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2009
BY LANCE JENKINSON
3/12/2008 3:30:00 PM
WERRIBEE Giants' catcher Oliver Box is undaunted by the sink-or-swim nature of representative baseball.
The 17yearold has been selected in the Victoria team for the under-18 national championships in Perth next month.
The Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder has a long list of state honours.
Taking on the nation's best over the holiday period holds no fears for the rising star.
"It's my fifth time [representing Victoria at an under-age championship], so I'm pretty used to it," he said.
"It is the best kids from around the state and there's a lot of guys turning pro or are already professional, so it's a pretty good competition."
Box understands the importance of the intense fortnight in the west. He can put his name up in lights with a strong showing.
State pride will be on the line, but there could also be scouts sitting in the grandstands scouring the Australian talent pool for the next big fish.
For a youngster whose dream is to play baseball in the United States, this could be his chance to impress. "It [the representative honours] made me want to see how far I can get," he said.
"The ultimate goal is to get to the major leagues, but hopefully at the end of this year I either get picked up professionally or go to college."
Box is a work in progress, but he is rated one of the top catchers in his age group.
He continues to learn from Giants coach Earl Byrne, assistant coach Phil Balzer and VIS baseball coach Nathan Holmes.
The VIS has allowed the Wyndhamvale resident to utilise first-class facilities and one-on-one coaching.
"We train with the VIS during winter and in summer it's mainly doing gym work."
Box - the preferred catcher for the Giants - has to work closely with Byrne to devise a strategy for each inning.
He continues to be an important member of a youth-driven Giants outfit in the Baseball Victoria Vodafone State League division 2.
While the Giants were beaten 5-0 by Fitzroy and tumbled out of the top-four, the fans should not lose sight of the bigger picture.
"We want to hang around in division 2 for a couple of years, but our ultimate goal is to get to the higher stages of division 1. We're still a few years away from that. We've got an average age of 19 or something.
Surely it was not the same Giants batting line-up that served up doughnuts in an opening week 11-0 loss to Upwey-Ferntree Gully?
Giants coach Earl Byrne confirmed the 26 runs came from the same group of players still smarting from the horror of round one.
"It was an amazing day," he said.
"It was one of those games that turned into a hit-fest.
"You wouldn't have wanted to have been a pitcher today, that's for sure."
It was not only the Fitzroy pitchers that struggled for control.
The Giants' rotation of John Curnow, Jon Lowe, Ryan Balzer and Daniel Wilkie had to contend with the howling breeze at their faces.
With the wind at their backs, the out-of-sorts hitters were like children in the chocolate shop as their eyes lit up.
"The first week we weren't hitting the ball all that well," Byrne said.
"We only got two hits for the game. They turned it around."
The return to form was telegraphed by Byrne.
The one-time Australian national leaguer used the mid-week training sessions to iron out the creases in his side's hitting department.
He urged his players to do the 1-per centers and promised the runs would follow, but he never expected it to
have such a profound impact so
early on.
"We put a lot of pressure on with the base running and base stealing," he said.
"The ball was getting hit pretty hard today so it made it hard for the fielders.
"I decided to steal a lot and test out the outfielders with their arms by sending guys home."
While Curnow had no luck on the mound, he had an unforgettable afternoon at bat with two runs and a phenomenal eight runs batted in.
Wilkie went one better with six hits and a rare cycle.
The equivalent of a hat-trick in cricket, a batter achieves a cycle with a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the one match.
"That's a big thing in baseball and to do that is amazing," Byrne said.
Lewis Weldon also cleared the fence for a home run.
Byrne was not about to make any outlandish statements about his team's chances this season, even after the remarkable victory.
"Our main goal is to be competitive and win more games than we won last year [three]," he said.
"If that takes us to the finals that will be great, but we're just taking it a week at a time and teaching them how to play baseball."
The Giants will meet Mulgrave at Gladeswood Park on Sunday at 3.30.
Both clubs hold a 1-1 win-loss record.
The runs did not stop at the senior game - the Giants' reserves had a resounding 21-4 home win over Fitzroy.
However, the thirds and fourths were comprehensively beaten by Fitzroy away at Merri Park in Northcote.
The Werribee Baseball Club is best described as a middle-class citizen.
The Giants are historically a second-fiddle feeder club to the powerful first division clubs, which are chock full of the talent poached from the bottom divisions and country leagues.
Byrne, 36, is the Giants' new coach.
The Wyndhamvale resident has lived the dream, travelling the world as a professional baseballer and being paid to heave the ball full steam into the catcher's glove.
The council worker represented his nation on three occasions and was part of the Chicago Cubs minor league set-up, rising to Triple A, one tier away from the major leagues.
He was also on the roster with the Melbourne Monarchs and the Melbourne Bushrangers in the former Australian Baseball League.
But with his throwing arm shot to pieces after years of toil, his time on the diamond is restricted to fill-in roles for the Giants.
He has a new game now: coaching.
Like his players, he is learning the caper and how to deal with the vast array of personalities and player strengths and weaknesses.
"That's what's exciting for me," he said.
"I've got to know when to steal at the right time and when to put a hit and run on or when to put a bunt on. It's doing those little off-the-cuff type things to keep the opposition teams on the back foot."
Byrne has knowledge in abundance.
He will use it to guide the likes of talented young pitcher Darryl George, one of the Giants' finest up-and-comers.
Byrne must work out how to relay years of knowledge to the raw youngsters who are dipping their toes into the baseball pool for the first time.
Local baseball is not like it is in North America.
There are no scouting reports and training is not repetitive. He must work on simplified, tailored coaching and relay the message in limited time before the young ball club heads into the trenches every Sunday afternoon.
"You do have to simplify things because there are guys there that aren't as talented as, say, when I was playing triple-A in America where everyone knows what they're doing and how to bunt and that sort of stuff," he said.
Byrne wants to instigate a culture shift at the Giants.
For starters, he wants the club to be one of the proud sporting clubs in the Wyndham community and promote what is largely a foreign sport to locals. His No.1 long-term mission is to bridge the gap between his club and the division 1 superpowers, so the player drain is not like it has been in the past.
Ultimately, he wants to find the next Grant Balfour, an Australian who is in the midst of major league play-off action with the Tampa Bay Rays.
"The problem we've had at Werribee is changing the culture," Byrne said.
"They lose their good kids to division 1 clubs.
"That is m
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