(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photo by Henk Seppen)
 Mervin Gario new Head Coach of Hoofddorp Pioniers
Nederlands
 HOOFDDORP (Neth.) -
Mervin Gario is the new Head Coach of Hoofddorp Pioniers.
Gario, who also will remain active as a player, succeeds Dè Flanegin, who stepped down late last month.
Gario was named Flanegin's successor on Wednesday (October 18), which was confirmed by the club.
Flanegin led Pioniers two seasons after taking over from Robert Klaver in 2016.
In both last year and this year, Flanegin guided the team to the postseason.
Last year, Pioniers closed the regular season with a 27-15 record and finished in third place in the overall standings.
The team was then eliminated in the following Play-Offs with a 6-3 record.
This season, the Hoofddorp-squad was 20-14 with two ties, finishing in fourth place.
In the following Championship Pool, the team was 6-12, ended in third place and again was eliminated for the Holland Series.
While Gario has no coaching experience, Hoofddorp Pioniers opts to go with a playing coach next season.
However, Gario has experienced Theo Geerman in his coaching staff.
Geerman, who had been a Head Coach in the past, will remain the team's 3B Coach, while Angelo Clemensia stays on as 1B Coach.
Pitcher Lars Huijer will also be involved more in the coaching and will act as the team's Pitching Coach.
This season, Mervin Gario batted .330 to become the third-best hitter of the team in the regular season.
The infielder shared the team's lead with 30 runs scored (with Dudley Leonora), batted in 12 runs and recorded 31 basehits, including four doubles, a triple and a homerun.
Defensively, he committed only four errors as the team's solid third baseman.
In the Championship Pool, Gario was the second-best hitter of Pioniers with a .288 average and again led the squad with 15 runs.
He batted in five runs and hit three homeruns.
Last year, Gario played in his first season for Pioniers after returning to the club from Kinheim.
Gario made his big league-debut with Pioniers, then transfered to Kinheim after the 2011 season.
After having played four seasons for the Haarlem-based club, Gario returned to Hoofddorp.
(October 18)
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