Photo by: GoDucks.com
Out Of Many, One Team Of Ducks
02/17/23 | Baseball, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon baseball team opens its season at PK Park on Friday with a distinctly international makeup.
When the World Baseball Classic begins in early March, rooting interests in the Oregon locker room will be split.
No less than four countries represented in the World Baseball Classic also are represented on the UO roster, which opens its 2023 season by hosting Xavier in PK Park on Friday at 3 p.m. There are Ducks from the United States of course, and from Canada, and also from Puerto Rico and Japan.
"Having that kind of diversity in the locker room, it's so cool," veteran UO outfielder Tanner Smith said. "Everybody obviously has a different background, and a different way they came about the game. But it's really cool."
Canada was represented on the UO roster last spring, by pitcher Adam Maier. Encouraged by Maier's positive experience with the program, his countryman Owen Diodati transferred into the program for this season. He's joined by freshman pitchers and fellow Canadians Matthew Grabmann and Turner Spoljaric (below).
Also new to the team as transfers are infielder Rikuu Nishida from Japan and infielder/catcher Sabin Ceballos from Puerto Rico.
"They're all just so fun to be around," returning outfielder Colby Shade said. "You learn new thing from them — even if it's words here and there, phrases, or different things they do — about their culture. It's really interesting and fun to be around."
The international flair of Oregon's roster stands to make a big impact on the 2023 season. Diodati brings thump to the lineup in the form of 24 homers in three season at Alabama, while Nishida could be the opening day starter at second base. Ceballos is another big bat who has played himself into the competition at catcher, while Grabmann is scheduled to be a starting pitcher for the Ducks during Saturday's doubleheader against the Musketeers.
Grabmann has experience with Canada's Junior National Team, and has seen the way different countries bring different styles to the diamond. So he wasn't surprised to see the flair with which Nishida plays the game, or the physically imposing presence Ceballos casts.
"You can tell when they step on the field, there's just a different aspect to their game," Grabmann said.
Smith said Nishida's speed atop the lineup will be "game-changing" for the Ducks this spring. Nishida is listed at 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds, and though he makes his presence felt by being among the most vocal players on the field and with his flair for the dramatic, he knows he has to find unique ways to impact the game.
"I can't be Tanner Smith, or Dominic (Hellman, who is listed at 6-6, 230)," Nishida said. "I have a different body — I'm way smaller than them. So I need to have my own style. I play with fun, that's it."
Their new coach certainly appreciates that approach to the game, and the various approaches of Oregon's international players.
"Rikuu's game, it's a trip," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "Just the way he plays baseball — slaps the ball around the field, is hard to defend, loves to steal bases, tremendous feel for the game. Ceballos, he really does play with a tremendous Latin flair — lot of excitement."
The newcomers bring excitement to the field, and as Smith noted, diverse backgrounds to the locker room. Rooting interesting may be split come the World Baseball Classic, but for now the Ducks find themselves bonding over their shared experiences in the game, and in learning about each other's backgrounds off the field.
"It's the most diverse team I've been on, character and personality wise," Spoljaric said. "We have quiet guys, and then we have other guys that are very outgoing and loud. But I'd say that everybody meshes really well. Everyone's super close, and we all just get along really, really well."
No less than four countries represented in the World Baseball Classic also are represented on the UO roster, which opens its 2023 season by hosting Xavier in PK Park on Friday at 3 p.m. There are Ducks from the United States of course, and from Canada, and also from Puerto Rico and Japan.
"Having that kind of diversity in the locker room, it's so cool," veteran UO outfielder Tanner Smith said. "Everybody obviously has a different background, and a different way they came about the game. But it's really cool."
Canada was represented on the UO roster last spring, by pitcher Adam Maier. Encouraged by Maier's positive experience with the program, his countryman Owen Diodati transferred into the program for this season. He's joined by freshman pitchers and fellow Canadians Matthew Grabmann and Turner Spoljaric (below).
Also new to the team as transfers are infielder Rikuu Nishida from Japan and infielder/catcher Sabin Ceballos from Puerto Rico.
"They're all just so fun to be around," returning outfielder Colby Shade said. "You learn new thing from them — even if it's words here and there, phrases, or different things they do — about their culture. It's really interesting and fun to be around."
The international flair of Oregon's roster stands to make a big impact on the 2023 season. Diodati brings thump to the lineup in the form of 24 homers in three season at Alabama, while Nishida could be the opening day starter at second base. Ceballos is another big bat who has played himself into the competition at catcher, while Grabmann is scheduled to be a starting pitcher for the Ducks during Saturday's doubleheader against the Musketeers.
Grabmann has experience with Canada's Junior National Team, and has seen the way different countries bring different styles to the diamond. So he wasn't surprised to see the flair with which Nishida plays the game, or the physically imposing presence Ceballos casts.
"You can tell when they step on the field, there's just a different aspect to their game," Grabmann said.
Smith said Nishida's speed atop the lineup will be "game-changing" for the Ducks this spring. Nishida is listed at 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds, and though he makes his presence felt by being among the most vocal players on the field and with his flair for the dramatic, he knows he has to find unique ways to impact the game.
"I can't be Tanner Smith, or Dominic (Hellman, who is listed at 6-6, 230)," Nishida said. "I have a different body — I'm way smaller than them. So I need to have my own style. I play with fun, that's it."
Their new coach certainly appreciates that approach to the game, and the various approaches of Oregon's international players.
"Rikuu's game, it's a trip," UO coach Mark Wasikowski said. "Just the way he plays baseball — slaps the ball around the field, is hard to defend, loves to steal bases, tremendous feel for the game. Ceballos, he really does play with a tremendous Latin flair — lot of excitement."
The newcomers bring excitement to the field, and as Smith noted, diverse backgrounds to the locker room. Rooting interesting may be split come the World Baseball Classic, but for now the Ducks find themselves bonding over their shared experiences in the game, and in learning about each other's backgrounds off the field.
"It's the most diverse team I've been on, character and personality wise," Spoljaric said. "We have quiet guys, and then we have other guys that are very outgoing and loud. But I'd say that everybody meshes really well. Everyone's super close, and we all just get along really, really well."
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