Roster Dutch U23 team unveiled
It took a while but eventually, the KNBSB (Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation) has presented the roster of the U23 team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that will participate in the U23 World Cup, which will start tomorrow.
According to the KNBSB, it is a strong roster that contains seven players that clinched the U23 European title last year in the Czech Republic. These seven players are Kaj Timmermans, Delano Selassa (HCAW), Rowan van Hoek, Rachid Engelhardt, Colin van Laar (Quick Amersfoort), Ruar Verkerk (De Glaskoning Twins) en Maickel Rietel (L&D Amsterdam). Next to these seven players, the following Dutch hoofdklasse players are added: Misja Harcksen (De Glaskoning Twins), Mike Groen, Tommy van de Sanden (DSS), Angelo Wicklert en Oliver van der Wijst Severino (Hoofddorp Pioniers).
Manager Sidney de Jong added Cedeon Langguth (Fire Birds) and infielders Francinel Martina and Swindly Lint (Sta Rosa Indians) from Curaçao. Tijmen Takke, who played for Quick Amersfoort in the past season and currently plays for Phoenix College in the USA and Ruwensley Bonifacio who is playing for the Italian Serie B club Poviglio Baseball A.S.D.
Professional players that are added to the roster are: Paul Brands (West Virginia Black Bears), Wendell Floranus (Québec Capitales), Sherten Apostel (Spokane Indians), Aldrich de Jong (rookie ball Los Angeles Dodgers), Nelmerson Angela (New York Mets organization), GilianWernet (Baltimore Orioles), Stephen Vidal (Kansas City Royals).
The roster looks as follows:
| Position | Name | Uniform # |
| RHP | Misja Harcksen | 14 |
| RHP | Kaj Timmermans | 25 |
| RHP | Mike Groen | 20 |
| RHP | Maickel Rietel | 22 |
| LHP | Colin van Laar | 2 |
| RHP | Angelo Wicklert | 8 |
| RHP | Wendell Floranus | 32 |
| LHP | Nelmerson Angela | 23 |
| RHP | Gillian Wernet | 5 |
| RHP | Cedeon Langguth | 6 |
| RHP | Ruwensly Bonifacio | 31 |
| C | Paul Brands | 1 |
| C | Rowan van Hoek | 7 |
| C | Stephan Vidal | 33 |
| IF | Tijmen Takke | 26 |
| IF | Francinel Martina | 10 |
| IF | Oliver van der Wijst Severino | 12 |
| IF | Ruar Verkerk | 27 |
| IF | Sherten Apostel | 13 |
| IF | Swindly Lint | 4 |
| OF | Rachid Engelhardt | 28 |
| OF | Aldrich de Jongh | 15 |
| IF/OF | Tommy van de Sanden | 17 |
| IF/OF | Delano Selassa | 11 |
Next to this group of players, there is a coaching staff with a lot of familiar names. Of course manager Sidney de Jong but also pitching coach Rob Cordemans and coaches Evert-Jan ’t Hoen, Eugene Kingsale and Hainley Statia.
This will be the first time the Kingdom of the Netherlands will participate in a U23 World Cup. With a good result in this tournament, the participating countries can earn a lot of points for the WBSC world ranking.
The schedule for team Kingdom of the Netherlands is as follows:
The games of the U23 World Cup can be watched through the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/wbsc
https://www.facebook.com/WBSC/