With the transaction period behind us, it is time to look at the various clubs in the Belgian Division 1 and the transactions they made. Let’s start this series with the 2021 champions: Hoboken Pioneers.
For Hoboken Pioneers it remained rather quiet on the transaction front. Manager T.J. Antonacci saw two players leave the club and managed to acquire a new one.
The two players that left Pioneers are Zeb Cappaert and Jamie Peeters. The newly acquired player is Lino Ballardini.
Zeb Cappaert will look for greener pastures in the Netherlands as he will join Oosterhout Twins. The pitcher/outfielder was on the roster of the flagship team but didn’t get much playing time. According to manager Antonacci, Zeb is a young and talented player. The youngster (born in 2003) was part of the Belgian U23 team during the 2021 European Championship. He didn’t get much playing time as an outfielder. He got one at-bat. As a pitcher, he threw 5 innings against Ukraine in which he allowed three runs on seven hits and posted a 4.20 ERA.
Also, Jamie Peeters is a young and talented player. Unlike Zeb Cappaert, Jamie was on the roster of the flagship team. The young catcher didn’t impress with his bat yet, but behind the dish, he did not commit any errors. Jamie will join the Brasschaat Braves.
The player that was acquired by Hoboken Pioneers comes from the club Jamie Peeters is heading to. Lino Ballardini was the starting second baseman for the flagship team of the Braves in the past years. Lino knows to handle the bat very well as he posted a batting average of .319 during the regular season. In 47 at-bats, he struck out only 5 times and drove in 5 runs. During the second half of the season, in the Baseball Gold Division, he put up similar numbers: .300, 40 at-bats, and 4 strikeouts, and 5 RBI. During the Belgian Series, he put up even better numbers: .429, 7 at-bats, and just 1 strikeout but no RBI.
Likely, the club will sign 1 or 2 foreign pitchers for one of the European baseball tournaments.
I’d like to thank T.J. Antonacci for the information he provided.
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