Konica Minolta Pioniers
In 2005, Konica Minolta Pioniers finished in second place in the regular season behind DOOR Neptunus, but was eliminated in the best-of-five Play-Offs vs. Mr. Cocker HCAW. Pioniers lost that Series 3-2 after it was interrupted for almost a month due to the World Cup Baseball. On August 25, Game Five was stopped in the third inning because of rain with Pioniers leading 4-3. The game was replayed on September 20 and this time HCAW won 5-2 to clinch the Holland Series.

...David Bergman... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

After last season, only one player opted to go to another club as (national team) RHP David Bergman (1.44, 6-4) switched to 'neighbouring' Corendon Kinheim.
Two other players retired after last season: 1B/DH Griffith Cathalina (.224, 11 RBI, 1 HR) and 2B Jochem Theunissen (.238, 13 RBI, 0 HR). The latter at the moment makes a trip around the world and will return this month. He is scheduled to play for Pioniers-3 this year, and in case, can be recalled to the main squad.
American righthanded closer Greg McCarthy (3.66, 1-1, 0 SV) will not return. RHP Conrad Orman (8.10, 0-0, 0 SV), who appeared in two games for Pioniers in the beginning of the season, before turning professional, is a non-roster player. He probably will pitch again professionally this season, but in case of a release, he will be eligible to pitch for Pioniers.

The club from Hoofddorp (located between Amsterdam and Haarlem) added four players to its 2006 roster. RHP Erik Jan Lind is coming from First Divisionist Alcmaria Victrix and will make his debut in the big league this year. Three other 'new' players have played for Pioniers before. All three are returning after an one year absence. LHP/1B Mark-Jan Moorman (.273, 17 RBI, 5.40 ERA, 0-0) comes back after having played for Amsterdam Pirates, while LHP Daniël Overbeek (4.08, 0-3, 1 SV) and IF Jaïr Roseburg (.297, 2 RBI) played for Hypotheekzeker.nl-Tornado's (which will be known again as ADO this season) last year.

There also is a change in the coachingstaff. After last season, Head Coach Robert Klaver retired after having led the team for four and a half seasons. His successor, American Trevor Rooper, was named in January and will join the club early next month.
Klaver's Assistant Peter Barentsen remains with the staff as is Theo Geerman, who was added to the staff in the second half of the season.

Outlook 2006

...Roger Kops... (Photo: Co Pikee)

Pitching

...Richard Orman... (Photo: Co Pikee)

As new Head Coach Trevor Rooper currently is in the States and doesn't know his new players yet, Coach Peter Barentsen looked ahead to new season with Grand Slam * Stats & News.
Veteran lefthander Richard Orman (1.07, 13-2), who was nominated for Best Pitcher last season, will again be the ace for Pioniers this season. On the last day of last season, Orman tied the All-Time record for most victories by a lefthander (113) in the Dutch big league and will surpass Craig McGinnis as soon as he wins his first game.
Righthander Roger Kops (1.93, 5-2), another experienced pitcher, also will be in the starting rotation for Pioniers.
Rookie RHP Erik Jan Lind is scheduled to become the third starter, while a to be named Venezuelan pitcher also will get a starting role, but also can be used in relief.
,,This Venezuelan pitcher, who currently throws in the Venezuelan league, can do both, starting and relieving'', Peter Barentsen said. ,,He's a workhorse. But Roger also can throw in relief, but as long as that's not necessary, we will not do that'', Barentsen added. ,,We have to economize our pitchers, especially Richard, so that we will get some extra out of them later in the season.''
In the bull-pen, Pioniers has at least four options: RHP Tommy van Limburg (6.04, 1-0), RHP Dave Draijer (0.96, 2-2, 14 SV) and 'newcomers' Daniël Overbeek and Mark-Jan Moorman, both lefties. RHP Jeffery Calderone (13.50, 0-0) also is on the roster, but will not be available the entire season, as he was last year when he appeared in only one game and pitched 2 2/3 inning.
Dave Draijer again will fill the role as closer. Last season, the national team-reliever tied the single-season big league record with 14 saves. Barentsen: ,,We can use Dave also in the middle, he is a team player and will do whatever we need. The Venezuelan pitcher also might be used as a closer. Regarding to last season, we have more depth in our staff this year with at least eight pitchers. We have a lot of possibilities. Besides that, we also have some talented pitchers in our second team. We have more flexiblity, which is important, as our goal is reaching the Play-Offs again.''

Catching
Mark Duursma (.322, 17 RBI, 0 HR), who last season was an MVP-nominee and was added to the preliminary roster of the Dutch National Team recently, is again the prime catcher this season.
Rookie Bart Sabel, who came over from Double Stars to play for Pioniers' First Division-team, will also serve as the back-up catcher in the main squad. ,,He is a young and talented player'', Barentsen is saying about the catcher, who last year was the Batting Champion of the Junior European Championships in Spain when he played for the Dutch Juniors, that captured the title. ,,We checked the schedules of both Pionier-teams and he can be with the big league-squad a lot to get some experience. In the second team, he will play for Paul Nanne, who is a good coach with young players.'' Last year, Paul Nanne was the Head Coach for Amsterdam Pirates in the big league, but stopped after the season.
Joris Djojokarso is another young catcher, who will play for Omron Pioniers, the club's First Division-team. Barentsen: ,,They are young players and have to learn to be patient. They can all learn from each other''.

Infield

Probable Line-Up 2006 Starters-LHP Richard Orman, RHP Roger Kops, RHP Erik Jan Lind, Venezuelan pitcher Relievers-RHP Tommy van Limburg, LHP Daniël Overbeek, LHP Mark-Jan Moorman, RHP Jeffery Calderone Closer-RHP Dave Draijer, Venezuelan pitcher C-Mark Duursma / Bart Sabel 1B-Mark-Jan Moorman / Dè Flanegin 2B-Jaïr Roseburg / Lars Koehorst 3B-Glennsig Polonius / Lars Koehorst SS-Michael Duursma OF-Glenn Romney / Jefferson Muzo / Norbert Lokhorst / Marcel Venema / Edwin de Graaf / Mark-Jan Moorman DH-Dè Flanegin / Glenn Romney

The infield again will be led by national team-player Michael Duursma (.307, 24 RBI, 0 HR), who is returning as the starting short stop. In international play with the Dutch squad, he also impressed at second base.
On his right side, Glennsig Polonius (.181, 10 RBI, 0 HR) will be the third baseman, while on his left side Jaïr Roseburg probably will be the starting second baseman.
Veteran and former national team-infielder Lars Koehorst (.244, 22 RBI, 0 HR) will be the back-up infielder and play at both second and third base.

...Pioniers' Home Field... ...Sportpark Toolenburg... (Photo: Marco Stoovelaar)

Barentsen: ,,Jaïr has to learn to play in the keystone and has to make the basic plays''.
At first base, Mark-Jan Moorman will share the position with veteran Dè Flanegin (.273, 24 RBI, 1 HR), who also will see action again as the Designated Hitter.

Outfield
Currently, there are six candidates for the outfield. Besides experienced outfielder Glenn Romney (.254, 10 RBI, 0 HR) they are Jefferson Muzo (.269, 10 RBI, 0 HR), who led the league in stolen bases with 19 last year in his rookie-season, Marcel Venema (.326, 3 RBI, 0 HR), who also made a good debut last season, Mark-Jan Moorman and veterans Norbert Lokhorst (.255, 13 RBI, 0 HR) and Edwin de Graaf (.310, 5 RBI, 0 HR). The latter will miss some games due to his regular job as a firefighter.
Barentsen: ,,Marcel can also play on third base and he will probably get a shot there also. Norbert also can play in the infield. We have 12 position players and we have the possibility to switch them around the field. Last year, we had a lot of injuries, we hope that won't happen this season''.
Glenn Romney missed part of the season because of a knee injury, but is doing fine at the moment. Barentsen: ,,It looks really good, thanks to our physical therapist Sven Vos and his staff''.

Designated Hitter
Dè Flanegin is a prime candidate for the DH-slot, as he was last year.
Glenn Romney also might be used as a Designated Hitter, but, as mentioned, he recovers fine from his knee injury, he probably will return to the outfield fulltime.

...Trevor Rooper... (Photo not yet available)

General
Peter Barentsen: ,,We've lost Griffith Cathalina, Jochem Theunissen, David Bergman and Greg McCarthy. It's a pity David left, he played a longtime for our club. With Griffith and Jochem we lost some experience, but I think we gained some speed in the team. We filled the rosterspots with Mark-Jan Moorman, Jaïr Roseburg, Daniël Overbeek and Erik Jan Lind. Mark-Jan comes back to Pioniers from Pirates, where he did well, playing in the outfield and at first base. He didn't pitch much, because of an injury, but he wants to throw. He's strong and only 18 years old and of course, he's a lefty. But the time that we will bring in a reliever, who's playing at first base is in the past. Mark-Jan will fill the role of Griffith at first base and in the outfield. Jaïr is another young player, who is coming back from ADO. He has quick hands and can fill Jochem's position. Daniël pitched briefly last year with ADO and Erik Jan will play in his first big league season. They look good. I think it's a good development that young players, who fell between the first and second team with one club, have the opportunity to play regularly at another club and then come back.
A few players didn't do well offensively last season, also because of injuries. This season, we want to do good with the bat and hope that we remain injury-free.
We've always been good defensively, our run-production has been our cornerstone, our fundament, but we want to play a running game even more. We have a solid team, especially when we do the fundamentals in defense and pitching properly. We have a balanced team with different players who can play several positions.
What I've learned from Trevor Rooper, our new Head Coach, is that he is an absolute hit-and-run coach, someone for the running game and that's something our team can do, we have speed. Trevor can give the team something extra's. We've talked to another coach earlier, but I think that Trevor is used to work with young players, he can learn them a lot.
I think that our unexperienceness of playing the Play-Offs was our weakness the last few seasons. But now, we have enough players who can do that. We have players who all wants to play and win and that's a good goal. Last season, we were winning Game Five of the Play-offs, but that rained out. Because of several rulings, we had to wait a few weeks before we could play that game and lost. When we could have played the next day, we probably would have won and then we would have had a complete different Holland Series''.

As Trevor Rooper will be the new Head Coach this season, the roles of the other coaches have yet to be decided. Last season, Peter Barentsen served as both 1B and 3B Coach, as then-Head Coach Robert Klaver also coached on the bases himself sometimes, but mainly coached from the dug-out. Theo Geerman joined the club halfway the season and was the Pitching Coach.
Barentsen: ,,We know that Trevor also has qualities of managing a pitching staff. He is very enthousiastic. When he arrives in March, we will discuss what the roles will be. Trevor will be used for the entire organization, including youth teams''.

Who will reach the Play-Offs?
Barentsen: ,,There a several candidates. Without disqualifying Pirates, Sparta/Feyenoord and Almere, I think they will not reach the Play-Offs.
I know what we have, so Pioniers will be one of the Play-Off teams. Kinheim has good coaching and some good new players, so they will be there also. HCAW remained the same and is the third team.
ADO got a stronger team, but we have to see how they will do. The same with Neptunus, which will be a little weaker, but remains a good team.
We have a lot of condifence in our team and in the end, we will see which four teams will be in the Play-Offs''.

Konica Minolta Pioniers opens the season on the road against Sparta/Feyenoord in Rotterdam on Saturday, April 15.
Pioniers' first home game will be on Sunday, April 16 when Sparta/Feyenoord comes to Hoofddorp.

Pioniers-related transfer stories
Four national team-players join Kinheim. (October 24)
Pioniers talks to American coach. (October 31)
American Head Coach for Pioniers. (January 12)

COMING UP IN PART FOUR: SPARTA/FEYENOORD

other episodes:
Part One: DOOR Neptunus (January 16)
Part Two: Mr. Cocker HCAW (January 21)
Part Four: Sparta/Feyenoord (March 2)
Part Five: ADO (March 11)
Part Six: Corendon Kinheim (March 19)
Part Seven: Amsterdam Pirates (March 27)
Part Eight: Instant Holland Almere '90 (April 11)

Mail your suggestions and questions to stoov@wxs.nl