(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Robert Bos)
 Neptunus and Head Coach Raily Legito separate
Nederlands
...Raily Legito as Head Coach...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
 ROTTERDAM (Neth.) -
Raily Legito no longer is the Head Coach of Curaçao Neptunus.
On Tuesday (September 20), the Rotterdam-club announced that it had separated with Legito, who was in his first season as Head Coach.
This also was the debuting season as a coach for the former infielder, who has played thirteen seasons for Neptunus in his playing career.
A successor was not yet announced.
This season was disappointing for Neptunus.
The team regularly decided the outcome of a game in the late innings, recorded several small victories and wasn't as dominating as it could have been in previous seasons.
During the European Champions Cup-tournament in Bonn (Germany) this year, Neptunus not only was eliminated for the Play-Offs, it also has to play in the relegation game.
Against Heidenheim Heideköpfe, Neptunus faced an early 4-0 deficit, but came back and led 6-4 halfway the ninth, but the German came alongside and forced extra innings.
With that, one of the two Dutch spots in this tournament came into jeopardy, as a loss would have meant relegation.
Neptunus scored four runs in the tenth on a grand slam-homerun by Stijn van der Meer, Heidenheim scored two more runs and so, the Rotterdam-team won 10-8 to secure the Dutch spot.
In the second half of the regular season (Top-4 Pool), Neptunus finished in second place, four points behind L&D Amsterdam Pirates, which became the regular season-winner to secure participation in next years European Champions Cup-tournament.
In the best-of-five Play-Offs, Neptunus swept Twins Oosterhout to advance to the Holland Series.
In the Championship Final, the team faced HCAW, which had eliminated and dethroned Amsterdam Pirates.
But in the best-of-seven Final, Neptunus was unable to score, couldn't convince.
HCAW simply was the best team and swept Neptunus in four games to capture its first title in 24 years.
With that, HCAW became the second team to qualify for the European Champions Cup-tournament.
And so, Neptunus will not participate in an European Cup-tournament next year, which is very rare.
Through the years, the team had been very successful.
Since 1990, Neptunus participated in an European event almost annually, except for 2009 and 2013 when it didn't qualify.
In a press release, Neptunus stated the following:
,,The board of Sportclub Neptunus decided to say goodbye to Head Coach Raily Legito.
After the lost Holland Series 2022, intensive talks were immediately held to evaluate the very disappointing season.
Talks were held with Legito, members of the staff and members of the selection.
Based on these discussions, the board comes to the conclusion that there is insufficient trust to work together successfully.
This ensures that there is no good foundation to deliver maximum performance.
...Raily Legito during a pre-game meeting...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Chairman Jorian van Acker:
,,We are very grateful to Raily for his commitment and work for Curaçao Neptunus.
We really appreciate the vision and the changes he wanted to bring to the team.
Unfortunately, this did not lead to the desired results.
It emerged from the evaluation interviews we conducted with those involved, that there is insufficient confidence to work well together.
That is why we have to look for a new Manager who can get the most out of the selection and win prizes.''
The loss against HCAW marked the fourth year in a row that Neptunus is left empty-handed.
Through the years, the team captured 19 Championship-titles, the last one in 2018.
In 2019, Neptunus won the first three games of the Holland Series against Amsterdam Pirates, which then became the first team in history to win the next four games and turn the Final around to grab the title.
In 2020, Pirates won the first two games against Neptunus, but the Final then was halted due to new measures against the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Last year, Pirates again won in seven games against Neptunus to prolong as Dutch Champion.
And this year, Neptunus was swept by HCAW.
Raily Legito played 18 seasons in the Dutch big league.
Before making his debut in the Netherlands, the infielder played two seasons professionally in the organization of Los Angeles Dodgers.
Back then, in 1997 and 1998, he played for La Romana, the Rookie League-team in the Dominican Republic.
In 1999, Legito played his first games in the highest Dutch league when he played for ADO for whom he played in three seasons.
Next, he played two seasons for PSV, which then also played in the highest league.
After these five seasons, Legito was acquired by Neptunus, where he made his debut in the 2004 season.
Legito went on to play in thirteen seasons for the Rotterdam-club.
Through the years, Legito, who primarily was a third baseman (but also played as a short stop), was a very strong defensive player and a solid hitter.
...Raily Legito during an argument...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Playing for Neptunus, Legito experienced his most successful seasons, as he captured the Dutch championship-title eight times while playing for the team.
With Neptunus, he also won the European Champions Cup in 2004 and 2015 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 2007.
After having played in 18 big league-seasons, Legito retired after the 2016 season.
Although 1999 was his first season in the Dutch big league, he also made his debut the same year in the Netherlands National Baseball Team during the World Port Tournament.
From that moment on, Legito remained a regular in the Orange-squad for thirteen years.
He retired from the National Team during the 2011 World Port Tournament in Rotterdam (Netherlands).
In his thirteen years with the National Team, Legito played in (almost) all international events the team participated in.
In these years, Legito participated in three Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008) and the first World Baseball Classic in 2006.
He also participated in five World Championships, four Intercontinental Cups and six European Championships.
Legito was a member of the Orange-team that won five European titles.
With the Netherlands Team, Legito also participated in the two big international tournaments in the Netherlands.
He played in six Haarlem Baseball Week, winning two of them.
And he also played in six World Port Tournament, winning of them with the Orange Team.
In his international career, Legito played in 257 official international games to become the all-time recordholder in the Netherlands.
(September 20)
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