Little League Baseball World Series

Friday, 12th May 2023 at 9:30am

Batter Up!

Riley Bryant (Year 9) will be stepping up to the plate as part of the U13 New Zealand team competing in the 2023 Little League Baseball World Series.

The Little League Baseball World Series is an annual event where top teams from around the world compete for the chance to be named World Series Champion.

As part of the New Zealand contingent selected for the Asia Pacific and Middle East Regional Qualifier Tournament, Riley will be travelling with the team, in June, to Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. Winning teams (of the Qualifier Tournament) then go on to represent Asia Pacific Region in the 2023 Little League World Series, held in the USA, in August.

Riley, who plays first base, pitcher, and catcher for Central City Baseball, says the selection trials were quite intense. With fitness, speed, batting averages and statistics all part of the process.

Baseball mechanics and physics are also implemented to track and monitor players' progress and attributes.

Using lasers, selectors can check players' velocity of throwing speed, and velocity of bat. "These stats help to improve things like hitting distance and swing speed," says Riley.

"They are picking the best of the best."

It certainly seems that Riley has what it takes to be the best - this is the second time he has been selected to represent New Zealand baseball, having competed in the South Korea Asia Pacific tournament, at Dream Park Baseball Park, in Korea last year. He also competed in the Oceania Jiu Jitsu Champs in 2020 (at just 9 years old)!