The St. Albert Cardinals have made an international acquisition to give their injury depleted pitching rotation a boost.
Alex Dawson, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, recently joined the midget AAA team through his connections with fellow countryman and Cardinals’ head coach, Chamara (CJ) Jayasekera.
“CJ used to coach in New Zealand. I’ve done some training with him and been to some academies and he emailed me saying there was a place for me here,” said Dawson, 18. “I’m going to America in August to play university so I wanted to get some baseball in and get a lot more than I can get in New Zealand before I go to America. I’m sort of using this as a warm-up to get into the routine, I guess.”
Dawson is headed to Doane College in Nebraska to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and play alongside his brother, Nick.
In his short time with the Cardinals, Dawson has already experienced some of the major differences between baseball in the two countries.
“In New Zealand it’s a lot more relaxed. A lot less people play so it’s not as competitive, especially from where I am. The major base for baseball in the country is in the north. I’m from Christchurch in the south and it’s really nothing compared to this, so it’s great being here,” said Dawson.
For a nation that started its federal baseball ruling body in 2002, the game is relatively fresh. However that hasn’t stopped Dawson’s love for the sport, with numerous appearances on provincial-calibre teams in the southern hemisphere.
“I played since I was really little, starting with T-ball,” he said. “Because not a lot of people play in New Zealand it’s hard to get into. I went to Australia over Easter for the Australian provincial championships and I pitched a couple innings for them. We didn’t do too well. We should’ve done a lot better but we didn’t play at our top level.”
His first game with the Cardinals was the 9-0 loss to SEEBA 1 last month.
“The first inning I played terrible and then the next inning after that I played really well. I think it was maybe nerves,” he said. “I’m having a lot of fun and feeling more confident now.”
Dawson is realistic about his baseball future.
“I’ll just play for as long as I can. I don’t see anything huge happening with it. I’m not the best player but I have a lot of fun when I play. I just want to keep going for as long as I can.”
