Niels van Weert joins L&D Amsterdam Pirates

Through its website, L&D Amsterdam Pirates announced today it has signed Niels van Weert as reinforcement. Van Weert joins the club from the Dutch capital to fill the void that Gilmer Lampe left as he decided to join Fortitudo Bologna.

Niels used to play for Kinheim from Haarlem, with which he won the 2012 Holland Series in which he batted a fantastic .412. After the 2016 season as all players of the flagship team left the club, Van Weert opted to play for Quick Amersfoort, then playing in the overgangsklasse, in an attempt to help the club to make the last step to the hoofdklasse. Eventually, he and the club earned the promotion to the hoofdklasse during the 2017 promotion/ relegation games. Together with Storks from the Hague, Quick Amersfoort will be the new team in the highest Dutch baseball league.

During the promotion/ relegation games, Van Weert hit a formidable .475.

Perhaps you wonder how Pirates was able to sign another Dutch player that long after the transition period expired. Well, Van Weert wanted to fill the void that Gilmer Lampe left. Cityside Apartments Quick Amersfoort was kind enough to let their second baseman go after a good talk.

It remains to be seen where Niels van Weert will play. Since his natural position is second base, he may move to that position and one of the other infielders will move to the outfield. But there is also a possibility that Van Weert will move to the outfield himself. That is up to manager Charles Urbanus. The spokesperson of L&D Amsterdam Pirates made clear that Van Weert comes to Amsterdam to compensate the loss of Gilmer Lampe’s bat.

Van Weert debuted in the hoofdklasse in 2010 with Kinheim after spending several seasons at Almere 90. In seven seasons with Kinheim, Niels batted .271 with the highest average in 2015, when he hit .319.