Lars Huijer (born September 22, 1993) is a Dutch

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for

HCAW HCAW (formerly known as Mr. Cocker HCAW ( sponsored name)), in full ''Honkbalclub Allen Weerbaar'', is a Dutch baseball and softball club from Bussum. As of 2021 the club numbers about 400 members, including 270 players, making it one of the lar ...

of the

Honkbal Hoofdklasse The Honkbal Hoofdklasse ( Dutch for ''Major League Baseball'') is the highest level of professional baseball in the Netherlands. It is an eight-team league that plays a 42-game schedule and is overseen by the Royal Netherlands Baseball and Softb ...

. Huijer debuted as a professional with the Hoofdoorp Pioniers in 2010, also pitching for the club in 2011. Huijer signed with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in 2011. He advanced in the Mariners' farm system to the

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

High Desert Mavericks The High Desert Mavericks were an American Minor League Baseball team in Adelanto, California, that played their home games at Heritage Field at Stater Bros. Stadium. They played in the Class A-Advanced California League. The franchise had eigh ...

before he was traded to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

for

Mike Kickham Michael Joseph Kickham (born December 12, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San F ...

in January 2015. He retired from American baseball in March 2015. He then returned to pitch for the Pioniers, staying with that club until 2020. In September 2020, he joined German baseball club

Heidenheim Heideköpfe Heidenheim Heideköpfe is a German baseball and softball club from Heidenheim an der Brenz, Baden-Württemberg. The club was established in 1992 as the baseball arm of Heidenheimer Sportbund (SB), a parent organization that contains several clubs ...

. He returned to the Hoofdklasse in 2021, joining

Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren. Bussum had a ...

. Huijer was named the best pitcher in the Hoofdklasse in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

International career

Huijer has played for the

Netherlands national baseball team The Netherlands national baseball team is the national baseball team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, representing the country in international men's baseball. They are currently ranked as the best team in the WBSC Europe, and the team is als ...

in several international tournaments. He played in the

2016 European Baseball Championship The 2016 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by Confederation of European Baseball. The 2016 European Championship was held from September 9 to 18, 2016 in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. It was organized by t ...

, held at his then-home field in Hoofdoorp, the

2019 European Baseball Championship The 2019 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2019 Championship was held September 7–15, 2019, in Bonn and Solingen, Germany. The tournament contribut ...

, the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament and

Final Qualifying Tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, the

2021 European Baseball Championship The 2021 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2021 Championship was held September 12–19, 2021, in Turin, Italy. Qualification The 12 teams of the 2 ...

, and the 2023 European Baseball Championship. He has also played for the Netherlands at the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

and the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

References

External links

1993 births 2016 European Baseball Championship players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 2019 European Baseball Championship players Arizona League Mariners players Baseball pitchers Clinton LumberKings players Dutch expatriate baseball players in the United States Everett AquaSox players High Desert Mavericks players Konica Minolta Pioniers players Living people Pulaski Mariners players Sportspeople from Haarlem Vaessen Pioniers players 2023 World Baseball Classic players {{baseball-pitcher-stub