Reigning European and Dutch champion Curaçao Neptunus did not make a lot of moves during this year’s transition period. Even though the club saw four players leave, the club added only two players from outside the club to its roster.
According to manager Ronald Jaarsma, it was hard to give three of his younger players enough playing time. As a result, Jiorgeny Casimiri, Ruendrick Piternella moved to HCAW form Bussum and Taylor Clemensia joined Cityside Apartments Quick Amersfoort.
Especially for Piternella, it was hard to get enough playing time since another youngster played well enough to keep him out of the lineup. Darryl Collins, the player that kept Piternella out of the lineup, even played that well, that he signed a contract with the Kansas City Royals.
With Collins moving to the other side of the big pond, manager Jaarsma had to look for a solution to fill the vacant spot in the outfield. The solution was found in catcher Quintin de Cuba. Since de Cuba is also a fine outfielder, Jaarsma moved him to the vacant outfield spot. As a result, a second catcher was needed so Neptunus acquired Julian Goins from HCAW to battle for the spot of starting catcher with Gianison Boekhoudt. According to Jaarsma, Goins is talented enough to become the leader of the infield in the future.
As Jiorgeny Casimiri is studying at the CTO sports college in Amsterdam, he opted for HCAW in nearby Bussum. Last year he attended this school as well but the traveling from and to Rotterdam was hard to keep up.
Another player that joins the ranks of Neptunus is Misja Harcksen. Harcksen used to play for the club from Rotterdam but made a side step to De Glaskoning Twins from Oosterhout last year. Even though Harcksen liked playing in Oosterhout he decided to return to Neptunus because the club offered him a role as third starter. Since he has set a goal to go the the 2020 Olympic Games with team Kingdom of the Netherlands, he thinks playing for Neptunus will improve his chances to reach this goal.
Even though the club added only two “new” faces and lost a few players, the core of the team remains the same. Therefore it is very likely the club will be the main title candidate for the 2019 season.
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