(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen, Alfred Cop & Mirjam Boode)
 Sponsor for Quick Amersfoort; Marco Wels new Head Coach
Nederlands
 AMERSFOORT (Neth.) -
Marco Wels is the new Head Coach of Quick Amersfoort, the club announced.
He succeeds René de Vries, who led the squad the past four years and retired after this season in which Quick Amersfoort finished in fourth place in the 'Overgangsklasse'.
The club also announced that Cityside Apartments has become the new main sponsor of the main-squad, which will play in the second highest league ('Overgangsklasse') again next season.
The team then will play under the name of Cityside Apartments Quick.
Wels will be assisted by Paul Berkel (Assistant Coach), Jerrel Bernardus (Hitting Coach) and Jos de Jong (Pitching Coach).
Berkel also was an Assistant Coach this season, while Bernardus assisted during practice sessions.
Berkel and Bernardus have been coaches of the team before, while De Jong has been one of the team's pitchers.
Bernardus played many years in the main-squad, mostly as second baseman, including its years when it played in the big league.
This season, the fourth led by René de Vries, Quick Amersfoort finished in fourth place in the 'Overgangsklasse'.
With a 17-15 record, the team followed Storks, Orioles and RCH-Pinguïns in the rankings.
De Vries took over the coaching when the team played in the First Division.
In the past two seasons, Quick Amersfoort played in 'Overgangsklasse' (second highest league).
De Vries also was assisted this season by Tim Zwaan, who also retired.
Both De Vries and Zwaan have not announced their plans for next season yet.
The goal for next season is to finish in the high regions again in the 'Overgangsklasse'.
The champion of that league will play in a best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Series against the team in last place of the big league.
The winner of that Series will play in the highest division the following year.
In a press release, Marco Wels stated: ,,I'm already active as a Coach in baseball for twenty years.
Quick is a club with a lot of ambition, has a good group of players and a nice complex.
With all this, there belongs a sportive challenge and I see that challenge.''
Marco Wels has a long of experience coaching baseball-teams at different levels and he led several teams to promotions.
In 1991, he made his debut as a Head Coach at Amsterdam-based OVVO.
There, he led the main-squad for three seasons and led the squad from the District-level to First Division.
Wels returned as Head Coach of the club in 1998 when is was known as Xanthos and played in the First Division.
In 1999, Xanthos promoted to the Dutch big league and Wels led the team in its first big league-season.
Wels stepped down after the 2000 season, then returned to coaching a few years later, leading TIW-Survivors for one year.
In 2004, Wels was one of the Assistant Coaches at Almere '90, whom he led as Head Coach a year later.
In both these seasons, Almere played in the big league and secured its spot in the highest division.
Wels took some time off from coaching after the 2005 season, but he returned as Head Coach of Almere '90 Magpies in 2008 when it played in the First Division.
In 2009, Wels led Almere to the title in the First Division and then also won the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Series against RCH-Pinguïns to return to the big league.
In 2010, Almere '90 secured its spot in the big league after sweeping UVV in three games in the best-of-five Promotion/Relegation Series.
Due to its financial situation, Almere '90 withdraw its team from the big league in October 2010.
UVV then filled the vacant spot to return the highest league.
...XLLease Park Dorrestein, the home site of Quick in Amersfoort...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
After the 2010 season, Wels took some distance from coaching and concentrated more on his regular job.
Due to a busy period, he was not able to combine his work with coaching in following years.
But he remained a regular visitor of games at different sites.
Now, he returns to coaching again.
,,It simply fits in the picture again'', Wels said to Grand Slam * Stats & News.
,,I have had some talks with Quick and I was captured by what Quick is, its field, its ambition.
A club that looks upward.
Yes, my goal and that of the club is to move into the top of the Overgangsklasse and then look ahead of what we can accomplish more in the future.
And there is a new sponsor, which is also ambitious and looks ahead.
I'm looking forward to it.''
In the past twenty years since Quick Amersfoort relegated from the Dutch big league in 1996, the baseball-team played in several divisions at different levels.
Through the years, there always has been a very sportive and attractive atmosphere with an enthousiastic group of supporters at the cozy Sportpark Dorrestein, the home site of Quick Amersfoort.
That was renamed XLLease Park Dorrestein in March of this year after a partnership-agreement with XLLease, a lease-company based in Apeldoorn.
Unfortunately, the team experienced three consecutive relegations in 2005-2007 when it dropped from First Division all the way to Fourth Division.
But from 2008 on, the team is moving up the ladder again and now has become a contender in the second highest league.
In 2008, Quick Amersfoort won the title in Fourth Division to promote.
While it finished in third place in the Third Division in 2009, it played in Second Division the year after.
Quick then won its next championship-title in 2011 in the Second Division to promote to First Division, which then was the third highest league.
...Wesley Bernardus... | 
...Bas de Jong... |
| (© Both Photos: Henk Seppen) |
After finishing in respectively sixth (2012) and seventh (2013) place, the team finished in fourth place in 2014.
The team was given the opportunity to play in the 'Overgangsklasse' (second highest league) in 2015 and that was accepted.
The squad ended up just two points short to finish in the top-6, which meant it had to play for seventh through tenth place in the second half of the season.
In that pool, Quick finished in first place to secure its spot in this years 'Overgangsklasse'.
This year, the team had a fine season and finished in fourth place, which can be labeled as its best result since 2003.
In that year, the team won the title in the First Division to qualify for the Promotion Pool to the big league, in which it finished in fifth place.
In the past few seasons, the team has several players with big league-experience on its roster.
Amongst them is infielder Wesley Bernardus, who last played in the highest division in 2010 for HCAW.
Hereafter, Bernardus, the son of Jerrel Bernardus went to play for Almere '90, before returning to Quick Amersfoort.
Other players with big league-experience are righthanded pitcher Jos de Jong and outfielder Bas de Jong, who came to Quick Amersfoort after the 2014 season after having played several seasons for L&D Amsterdam Pirates.
Both started their career in youth-teams of the Amersfoort-based club, just as Bernardus had done.
...Remian Denis... | 
...Jos de Jong... |
| (© Photo: Mirjam Boode) | (© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Bas de Jong was the Best Hitter in the Dutch big league three consecutive seasons (2012-2014), becoming only the second player in history to do so.
He also was named Most Valuable Player twice.
After last season, lefthanded pitcher Bob Klaarenbeek and catcher Bas Nooij joined the team.
They also played several seasons in the big league for HCAW and Amsterdam Pirates respectively.
Nooij was a member of the Netherlands National Team that captured the World Championship-title in 2011.
During this past season, Nooij moved to Australia, meaning he will not be with the team next year.
Other players on this years team who have played in the big league are infielder Remian Denis and outfielder Luigino Rosaria.
Denis played in the highest league for The Hawks in 2014, while Rosaria played for Almere '90 in 2010.
Joining the team now is infielder Niels van Weert, who played this season (and also before that) in the Dutch big league for Kinheim.
This season, Van Weert batted .280 (35-for-125) and was Kinheim's fifth best hitter.
He scored 27 runs and batted in twelve.
Defensively, Van Weert committed only two errors in 169 chances.
Besides Van Weert, the team added three pitchers Brain van Laar, Colin van Laar (who both played in college) and Jay-Jay Muller (HCAW).
The latter made four pitching-appearances this season in the main-squad of HCAW at the big league-level, striking out three batters in 4 1/3 inning.
Infielder/outfielder Kai Berkel, who already played in youth teams of Quick Amersfoort and is the son of Paul Berkel, returns after having played for Scimitars, while infielder Rowald Reemst comes from Red Caps.
...Luigino Rosaria... | 
...Bas Nooij... | 
...Bob Klaarenbeek... | 
...Niels van Weert... |
| (© All Photos: Henk Seppen) |
(November 6)
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