Australian Lewis Thorpe has signed with the Minnesota Twins, living up to his reputation as a dangerous left-handed pitcher and serious Major League Baseball prospect.

A baseball player from New Zealand has been selected in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft on Wednesday. The Toronto Blue Jays choose 19-year-old catcher Daniel Devonshire in the 37th round.

In February, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound (95 kg) catcher of the 18-and-under Junior Diamondblacks signed a letter of intent to develop his baseball skills at Bellevue College, a two-year post-secondary school in Washington state.

For four players this will be their fifth World Cup, having first competed at the inaugural ten years ago which was also hosted by Canada. Congratulations to Katie Gaynor, Shae Lillywhite, Sam Hamilton and Amy McCann on this monumental achievement.

Baseball New Zealand have rounded first base in their quest for national sporting recognition with the naming of their qualifying pool for the World Baseball Classic (WBC) later this year.

In the second inning on Tuesday night April 3 (2012) in Havana’s Latin American Stadium Granma’s Alfredo Despaigne cracked home run number 34 of the current National Series season. It was the first of two loud Despaigne cannon shots on the night that highlighted a 21-10 romp over Havana Industriales before an enthusiastic crowd announced at slightly above 12,000 partisans. Despaigne’s two homers capped a season-long pursuit of a new league home run standard that the Granma slugger himself had surrendered only one season back.

The official countdown to the ISF XIII Men’s World Championship begins in earnest with the one-year-to-go milestone celebrated in Auckland today.

Kao Chih-Kang of Chinese Taipei was named Asia’s Player Representative for the IBAF Olympic Reinstatement Campaign.
Kao is currently the starting catcher for the Uni-President Lions in the CPBL and has represented his country in major international competitions.

After six years as President of the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF), Mr Geoff Pearce has resigned as President and will be succeeded by Mr David Hynes, effective immediately.

Perkins participated in the Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program (MLBAAP) in June of 2011. The MLBAAP hosts young baseballers from all over the country for two months on the Gold Coast giving them the opportunity to train with top coaches and scouts.