Bandits Ryota, Kaiki impress

CAIRNS baseball juniors are sweltering under the scorching hot Sydney sun as Queensland’s underage teams battle to advance to the knockout round of the Australian Baseball Championships in Blacktown this week.

The Bandits Under 18s posted a strong 5-4 win against NSW before losing 8-3 to South Australia as temperatures soared beyond 40C for the second game of the tournament.

Team manager Gareth Jones said Cairns Bandits’ third baseman Kaiki Furutani-Burns had pitched impressively as a reliever while Ryota Kusumoto had shown good defensive skills at second base.

“Kaiki pitched both days,” Jones said.

“He was sharper on the first day but it’s tough to back up like that and Ryota has had some good hits for us so far while coming off the bench. It’s possible that both guys may start later in the tournament.

“We’re using Kaiki as a reliever because he’s been really reliable in the lead-up games.

“We had him play that role against a touring Japanese team before the tournament and he did pretty well for us.

“We just need to manage his workload.”

With US scouts keenly watching every innings, Jones said there was plenty of motivation to play well at the championships.

“We’re still in the hunt,” Jones said.

“We’ve just got to win at least three games to get us in the top four to advance to the next stage.

“For Kaiki and Ryota … there are opportunities to go overseas and play college ball in the States. Plenty of teams would want them.

“But as a baseball player you don’t hit your straps until you’re 23.

“Down the track, they could end up with the ‘big boy’ (Brisbane) Bandits (in the Australian Baseball League).”

With temperatures in Sydney not expected to dip until tomorrow, Jones said managing his players’ game time would be crucial.

“The heat has been so tough so we’ve been heading straight to the hotel after games to keep our guys fresh,” he said.

“We had yesterday off so we stayed indoors as much as we could to avoid heat.”

In the Under 16s, the Bandits lost to a dominant NSW 10-0.

Cairns Reds junior Riki Ward (pictured above) was Queensland’s designated hitter, going 2-3 at the plate and striking out once.