[2nd Report] Naoyuki Shimizu - New Zealand Baseball Versus the World “Oceania Preliminary Round”
2/6/2015
2015. The New Zealand representatives have begun their baseball activity with the preliminary round of the U18 World Cup for the Oceania region, called the “Oceania Baseball Championship.” The tournament schedule: 4 days starting January 23rd; the location: Auckland, New Zealand. The fields are located a 20-minute car ride west of the city center. These fields were constructed last year specifically in preparation for this tournament.
There are many places for sports in Auckland. Kids and adults can be found playing many sports such as rugby or cricket, or soccer as is popular now, at any of the parks or fields found throughout the city. However, it is difficult to find a location just for baseball in Auckland. More accurately, there is no such baseball field. The mounds used for baseball in summer are often flattened during the winter months for the rugby season. Despite the situation, little league New Zealand baseball players enjoy playing during the summer season. (This time of year is summer for the Southern Hemisphere.)
Let’s get back to the tournament. The newly established baseball fields in Auckland were in the best of conditions. The give of the dirt and the length of grass was superb even for the standards seen in Auckland fields so far.
Three teams, Australia, Guam and New Zealand, competed. Only one of those teams would get to move on to the championships held in Japan this summer. Nine games over four days. New Zealand would face Australia three times and Guam three times for a total of six games. My role in this tournament was not to provide instruction during the games, but rather to analyze from outside and discover the issues for future national teams, and then start work on a plan to strengthen those teams.
Despite winning all outings against Guam, New Zealand went winless against Australia. As a result, Australia ended up going to the finals. In the three games against Australia, New Zealand gave up 31 runs. Issues on defense, especially with pitching, came into sharp relief. Even looking ahead the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, one big barrier for New Zealand will be Australia.
However, the fact remains that the New Zealand team, which had struggled on even terms with Guam up until recently, has grown into a team that now stays in command of games against Guam. Issues discovered in these games and the bitterness of losing… we sure hope the vigorous young players mature into the backbone of a top team in the near future.
著者プロフィール
- 清水直行（しみず なおゆき）
- 1975年11月24日生まれ 京都府出身。日大、東芝府中を経て、99年にドラフト2位でロッテに入団。2002年から5年連続で規定投球回、2桁勝利を継続し、エースとして活躍。05年は31年ぶりの日本一にも貢献した。04年のアテネ五輪、06年の第1回ワールド・ベースボール・クラシック（ＷＢＣ）に日本代表として出場。10年から横浜（現:横浜DeNA）。プロ12年間で通算105勝、防御率4.16。現役引退後は、ニュージーランド野球連盟ゼネラルマネジャー補佐、同国の代表統括コーチを務める。
