By British Baseball Federation, www.britishbaseball.org
Great Britain Baseball U18 National Team Head Coach Will Lintern and the British Baseball Federation are pleased to announce the 20-player roster that will represent Great Britain at this summer’s U18 European Championships in Gijon, Spain.
The week-long 10-team tournament will take place from 11-17 July, and Team GB has been drawn in a pool with the reigning European Junior Champions Italy, plus Sweden, France and Germany.
This will be a repeat of the U18 European Championships played last year in the Czech Republic, following a reshuffle of the international competition calendar. Nine teams have returned to the tournament, with Lithuania replacing Croatia, who withdrew from this year’s competition.
Great Britain finished 10th last summer and will be looking for a much-improved performance, with a top-eight finish required to avoid relegation.
The 2016 Great Britain U18 National Team will be one of the most prepared and experienced Junior National Teams that GB has ever sent to a summer competition. The winter has once again included both Academy sessions and the High Performance Academy (now in its third year), as well as preparation through the new National Teams Development Programme (NTDP) implemented by Great Britain Baseball.
ROSTER
The GB U18 players chosen for this summer’s tournament are:
| PLAYER | POSITION | CLUB |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Anunobi | OF / P | London Mets |
| Max Asher | IF / P | Essex Redbacks |
| Gavin Bowden | P / 1B | Richardson High School, TX, USA |
| Conner Brown | C / P | Herts Baseball Club |
| Rich Brereton | IF / P | Darien High School, CT, USA |
| Carlos Casal | UTIL / P | Herts Baseball Club |
| Rory Chandler | OF | Leicester Blue Sox |
| Dan Entwistle | OF | Bolton Robots of Doom |
| Johnny Fretheim | C / IF / P | Vandefrift High School, TX, USA |
| John Hall-Walsh | P / 1B | Blacktown Workers, NSW, Australia |
| Laura Hirai | P | London Mets |
| Andrew Lee | IF / OF | London Mets |
| Harry O’Brien | 1B / P | Brighton Jets |
| Matt Moran | IF / P | Bolton Robots of Doom |
| Fred Mosier | UTIL / P | London Mets |
| Miguel Rodriguez | IF / P | Brighton Jets |
| Matteo Sollecito | P | St Peter’s Prep High School, NJ, USA |
| Ollie Thompson | P / OF | Richmond Dragons |
| Matthew Waddington | P | Liverpool Trojans |
| Owen Williams | UTIL / P | Halton Jaguars |
Liam Carroll, National Team Programme Official, said: “I’d like to offer my congratulations to this group of young men and women, their families and their clubs on the achievement of making our roster for the European Junior Championships. I’ve no doubt that the players and staff will represent GB Baseball and the wider British baseball community with world-class attitude, integrity, confidence and hustle, values at the core of The GB Way.”
STAFF
Returning to manage the U18 National Team for the sixth consecutive year is Head Coach Will Lintern.
Also returning are Operations Manager Phil Edmonds (sixth year), Pitching Coordinator Zach Graefser (second year) and outfield and first base coach Cam McHarg (second year).
Joining the staff for 2016 is Sports Scientist Lloyd Williams, who is currently serving as the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Great Britain Baseball National Teams Development Programme.
Will Lintern said: “This is an excellent group of young players, one the most focused and prepared I have had the privilege of working with. Crucially, through the National Teams Development Programme and The GB Way, we now have a team of players and staff who have bought into a singular way of operating, a singular vision for success and a singular mission.”