Island youth baseballer set to represent Team Netherlands in international play

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Soccer may be considered the unofficial national sport of the Netherlands, but Staten Islander Dex Zimmerman — who holds dual American-Dutch citizenship — is set to don the iconic Oranje for the Dutch U12 national baseball team at the upcoming Youth Baseball European Championship hosted in the Czech Republic.

Zimmerman, who will soon graduate from PS 60 in Graniteville and move onto IS 72 in New Springville, is currently in Europe for a scrimmage against the Belgian national team on Wednesday ahead of the European Championship, which begins on July 2.

Dex’s path to international baseball began about four years ago, when his father, Todd, reached out to a coach from the Dutch program to explore opportunities for Dex to get involved. At the time, he was told Dex was too young — but now, he’s ready to take the international stage.

“Out of nowhere this year, the same coach reached back out and told us they were having a tryout; we went a little less than a month ago, and he made the team,” Zimmerman proudly said of his son’s accomplishment.

Though he primarily serves as a pitcher for the Dutch squad, Zimmerman is also effective at shortstop and center field — a testament to the versatile skillset his father helped cultivate during his years as Dex’s coach, prior to his transition to club coaching with the New York Prospects last year.

“He’s a very humble boy,” Zimmerman said of his son’s attitude despite his talent at such a young age.

“We started playing baseball together when he was around 1-year-old, and I try to keep him humble, but that’s something he’s always had in him,” Zimmerman continued.

Zimmerman has firmly established himself as a young talent locally, but his father acknowledged that competing on the international stage will bring a new set of challenges.

“While he’s playing for the Dutch team, the field is 46 feet from the mound to home and 60 feet between the bases; those are dimensions similar to Little League, but when he’s playing travel ball for the Prospects, the field is definitely bigger,” Zimmerman said of one of the ways Dex may need to readjust his game while playing in Europe.

Dex will also get the chance to meet his Dutch national teammates for the first time, as this marks his debut traveling abroad for competition. While some cultural differences may arise, his father is confident that Dex —fluent in both Dutch and English — will form friendships that last a lifetime.

“They’re not into the small talk like we are,” Todd said with a laugh.

“He’s a little bit of an outsider for now; they’re a little bit different than us, but he’s a social kid,” he continued.

In addition to reconnecting with his Dutch roots, Zimmerman is also contributing to the global growth of baseball in real time — a role his father finds especially meaningful with the World Baseball Classic on the horizon next year.

“We’re really into that competition,” Todd said of their own fondness of how the WBC has promoted the sport globally.

“The Netherlands is ranked seventh in the world currently, since they also include Aruba and Curaçao. Andruw Jones is the head coach of the Netherlands and has recruited guys like Xander Bogaerts and Jurickson Profar to play for him, so it’s a very good breeding ground for baseball,” Zimmerman said of the nation’s senior team.

While Dex still has a long road ahead to reach that level, his involvement in the global baseball community is already laying the foundation for a lifelong love of the game — and a chance to see the world through it.

“He’s really looking forward to it,” Todd said of Dex’s excitement ahead of the tournament.

“It should be a really interesting experience getting to interact with different countries and hear different languages; he’s just really always loved the game of baseball, the fact that they took a chance on somebody from New York was really cool. They want him to stay with it for the long haul,” he continued.

The Dutch U12 team will kick off its 2025 European Championship campaign when it takes on Ukraine in Hluboká, Czech Republic on July 2.