Baseball: Scouts here to check out young baseball talent

Japanese baseball star pitcher Naoyuki Shimizu helps out during training in Auckland in late January. Photo/Supplied

A rare opportunity to impress some of New Zealand's top baseball coaches awaits young Western Bay ball players tomorrow.

Ryan Flynn, CEO of Baseball New Zealand, says they are sending down two of the country's top coaches to assess the natural talent on show here in the 12-and-under age group.

"They have both played for New Zealand at the World Baseball Classic and have played professionally, with one of them having also played for the San Diego Padres," Flynn said.

"They are going to look at the kids and put them through their paces. We don't know what we will see, as this is the first time in Tauranga, but there will be a lot of raw talent and you never know what comes out.

"We are in the Ripken World Series, for kids 12-and-under, for the first time in our sports history.

"This is a big deal. The Ripken World Series is broadcast on CBS Sports and Sky TV, and we have been looking for our best 15 players from around the country, or wherever Kiwis are living, for the last month.

"Bay of Plenty will be our last stop out of six or seven cities or regions around the country, plus looking at Kiwi kids in Australia and America.

"We aim to put the best team on the field we can and on August 21 a delegation will fly to Baltimore to play the best teams in the world."

Tomorrow's trial is just the start of growing the game in the Bay of Plenty.

Matt Collins, from Tauranga Baseball, has put in long, patient hours of groundwork, talking to schools and spreading the word about baseball as another sporting option for kids to get into.

He is excited about the talent that will be unveiled tomorrow and says it does not matter if kids have never played before.

"The coaches will put the guys through skills tests, fitness and speed tests, and relays, just like the All Blacks do," he said. "We are going to the World Series and we are going to win it."

Flynn says baseball is moving quicker in New Zealand than any other sport.

"Baseball was played here in the early 1930s and 40s, and in fits and spurts over the last 25 years, but we have produced seven professional players and dozens of (US) college players. We have a lot of momentum right now.

"Bay of Plenty is a new region for us and every day another club is rising in this country," Collins said.

"Our numbers have gone from 119th in the world baseball rankings to 28th in the last 18 months. Our player base has gone from 800 to 6000 in the last three and a half years and the number of clubs has gone from 4 to 18 in a similar amount of time.

"The fact that a lot of kids have swung a bat and thrown a ball in New Zealand in softball and cricket gives us that advantage. There are so many kids who already know what they are doing the first time they step on a field," he said.To register for tomorrow, or for more information about playing baseball, contact Matt Collins of Tauranga Baseball. Phone 022 063 2064, or email tgabaseballtball@hotmail.com