Baseball bonanza

While many of us may have enjoyed hitting a ball in the park this summer, one Wetherby Senior pupil was representing the UK at a top youth baseball competition.

Year 8 pupil, Yu, was selected to join the UK’s national team and compete in the Europe-Africa Regional Championship Tournament this summer. In July, he flew out to the Netherlands with his teammates for the competition.

With the UK’s first game against a strong Dutch side, Yu admitted: “I was very nervous because it was our first match but my nerves subsided once the game started. In the first two innings, we were leading 4-0, and I also got on base on a four-ball and scored a run. However, those four runs caught us off guard so, in the third innings, the Netherlands scored two runs.

“After that, we couldn’t go against the flow and lost 9-2 with seven runs scored. However, the game was a long one and lasted for over two hours.”

The UK team then enjoyed a rest day, with practice in the evening, before their next match against Austria. As well as being another strong team (good enough to beat Italy, regular tournament winners), the Austrian side were highly motivated, since a loss would cost them the championship.

Yu explained: “Our team scored 16 runs in the first three innings. We knew that, if we did not score at least six in the next innings, it would be a forced end of game (known as a cold game), so we didn’t give up and attacked desperately.

“I stood up to bat with the feeling that I absolutely had to hit. The score was 16-10 at the end of the fourth attack, so the outcome was still uncertain. Sadly, we lost the game 24-10 but I remember that all our team members left the bench with smiles on their faces. The tournament was a great experience and I know that I did the best I could.”

Yu added: “I would like to thank our UK team coaches and my other team members for such a great opportunity!”