By Tara Murray
Werribee Giants’ Wesley De Jong wasn’t even thinking of playing in the Australian Baseball League when he got a call up for the final round of the season.
With a number of players unavailable, the Melbourne Aces put the call out to a number of local pitchers including De Jong.
It became a bit of a whirlwind week for De Jong.
“It was huge,” he said. “I guess when you play in Victoria and Australia it’s the peak of what you aim for.
“I had no idea at all they were interested. I got a message on Monday and it was the first I had heard about it.
“They pretty much said we want you to come down on Wednesday and pitch a bit. I said I was pitching on Tuesday night and the coach came down.
“Wednesday I was signing a contract and Thursday I was playing.”
De Jong said the short turnaround meant he didn’t have long to think about it which made things easier.
He said the Aces environment had been really good.
“I loved it to be honest,” he said. “Being around professionalism is helpful.
“I’ll try and take back what I learned and hopefully put my best foot forward if the opportunity arose again”
De Jong played in two games against Adelaide. He said he felt like he played at a high level.
“The first night was really short,” he said. “I got in and did my job.
“On Saturday I pitched one innings and it was spot on.”
De Jong, who grew up in Hoppers Crossing and made representative sides in baseball, cricket and football, said being able to play for the Aces at the Melbourne Ballpark, which is in nearby Altona Meadows, was pretty special.
“To have my family and friends come down and club members not have to travel too far to watch was nice.”
De Jong will now focus on the rest of the season with the Giants. After 21 rounds, the Giants sit second bottom in the Baseball Victoria summer league premier 1st nine competition.
The Giants had their fifth win of the season on Tuesday night, defeating Sandringham, 3-2.
He said the group was starting to find an bit more consistency at this level having been promoted into division 1 this season.
Having come through the ranks at Werribee, De Jong said it was nice to see the next generation start to make their mark as part of the group.
“I’ll take back what I’ve learned and put in place and hopefully it will allow us to win a few more games and stay up in division 1.
“It’s massive having them come through .I think in local sport, you have a bit of a circle.
“The next generation is starting to come through and there’s a few more to come through the next few years.”
