(Story by Marco Stoovelaar; Photos by Henk Seppen)
  Britt Vonk signs with Scrap Yard Dawgs in NPF
Nederlands
...Britt Vonk will play in National Pro Fastpitch in 2016...
...On the photo, she plays for the Netherlands Team...
...during the 2014 World Championship in Haarlem (Netherlands)...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
 CONROE, Texas (USA) -
Netherlands National Softball Team-player Britt Vonk will make her debut in the professional National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) this year.
Earlier this month, the short stop was signed by the Scrap Yard Dawgs.
With that, she becomes the third Dutch softball-player to play professonally in the American softball-league.
Last year, 3B Virginie Anneveld and pitcher Dagmar Bloeming were the first.
They then played for Pennsylvania Rebellion, but both will not return in the NPF this year.
The Scrap Yard Dawgs were added to the NPF in November last year when an expansion of the league to six teams was announced.
The team will play its home games at Scrap Yard Dawgs Stadium at Scrap Yard Sports Complex in the city of Conroe, which is located in Montgomery County and falls within the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area.
Conroe is located 40 miles (64 km) north of Houston.
The other five teams in the league are Akron Racers, Chicago Bandits, Dallas Charge, Pennsylvania Rebellion and USSSA Florida Pride.
Last year, former Netherlands Softball Team Head Coach Craig Montvidas was the Head Coach of Penssylvania.
He will return in that role this year and then will be assisted by Tracy Bunge, who also has been associated with the Netherlands Softball Team in the last years.
In the Spring of 2015, Britt Vonk concluded a 4-year career with the Golden Bears, the softball-team of the University of California at Berkeley, with whom she played in the College World Series.
In her final season, she batted .421 to lead the team.
In her four seasons in Berkeley, she batted .369, collected 235 basehits, batted in 71 runs and stole 58 bases.
Britt Vonk was selected for several All Star Teams during her career in Berkeley.
In a reaction of the website of the club, Britt Vonk is saying: ,,I am very honored and grateful to play for the Scrap Yard Dawgs this upcoming season and very excited to have the opportunity to play on the highest level.
I'm thrilled to continue playing the game of softball after my college career with the Cal Bears and I can't wait to share the field with this new group of players and coaches.
Go Dawgs!''
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...Sarah Nevins, Amanda Chidester and Jackie Traina all participated with the...
...American National Team during the 2014 World Championship in Haarlem (Netherlands)...
(© Photos: Henk Seppen) |
Since November, the Scrap Yard Dawgs are filling their roster for the upcoming season.
Britt Vonk is the first foreign player to be signed by the Dawgs.
In January, the club signed current three players of the USA National Team, being righthanded pitcher Jackie Traina, 3B/1B Amanda Chidester and lefthanded pitcher Sarah Nevins.
Traina was the Most Valuable Player of the College World Series in 2012.
She and Chidester won the Silver Medals during the World Championships in 2012 and 2014.
Nevins also played for the Silver Team in 2014.
Britt Vonk made her debut in the Dutch big league at age 14 in 2005, playing for Tex Town Tigers.
With that club from her home town of Enschede, she won the Dutch Championship-title in 2008 and 2009.
After having played for Tex Town Tigers in seven years, she played for Alcmaria Victrix in 2012 and 2013 between her college-seasons.
This team won the Dutch title in 2012, but when that happened she already had returned to California.
In between two other college-seasons, Britt Vonk played for Terrasvogels in 2014.
She also was on the Terrasvogels-roster last year, but then played for La Loggia in Italy.
That was followed by a winter-season in Australia, where she won the National Championship-title in January of this year with Queensland Heat.
During the Australian Championship Tournament, Britt Vonk was the Best Hitter and was selected for the All Tournament Team.
Britt Vonk plays for the Netherlands National Softball Team since 2008.
In that year, she was the youngest athlete in the entire Netherlands Delegation that participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing (China).
With the Orange squad, she won the European Championship-title three consecutive times, when the team remained unbeaten in 2009, 2011 and 2013.
Last year, the team lost the final to Italy and had to settel for the Silver Medal.
In her Netherlands Team-career, she also participated in three World Championships (2010, Venezuela; 2012, Canada; 2014, Netherlands).
During those events, the Netherlands Softball Team climbed from twelfth to sixth place on the world ranking.
(February 14)
Related articles:
 Britt Vonk Best Hitter & All Star Australian Championship. (January 9, 2016)
Britt Vonk wins Australian Softball Title with Queensland. (January 9, 2016)
National Pro Fastpitch expands to six teams. (November 12, 2015)
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