(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Former pro Jonatan Isenia joins Pioniers
Nederlands
 HOOFDDORP (Neth.) -
Vaessen Pioniers has added righthanded pitcher Jonatan Isenia to its roster for the upcoming season.
The Haarlems Dagblad-newspaper first reported the addition on Sunday (March 27).
On Thursday (March 31), Pioniers confirmed the coming of Isenia, adding that it came to an agreement just before last weekend.
Isenia already is in Hoofddorp and has practiced with the team, but was not with the team last weekend during the Jan van de Vegte Memorial Tournament in Nijmegen.
He probably will make his debut for Pioniers in the upcoming In Memoriam Charles Urbanus, Sr. Tournament, which opens on Friday in Bussum.
There, Pioniers meets Kinheim and HCAW on Saturday and closes against L&D Amsterdam Pirates on Sunday.
The regular season opens on Thursday, April 14.
One-and-a-half-week ago, Pioniers added American-Dutch righthanded submariner Jonah Van Bemmelen to its roster.
...Jonatan Isenia pitching for the Netherlands Kingdom...
...Team during the 2013 World Baseball Classic in Japan...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Jonatan Isenia signed a professional contract at age 18 on November 23, 2011 with the Baltimore Orioles after having played for Royal Scorpions on Curaçao.
He then played three seasons in Rookie League-teams of the Orioles.
Isenia, who turned 23 on Thursday (March 31), made his professional debut in 2012, pitching for the DSL Orioles in the Dominican Summer League.
He then appeared in 13 games (all in relief) and struckout ten batters in 18 1/3 innings, while giving up 14 hits.
He was 0-1 with a 1.47 ERA and while he finished three games, he had no saves.
In 2013, the righthander pitched for the GCL Orioles in the Gulf Coast League.
In this Florida-based Rookie League Isenia again pitched in 13 games (all in relief).
This time, he struckout 24 batters in 25 innings and gave up 19 basehits.
Isenia was 1-3, earned one save and closed with a 3.24 ERA.
In 2014, his third season in Rookie League, Isenia was 2-3 with a 2.30 ERA and pitched in ten games, also in Florida.
This time, he was the starting pitcher in eight games.
He had a fine season, struckout 46 batters in 43 innings and gave up only 27 basehits.
In 2013, Isenia played for the Netherlands Kingdom Team during the World Baseball Classic.
In January of that year, he was named to the 28-man roster.
During preparations for the event in Phoenix, Arizona (USA), Isenia made his debut in the first exhibition game that the Orange squad played.
In the game against GateWay Community College, Isenia threw one inning.
A few days later, he threw 2/3 inning against the team of Paradise Valley Community College.
During final preparations in Taiwan, Isenia threw in two more exhibition games.
Isenia then made his official international debut in the Dutch Team during the World Baseball Classic in the game against Taiwan, which was lost 8-3.
He closed the game and struckout three batters in 1 2/3 inning.
His next appearance came in the Second Round in a 10-6 loss against Japan.
In this game, Isenia came on in the second inning, but was greeted with a homerun by Shinnosuke Abe, which lifted the Japanese lead to 8-1.
Isenia then retired the side in the third inning.
He also retired the first two batters in the next inning, but then hurt his shoulder while pitching to the next batter and had to leave the game.
(March 31)
Related Articles:
 Pioniers wins Van de Vegte Tournament. (March 27, 2016)
Pioniers adds American-Dutch pitcher to roster. (March 22, 2016)
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