by Karlskoga Bats
Karlskoga Bats have had a busy offseason and are happy to introduce one returning player in Kenta Sato and two newcomers in Kyle Wooden and Spencer Kreisberg.
The Karlskoga Bats have received an early Christmas present from Japan as the best player from last season, Kenta Sato, has announced that he will play another season in Karlskoga. This is a very good news for the Bats as Kenta probalby is the best Karlskoga player ever. Kenta has an unique versatility in his game. He is not only a top class hitter but also a very talented pitcher. When Kenta’s not pitching, he is also a very good defensive player, not just in one position but in all positions on the baseball field, including catcher. As a batter Kenta posted a .396 batting average, with 11 doubles with a league leading 7 homeruns and 36 RBI’s. From the mound Kenta was 5-0 with a leagueleading 1.32 ERA. In the field Kenta had a .964 fielding average playing all 9 defensive positions, but mainly pitcher and middle infield.
The Australian player Scott Mullhearn won’t come back to the Bats and will be replaced with the American Kyle Wooden. Scott batted .247 with 3 homeruns and 21 RBI’s in 2011. The Bats hope that they will get more offensive production from Kyle and if you look at his trackrecord it seems like it is likely to happen.
Kyle played four seasons of college ball at Guilford College where he posted a career .436 average, with 45 doubles, 20 homeruns and 113 RBI’s.The season 2008-2009 Kyle had the insane batting average of .514, which was the highest of all college players in the United States. The season 2010-2011 was almost as good Kyle hit .467, which was third best in the United States. He also was ranked in eleventh place as the toughest player to strike out, and seventeenth place in the doubles / per game. Kyle has twice been selected to college All-American (D3).
Kyle is close to 2 metres tall and will play 1st base for the Bats.
Pitcher Spencer Kreisberg was born and raised in the U.S., but has a British father and has a double citizenship. Spencer played college baseball at San Francisco State University (Division II) and is on the Top Ten in the school’s 112-year history in innings pitched (5th), strikeouts (7th) and games (8th). This summer, Spencer made his debut in the British national team in the European Championship Qualifier in Tel-Aviv. He got the win against Georgia and finished the tournament with 7 innings pitched and only 1 earned run.
Spencer will replace fellow UK National team pitcher Paul Waterman who was 9-2 with an 1.89 ERA for the Bats in 2011. However, the Bats are still hoping that Paul will return as well. For this to become reality the club needs to find a job to Paul who has a degree in economics. Paul is currently working in Canada, but liked it well in Karlskoga and is willing to move if an interesting job pops up.