By British Baseball Federation
Great Britain Baseball (GB) today announced the 20-man roster for the U18 team that will compete in the 2018 CEB Junior European Championship in Italy. GB will begin the tournament in Pool A and will face the Czech Republic, France, Ukraine and defending champions, the Netherlands.
GB is seeking to improve upon its 8th place finish in 2016 – the best ever by a U18 Great Britain team at the tournament. Prior to 2016 GB had finished 9th at the 2015 competition, and won the silver medal at the 2014 Junior European Qualifier.
The selection process began last month with tryouts in Hemel Hempstead. Despite being aimed at UK-based players, candidates flew in from Norway and the USA for a chance to impress the selectors. Following the drafting of a provisional roster, talent was further evaluated in the UK – and across the world – to find the best 20 players eligible to play for Great Britain.
“I believe that this is a team that the British baseball community can get excited about,” said Head Coach Will Lintern. “We have a broad depth of experience and our energy and attitude is second to none. We have spent a lot of time over the winter working on the Inspire and Develop strands of our mission, but now it is time for the third pillar, Perform, to come to fruition.”
The squad features players from the South Coast to the Lake District, as well as a contingent of seven based overseas – two of whom, Matteo Sollecito and Myles Janson, who left the UK to attend high school in the US to develop their skills. Also selected was Oscar Stodart, who regularly travels to the UK from his home in the Netherlands to attend National Team practices and events.
“History tells us that if we play the game, and not the opponent; focus on having quality at-bats and winning the free base war; and ultimately, believe in and live by our core values of attitude, integrity, confidence and hustle, we will prevail.”
“The British Baseball Federation and GB Baseball receives no public funding. The British Baseball Federation (BBF) has organised a fund raising drive to help offset the costs of sending not only the U18s, but the U12s, U15s and U23s to play in Europe. We would appreciate your support by donating to a great cause of sending our top athletes in our sport to compete against Europe’s best.” said a spokesperson for the British Baseball Federation.
Leading the team for the 7th time is head coach Will Lintern. Also returning is the U18 Operations Manager, Phil Edmonds. Further staff announcements will be made closer to the tournament.
The tournament will take place between July 9th and 15th in Grosseto, Italy.
| William Baranello | ACS Cobham / Richmond Knights | ||
| Conor Baxter | London Sports / Richmond Knights | ||
| Coban Brooks | Lake Travis HS / TRPD Baseball Texas, USA | ||
| Ian Dellapina | ACS Cobham / London Sports | ||
| Chris Gregory | Southampton Mustangs | ||
| Myles Janson | John Carroll HS Maryland, USA / Hull Scorpions | ||
| Ben Jones | London Mets | ||
| Nathan Kettle | London Mets | ||
| Lance Kreisberg | Tigard HS Oregon, USA | ||
| Graydon Koyanagi | London Mets | ||
| Tosh Lawson | London Mets | ||
| Conor McGrath | Montclair HS / NJ Nationals New Jersey, USA | ||
| Aidan Pearce | London Mets | ||
| Joseph Perez | London Sports / Richmond Knights | ||
| Matteo Sollecito | St Peter’s Prep / 9ers Baseball | ||
| Oscar Stodart | Hoofddorp Pioniers, Netherlands | ||
| Joe Rawcliffe | Cartmel Valley Lions | ||
| Jack Seppings | Landmark Christian HS / Atlanta Warriors Georgia, USA | ||
| Jonathan Tolan | London Sports / Richmond Knights | ||
| Jamie Warren | TASIS England / Herts Falcons |