(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Amsterdam Pirates adds pitcher Nick Veltkamp to roster
Nederlands
 AMSTERDAM (Neth.) -
L&D Amsterdam Pirates confirmed on Thursday (Febuary 2) that it has added lefthanded pitcher Nick Veltkamp to its roster for the upcoming new season, which opens in April.
A definitive schedule still has not been announced, but it is expected that the season opens on Thursday, April 13.
Last year, Veltkamp was 6-0 with one save pitching for Kinheim.
With an 1.13 ERA, he led the pitching-staff of the Haarlem-squad.
The lefthander appeared in 20 games, one of which he started.
In 47 2/3 inning, Veltkamp struckout 29 batters, walked 22 and gave up 39 basehits.
He gave up only 11 runs.
Veltkamp is a welcome addition to the pitching staff of Amsterdam Pirates.
Last season, some of the team's pitchers suffered injuries.
Veteran righthander Rob Cordemans got injured before the start of the season and made his comeback on the mound in August.
Righthander Kevin Heijstek suffered a severe injury during the final of the European Champions Cup in Italy early June.
With a torn hamstring, he was out for the season.
Righthander Dennis Burgersdijk and lefthander Kyle Ward also were sidelined for some weeks with injuries.
All are still recovering, but are expected to be ready for the new season.
Despite the injury-problems, Amsterdam Pirates still had a very good season.
It captured the European Champions Cup and reached the Holland Series.
The team lost the Champion Final to Curaçao Neptunus in six suspenseful games.
When the 2016 season ended, Kinheim was confronted with a huge problem, as 19 of its players left the team during the transfer-period.
As it was unable to compile a representative team, Kinheim withdraw from this years big league and will play in the second highest league ('Overgangsklasse') instead.
Veltkamp was one of the few players, who didn't transfer to another club.
Veltkamp, who turns 33 in March, pitched for Kinheim since 2008.
He made his big league-debut in 2005, playing for Almere '90 Magpies.
Veltkamp also played for Almere in 2006 and 2007 and then transfered to Kinheim.
Veltkamp pitched in the Netherlands National Baseball Team in 2008-2011.
In that span, he participated with the Orange squad in the 2009 World Championship, which then was held in eight different European countries.
Veltkamp also pitched for the Netherlands in two Haarlem Baseball Weeks and two World Port Tournaments.
After completion of the 2013 big league-season in the Netherlands, Veltkamp pitched in the competition on Curaçao for Wildcats.
The pitcher also pitched for the team that represented Curaçao at the World Port Tournament in 2013 and 2015 in Rotterdam (Netherlands).
(February 2)
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