(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Robert Bos)
 Twins Oosterhout adds Belgian catcher Axel Poesmans; Pitcher Koen Postelmans stays
Nederlands
 OOSTERHOUT (Neth.) -
Twins Oosterhout confirmed on Monday (October 31) that Belgian National Team-catcher Axel Poesmans will play for the team next year.
The team from Oosterhout also confirmed that righthanded pitcher Koen Postelmans will stay with the team.
...Axel Poesmans catching for Belgium...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
After completion of the 2022 season, it was announced by the club in September that Head Coach Adonis Kemp would not return.
This year, Twins Oosterhout reached the Play-Offs for the second consecutive year.
After the season had ended, the club announced that it would add younger players from its second team, who are ready for or can develop themselves in the highest league.
Eleven days later, Twins annouced that Rob Hendriks was named as new Head Coach.
He will be assisted by Bas Nooijens and Berend Ruben.
This year, Hendriks was in his third season as Head Coach of the second team of Twins Oosterhout, which played in the First Division.
Nooijens also was his Assistant Coach this year, while Ruben was one of his players.
Since early October, Twins Oosterhout saw four players from this year's main-squad tranfer to Curaçao Neptunus, which has announced seven new players in the past weeks.
Amongst them were pitcher Ryan Huntington, outfielder/first baseman Arthur Bonevacia, infielder Tyriq Kemp and outfielder Rayshelon Carolina.
It was reported that righthanded pitcher Koen Postelmans also was approached by some teams, but he has decided to stay with Twins and will be back on the mound for the team in 2023, which was confirmed on Monday.
Twins Oosterhout also confirmed that Belgian catcher Axel Poesmans will play for the team next year.
Twins needed a new catcher, as regular Jason Halman retired after the season.
This season, the 26-year old Poesmans was the second-best hitter of Brasschaat Braves in the Divisie-1, the highest Belgian league.
He batted .376 (38-for-101), just .012 points behind Raxon Martinez Miranda (.388).
Poesmans produced fourteen doubles and one triple, scored 30 runs and batted in 31.
His RBI-total and 38 basehits also were second-best behind Martinez.
Since 2018, Axel Poesmans plays for the Belgian National Team.
In that year, he was on the roster of the Belgian Team during the Super6 Baseball in Hoofddorp (Netherlands), but didn't play.
In 2019, Poesmans played for Belgium during the European Championship in Germany.
Last year, the catcher also particicpated in the European Championship in Italy with the Red Hawks, which is the nickname of the Belgian Team.
Belgium then reached the Quarter Finals, but lost 5-2 to Spain and eventually finished in eighth place.
Poesmans scored one of the two Belgian runs.
In the tournament, Poesmans was the third-best hitter of Belgium with a .381 batting average with one double and three triples.
He led the team with six runs scored, eight basehits and a .714 slugging average and was second with five runs batted in.
Axel Poesmans also showed that he is a solid hitter while playing for the National Under-23 Team of Belgium during the European Under-23 Championship in 2017 and 2019, which were both held in the Czech Republic.
In 2017, Poesmans was the Best Hitter of the Belgian Team with a .474 batting average, which also was the second-best in the tournament.
In 2019, again was the best Belgian htter with a .467 average.
Both times, Belgium finished in third place.
...Koen Postelmans pitching for Twins...
(© Photo: Robert Bos) |
Koen Postelmans was 5-4 this season for Twins Oosterhout with a 3.35 ERA, striking out 76 batters in 78 innings.
The righthander led the pitching-staff in the second half of the season with an 1.64 ERA, but also with two wins and 33 strikeouts.
This season, Postelmans was one of the three regular starters of Twins (14 starts), together with Ryan Huntington and German Simon Gross.
Postelmans made his big league-debut in 2019.
Back then, he was used as a reliever (12 appearances) and was 1-0 with a 5.57 ERA.
Since 2020, Postelmans is a starter.
In that season, he was 2-4.
Last year, Postelmans was 2-2 with a 3.88 ERA and led the team with 68 strikeouts and 67 1/3 inning pitched.
His 68 strikeouts were the third most in the league behind HCAW-pitchers Lars Huijer and Dennis Burgersdijk, who respectively struckout 120 and 72 batters.
Eight days ago, Postelmans finished in eighth place with the Netherlands Under-23 Team in the World Under-23 Cup, which was held in Taiwan.
There, the righthander pitched in two games for the Orange Team.
He was the starting pitcher in the game against Cuba, but left after only 1/3 inning in which he struckout one batter and gave up two basehits.
Three days later, he threw four fine innings in relief against Venezuela, giving up three hits, but no runs.
At the moment, Postelmans pitches for Santa Maria Pirates in the AA League, the highest baseball-league on Curaçao.
There, he is a teammate of pitchers Johnaikel Acosta and Scott Prins, who this season played in the Dutch big league for repectively Quick Amersfoort and L&D Amsterdam Piartes.
Other players on the Santa Maria-roster are Johnny Gregorius and (former) professional players Yurendell de Caster, Sherman Lacrus, Jonathan Martijn, Kevin Moesquit, Juremi Profar and Darren Seferina.
So far, Postelmans has pitched in three games (all starts) and is 0-1 with 17 strikeouts in 13 innings.
Prins is 4-0 with an 1.78 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 25 1/3 inning pitched.
With Santa Maria Pirates, Postelmans now will play in the best-of-seven Championship Final against Wild Cats.
On the roster of Wild Cats are Dudley Leonora (who this year played in San Marino) and former professionals Shurendell Mujica and Ulrich Snijders.
Also playing for the team is pitcher Shairon Martis, who played for L&D Amsterdam Pirates the past three seasons.
After Pirates was eliminated in the Play-Offs, Martis joined Wild Cats.
Since half September, he pitched in six games (four starts) and is 4-0 with one save and a 2.73 ERA, striking out 36 batters in 33 innings.
Last Friday, it was announced that Martis will play for Curaçao Neptunus next year.
This week, Postelmans also will be with the Netherlands National Team, which has a trainingcamp on Curaçao.
(October 31)
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