutch Junior Team (AA) and was the Best Hitter at the European Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.
Prins also participated in all MLB Academy Tournaments held this year and took part in a training camp of the Milwaukee Brewers-organization in Arizona in October.
...Eric de Vries...
...Leen Volkerijk Award...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Leen Volkerijk Award
This award is handed out annually to a person who has had many contributions to the development of (young) players.
The award is named after Leen Volkerijk, a longtime baseball-coach, who also served as (pitching) coach of the Netherlands National Team and himself was active for many years in the development of young players.
The award went to former big league- and National Team-pitcher Eric de Vries.
In recent years, the very driven and always enthusiactic De Vries works with young pitchers and trains with them to become better.
This year, he also was the Pitching Coach of the big league-team of Vaessen Pioniers.
...Evert-Jan 't Hoen...
...Coach of the Year...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Coach of the Year
The award was won this year by Evert-Jan 't Hoen, the Head Coach of Curaçao Neptunus.
In his third season with the club, he again won the Dutch championship-title, but this year also won the European Champions Cup.
It was the seventh time that the award went to the coaching of Neptunus.
Charles Urbanus won in 1992 and 1993, Robert Eenhoorn won in 2000 and 2001.
Hereafter, in 2004, the award went to the 3-man coaching-staff of the team, which then shared equal duties, as there was no Head Coach.
In 2009, Steve Janssen was the last Neptunus-coach to win the award.
...Kevin Roovers...
...Bill Arce Award...
(© Photo: Twins) |
Bill Arce Award
This award was introduced a few years ago for the Most Promising Coach to not only recognize his accomplishments, but also to stimulate him to develop more.
The award is named after American baseball-ambassador Bill Arce, who has a long association with Dutch baseball.
He coached the national team, participated with teams in the Haarlem Baseball Week and organized many clinics.
The award went to Kevin Roovers, the Head Coach of Twins, which he guided to the championship in the second highest division ('Overgangsklasse').
After the season, Twins went on to win the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Play-Off to promote to the Dutch big league in which in will make its comeback next year.
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Copyright © 1997-2015 Marco Stoovelaar / Grand Slam * Stats & News.
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