Squad
2010 European Championships Roster
The following players and staff will represent Great Britain at the 2010 European Championships:
| Pitchers Henry Collins Brendan Cunliffe Brian Essery Ted Gieschen Michael Johnson Jeff Mottl Mike Renery Alex Smith Stephen Spragg |
Catchers Mitch Evans(capt.) Will Lintern |
Infielders Chris Falls Aaron Hornostaj Richard Klijn Evan Romanchuk Sam Whitehead Sam Wiley |
Outfielders George Lintern Ethan Mack Brad Marcelino Matt McGraw Michael Trask Ryan Trask |
| Staff Pat Doyle (Head Coach) Jason Greenberg (General Manager) Sam Dempster(Coach) Mitch Evans (Player-Coach) Alan Dean (Trainer) |
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TEAM GB
Position: Pitcher (RH)
Age: 29
Height: 5’6″
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Henry was born in Guildford, England. He has played baseball in the UK his entire life, joining the Great Britain programme from an early age. With the GB Juniors, Henry competed in tournaments in Austria, Germany and Hull, England. Since joining the Senior Team, Henry toured in Germany and Prague, which was his last appearance for Team GB. Henry is a carpenter and a partner in his construction firm. He plays for the Bracknell Baseball Club, and worked the mound for the win in last year’s BBF National Baseball Championships, helping his club to their first ever NBL title.
Position: Pitcher (LH)
Age: 25
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 185 lbs
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Brendan is currently a member of the Bracknell Baseball Club programme and a 2009 National Baseball League champion in the UK. He played baseball for four years at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. Brendan hails from Southampton, Ontario, Canada and is currently living and working in London with BaseballSoftballUK. He is recently married to his lovely wife Caroline.
Position: Pitcher (RH)
Age: 35
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 215 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Brian is from St Catharines, Ontario, Canada, where he currently plays for the St Catharines Metros Baseball Club. He played college baseball in the United States, followed by three years of professional baseball in the US. In 2008, Brian and his family spent the summer in London, where Brian was player/coach for the London Mets, leading them to a 21-1 regular season and the British National Championship title. Brian is a police officer, working for the Niagara Regional Police out of Niagara Falls, and is married to Stacey, with three children, Julia, Bryson and Ashley.
(player/coach)
Position: Catcher
Age: 29
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 220 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Mitch represented Australia in 1996 in the Under-17 World Championships in Taiwan where they won bronze and in 1997 was selected to the Under-19 Australian team. Mitch was signed to a professional contract with the New York Yankees in 1998 after graduating from high school. He played in the organisation for three years, two in Rookie Ball and one year in Single-A with the Staten Island Yankees. On returning home to Australia he was selected in the mens Claxton Shield team from 1999 – 2001. In 2005, Mitch moved to London and began playing with the London Warriors and working out with the GB team. In 2006 he signed a contract to play in Germany for the Saarloius Hornets and also represented GB in the German tour that summer. In 2007 he signed with the Calgary Vipers in the Northern League in Canada and at the end of the season he joined the GB team in Barcelona to win a silver medal. Recently he has been both a player and coach of the Windsor Royals in Brisbane, Australia and during the 2009/10 season managed the mens A division team to the grand final. He is currently one of the coaches for the Queensland Baseball Academy and Head Coach for the Windsor Royals for the 2010/11 season.
Position: Infield
Age: 27
Height: 5’10″
Weight: 180 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Chris hales from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He attended Mississippi Valley State University, an NCAA Division One school, where he played second base all four years of his college career. After college Chris came to Europe to play for Les Templiers des Senart, and elite team within the French Baseball Federation. In 2007 Chris signed with the Tuebingen Hawks of the German Bundesliga. In 2008, he played with the Mannheim Tornados, helping them to the German Bundesliga Finale only to fall to the Legionaere from Regensburg. In 2009 Chris played for the Mannheim Tornados of the German Bundesliga where he helped his team back to the championship for the second consecutive season. In the off-season Chris played winter ball in Adelaide Australia for the Eagles of West Torrens, and he recently signed with the Palfinger Reggio Emilia in the Italian Serie A2. Chris spent eight years as a competitive alpine ski racer.
Position: Pitcher (LH)
Age: 18
Height: 5’10″
Weight: 170 lbs
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Ted lives in Munich, Germany where he will finish his studies in the spring of 2011. When he won the national Hit, Pitch and Run contest at age eleven, Ted became hooked on baseball and has found good success playing in the UK and Europe. As a member of various Bavarian, German and European select teams, he has had the opportunity to play baseball all over the world, from the Dominican Republic to Japan. Since 2007, Ted has been a starting pitching for the Munich Haar Disciples in the 1st German Bundesliga.
Position: Infield
Age: 27
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Aaron was born in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. He attended Junior College at Connors State and is currently attending Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada where he studies business and languages via distant education. In 2001, Aaron was drafted in to the San Francisco Giants organisation. He played seven seasons of professional baseball between 2002 and 2008. In 390 games – including a stretch in AA, AAA and the Arizona League – he batted .252 with a .324 OBP, scoring 170 runs and driving in 156 RBI. During the 2010 season Aaron is playing with the Rouen Huskies in France.
Position: Pitcher (RH), Infield
Age: 22
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 200 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Michael was born in Benoni, South Africa. He started playing T-ball at age 9 in South Africa for Benoni Northerns, Red Socks. He played baseball in Africa until his family moved to England when he was 12-years old. He spent five years playing in the UK where he represented GB at Cadet, Colt, Junior and Senior level while playing for Burgess Hill and Bracknell Baseball Club. In 2005, he was an exchange student at North Monterey County High School, where he played for the Condors and was named the 2005 MVP. In 2006, he pitched the first perfect game in the history of the Condors, was co-MVP, earned co-most Valuable Player for “All Monterey Bay League”, and was named to the “All Monterey County Baseball Team” by both the Salinas Californian and the Monterey County Herald. In 2007 and 2008 he played for San Joaquin College in Stockton, California. He now attends California State University Stanislaus, where he plays third base and pitches.
Position: Infield, Outfield
Age: 20
Height: 5’11″
Weight: 140 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Richard Klijn is from South Cumbria in the Lake District in England. He started playing baseball for Cartmel Valley Baseball Club at the age of seven and later represented Manchester Eagles at senior level. He has been actively involved with the Great Britain Baseball programme since the age of 10, when he represented GB at the World Children’s Baseball Federation in Canada. Richard moved to Germany in 2007 to play for Regensburg Legioneare. His other interests include football, in which he represented England in the under-17s LD team.
Position: Utility
Age: 23
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 185 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
George was born in South Africa and lived in the United States as a child, where he first took up T-ball. After moving to the United Kingdom, George joined the GB Academy at age 13 and eventually joined the GB Senior Team to compete with them in Prague in 2005, where he knocked in a key ninth-inning insurance run versus Sweden. In 2007 in a GB series game in London against Johns Hopkins University, George had a run-scoring double (Britain’s only extra-base hit). He has regularly played baseball abroad, including in Australia for a season.
Position: Catcher
Age: 26
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 190 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Will currently lives in Birmingham, England, where he works as Regional Coach for the national development agency BaseballSoftballUK. He grew up in Speldhurst, Kent, playing for the Tonbridge Bobcats before making the transition to adult baseball with both Tonbridge and then the Brighton Buccaneers. Will then moved to the US where he attended Menlo College (2003-07) in Atherton, CA. Will has since played for the London Mets and also the Gauting Indians, Germany (2009). In addition to playing, Will is also the Head Coach of the Great Britain Cadet National Team (Under-16), assists on the Junior National Team (Under-18) and is the Head Coach of the British Baseball Academy. Will and his partner Andrea had their first child, daugher Elsey, in January 2010.
Position: Outfield, Pitcher (RH)
Age: 18
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 175 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Ethan will attend the University of California Riverside in the fall of 2010, where he plans to study Law and Society and play baseball for Head Coach Doug Smith and Pitching Coach Nathan Choate. He has played ball in California since childhood. He was a member of the La Sierra Little League All Star Team in 2004 and the Corona Pony All Star Team in 2005. From 2005 to 2009 he joined the So Cal Titans Travel Ball Team and was a member of the USSSA California State Champions in 2006. At Arlington High School he garnered the honour of Freshman Rookie of the Year and was a 3-year Varsity Starter from 2008 – 2010. He was All League-Inland Valley Outfielder in 2009 with a .322 AVG, 23 RBI, 6 doubles, 1 triple and 4 HR. The next year he was All League-Inland Valley Pitcher with a 5-1 record, 2.00 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched. Ethan also plays for the Great Britain Junior Baseball Team, and will appear with Coach Paul Vernon’s squad in the upcoming European Junior Qualifiers in Austria.
Position: Outfield
Age: 28
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 170 lbs
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Brad Marcelino was born in Essex, England, and went to school in Enfield, Middlesex, until he was 11 years old. He played high school and college ball in California and then professionally after college. His father, Oscar Marcelino, played for the Enfield Spartans during his time in England and was also a member of the GB squad. Brad started playing with the GB programme in Italy in 1999. Great Britain’s silver medal finish in Barcelona in 2007 was his fifth European Championships. At age eight he appeared on Channel 4 television with Ernie Banks, Bobby Bonds and other major league baseball alumni when they visited The Oval. During the off-season Brad coaches at La Costa Canyon High School and also has his own baseball equipment company, Lace Baseball USA, based in San Diego. Brad was on the Team GB roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Position: Outfield
Age: 24
Height: 5’10″
Weight: 183 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Matt was raised in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He began playing baseball at the age of four, and credits the early development of his career to his neighbours, Ace and Biz, and parents, Karin and Michael. After playing with the Burlington Bulls organisation throughout secondary school, he attended and played for the University of Maine. There he helped the Black Bears capture two America East championships. Matt was fortunate enough to spend his junior summer playing in the Alaskan Baseball League. In 2009, Matt helped Door Neptunus win the Dutch Major League championship. For the 2010 season, he played with the Hamilton Thunderbirds of the Intercounty Baseball League. Matt was part of Team GB during the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Position: Pitcher (RH)
Age: 21
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 210 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Jeff was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He grew up playing for the Zurich Barracudas in the Swiss Baseball League. Jeff joined the Great Britain programme in 2005, when he played with the GB Juniors at the European Championships in Pamplona, Spain. He played two seasons of baseball for Douglas College in the NWAACC, where he was named First Team All-Star in 2010. Jeff has recently accepted a scholarship to the University of British Columbia.
Position: Pitcher (RH)
Age: 28
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 185 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Mike was born and raised in San Francisco, California, USA, and currently lives in Hermosa Beach, California. He was a starting varsity player for four years in high school and played for four years at Pomona College. He spent a further four years playing professional baseball in America, and is currently playing for the St George Roadrunners in the Golden Baseball League. Mike was scouted by team mate Alex Smith and invited to play for GB in 2002. He is single, and his hobbies include working out, photography, eating sushi and painting.
Position: Infield
Age: 24
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 225 lbs
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Evan Romanchuk was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He was a member of the Vancouver Mounties, the 2003 U-18 Canadian Champions. He then attended and played at Santa Rosa Junior College and was a member of the 2005 California Junior College State Champions. He later transferred to Arkansas Tech University for one year and hit .333. He again transferred to San Francisco State University, where he led the Gators in hitting in 2007 and graduated in 2008 with a BA in psychology. Evan was then invited to attend spring training with the Victoria Seals of the Golden League. He moved on to play for the South Louisiana Pipe Liners and Coastal King Fish of the Continental Baseball League. Evan is British by way of his mother Jill, his biggest fan. Evan was with Team GB at the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Age: 29
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 215 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Alex Smith won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles in 2002 and 2003 and holds the Pomona-Pitzer Baseball single-season ERA record, with a 1.00 in 2002. He has played professionally in Sweden, Perth, Australia, and for Ado den Haag in the Dutch Hoofdklasse, where he finished the 2005 season with a 2.42 ERA. In the summer of 2006 he pitched for the Sussex Skyhawks of the Canadian-American Baseball League and was one of GB’s key pitchers at the European Championships in 2007. Alex now works for Suntrek Industries, a solar power company, and lives in Hermosa Beach, California. As a single man, he enjoys his work tremendously and his life at the beach. Alex was on the Team GB roster during the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Position: Pitcher (RH)
Age: 27
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 185 lbs
Bats: Right/Left
Throws: Right
Stephen is from Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. He now lives in Augusta, Georgia, USA, where he is currently enrolled at Liberty University studying Psychology with a specialisation in Christian Counselling. Stephen played three years of independent baseball for the Washington Wild Things (2005 and 2006, Frontier League), and for the Chillicothe Paints (2008, Frontier League). He also went to spring training with the San Diego Padres (2006), and played for Mr Cocker HCAW in 2007 and the Euro Stars in 2009, both in the Netherlands. He appeared with Team GB in the 2007 European Championships and the 2009 Baseball World Cup. In the spring of 2010, he was the Head Coach of a local junior varsity high school team. “God has blessed me with a wonderful family, my wife Charity, daughter Hannah, son Luke and another on the way.”
Position: Outfield
Age: 20
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 185 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Michael Trask is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa. He started playing baseball there before moving to England in 1999. From 2001 Michael has been representing GB at different age groups in tournaments around the world. In 2009 Michael attended Junior College in Nebraska and played for Southeast Community College. He currently plays for the 2009 British Champions, Bracknell Blazers.
Position: Outfield
Age: 25
Height: 5’11″
Weight: 180 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Ryan Trask is originally from Johannesburg, South Africa. He grew up playing baseball there before moving to England in 1999. In 2000 he was invited to join the GB junior baseball programme and played in the 2000 and 2001 Colt World Series, Lafayette, Indiana, and in the 2002 European Junior Qualifiers. He has also been actively involved with the senior team since 2002. He currently plays for the 2009 British Champions, Bracknell Blazers, and has been assisting as a coach at the British Baseball Academy since 2007. Ryan was on the Team GB roster for the 2009 Baseball World Cup.
Position: Infield, Pitcher (RH)
Age: 27
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 170 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Sam grew up in San Diego, CA. He graduated from Pomona-Pitzer College with a degree in Mathematical Economics where he was a 3-year starter. Sam played one year in London for the Croydon Pirates when they won the English Rawlings League, and he’s played the last five years in Germany for the Tübingen Hawks (2 years) and Heidenheim Heidekoepfe (3 years) where he won the 2009 Bundesliga. Sam has been a part of the Great Britain National Team since 2005. He is currently working to become an Air Traffic Controller.
Position: Infield
Age: 23
Height: 6’1″
Weight: 210 lbs
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Sam was born in London and moved to Los Angeles when he was three. He grew up in North Hollywood, where he was taught to play baseball by his father. He was an All-City and All-CIF player at Loyola High School of Los Angeles. He went to Tulane University, New Orleans, where he played for two years before transferring to University of San Francisco for a year. From there he transferred to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, an NAIA school, where he has played for the past year. He was the All-Conference catcher at Westmont and led both his team and the league in hitting before transferring to Cal State L.A. In May 2010 he was one of 45 players named to the 2010 Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America Baseball Team, and led his college team in nearly every offensive category. Sam joined Team GB in the 2009 Baseball World Cup. He is the eldest of five kids.
TEAM GB STAFF
Head Coach
Pat Doyle is a retired Delta College baseball coach and professor, where he taught and coached for 31 years. He is currently the Global Coordinator for International coaching and game development for Major League Baseball. Current and former MLB players under Pat’s direction include Eddie Guardado, Jason Bartlett, Ken Huckaby, John Foster and Robert Flippo, who all played at Delta College during his coaching career. He coached the Anchorage Alaska Glacier Pilots to a NBC National championship in 1991, and was named national coach of the year. From 1993 – 1994, Pat served as Assistant Coach for the USA National Team. He is a member of the Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame, California Community Baseball Hall of Fame, Lodi Athletic Hall of Fame and will be inducted into the Anchorage Alaska Glacier Pilot Hall of Fame in the summer of 2010. He is a trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance and an active clinician and presenter both locally and internationally. He has been married to Harriet Doyle for 35 years and has three kids living and working in California and Arizona states.
General Manager
Jason Greenberg is a full-time employee in the BaseballSoftballUK Operations Department. He is a US/UK dual national who grew up playing baseball near Seattle, attended Williams College in Massachusetts and holds a Masters degree from Kings College London and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He has worked in special events management with the United Spirit Association in southern California and in the legal and government relations department of Gap, Inc. in San Francisco. Since 2005, Jason has been a member of Herts Baseball Club in Hemel Hempstead, serving as Adult Programme Director and Manager of the Herts Falcons since 2008. Jason lives in London with his wife Fabienne and 7-month old son, Sebastien.
Coach
Sam Dempster is one of the head coaches of the MLB Envoy Coaching Program. He has coached in Germany, England, Holland, Spain, Kenya, and South Korea among other countries, as an Envoy coach. In Canada, Sam Dempster has been the only coach that the Durham College men’s baseball programme has ever known. For the last 18 seasons as Head Coach of the Lords, Dempster has been instrumental in guiding the programme to its current level of excellence. The team has only had one losing season in those 18 years, and since 1995, the team has qualified for the Ontario Championship finals in all but one year, while Dempster has gone on to compile an impressive overall record of 257-177 and a conference record of 169-108. The Lords have won the CIBA Ontario Conference championship five times, including four straight wins from 2005 to 2008. Durham’s first conference championship came in 1999. This year Sam was inducted into the Whitby Sport Hall of Fame. In January of 2007, Sam Dempster was awarded the Julio Puente Envoy International Coach Award by Major League Baseball at the American Baseball Coaches Association Conference in Orlando, Florida. The prestigious award is presented by MLB for unselfish, dedicated and passionate work in growing the game of baseball. In addition to his lead role at Durham and his summer work in the UK, Coach Dempster is also an associate Canadian scout for Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers and was previously a scout for the New York Yankees.
Trainer
Alan Dean is from Horsham, England, where he works fulltime with elite Junior Golfers as a Sports Science Lecturer/Strength & Conditioning Coach/Physio at The Golf College, Sussex. Dean has been working with the GB Baseball Age Squads and GB Fast-Pitch Softball Squads since 2006. Alan was Trainer/Strength and Conditioning Coach to the 2007 EC Silver Medal GB Baseball Team, 2009 World Cup Team and the 2009 EC Silver Medal GB FP Womens Softball Team, both teams qualifying for respective World Championships. Dean is Trainer to the Womens’ Fastpitch team at the World Championships in Venezuela in June 2010. He is married to Hazel, and they have two sons, Jacob (12), who plays baseball and football and Louis (4) who’s developing his baseball skills at any given opportunity. Alan continues to train and occassionally competes in road-races and social golf when time allows.
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