Christchurch, NZ - Two-time world softball champion Tyron Bartorillo to play for NZ baseball team
Former softball world champion Tyron Bartorillo is set to represent his third international diamond sports team.
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Tyron Bartorillo takes a catch for the New Zealand Black Sox team which won the world softball title in 2013. He is now set to make his New Zealand Diamondblacks baseball debut.
Former softball world champion Tyron Bartorillo is set to represent his third international diamond sports team.
The 31-year-old will play for the New Zealand Diamondblacks at the World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament in Sydney next week.
The Queenslander, who has lived in Christchurch since 2007, has already won world softball championship gold medals with the Australian Steelers in 2009 and the New Zealand Black Sox in 2013.
He said playing in a world baseball tournament had been a lifelong ambition since he began playing baseball in Brisbane "as soon as I could walk".
His father, John Bartorillo, played baseball for the Brisbane Bandits and the Queensland Rams and has coached Queensland state teams.
"My uncle Ron played baseball for Australia."
Tyron and twin brother Travis were dedicated baseballers through the junior grades.
"I played for Queensland in the under-18s and under-23s and then I just started playing softball to keep my skills up in the [baseball] off-season.
"But when I came over here [to Christchurch] in 2007, softball took over."
Bartorillo said his father, a member of the Queensland Baseball Hall of Fame, was delighted to hear his son had been selected for the World Baseball Classic.
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"When I rang him up to tell him he was probably more proud of me this time then when I made the [Australian] softball team."
A shortstop in both codes, Bartorillo has been selected in the Diamondblacks as a utility infielder or potential designated hitter.
He said the two sports were similar, but it did take time to adjust to pitching variations "when [the baseball pitchers] throw curve balls or off-speed pitches".
"The fastball is alright because I'm used to the top pitchers in softball who throw it down pretty quick, it's just the off-speed pitches that I have to adjust to."
Bartorillo was disappointed to miss out on the Black Sox squad for the 2015 world championships in Canada and said he would "love to win another world series with them".
"But, at the moment, I just want to concentrate on baseball. I'm still young enough to play [softball] for a few more years.
He decided to shift his sporting priorities when he "heard the World Baseball Classic was coming up".
"I reached my goals in softball by winning the world series for two different countries... I was pretty much the second person to do that.
"Baseball was the next thing on my goal list. The next thing is to win this qualifier for New Zealand."
The New York Yankees fan believes the Diamondblacks have a strong squad. He has played with some of his Kiwi counterparts in Australia and is looking to forward to again linking up with ex-Black Sox team mate Te Wera Bishop, now playing as a catcher for a Milwaukee Brewers minor league team and in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) for the Adelaide Bite.
"I'd also like to get picked up to play for an ABL team," Bartorillo said. "When I was in Australia, that league wasn't around then."
Bartorillo's decision to focus on baseball cost him a place in the Black Sox squad for a recent training camp in Auckland.
"They said I had to make a choice. They reckoned it's because High Performance Sport don't allow you to play two different sports. But look at Sonny Bill Williams? He plays rugby and league, although not at the same time, and he's done some boxing.
"There's not much difference between softball and baseball. I think you should [be able to play both] if they don't interfere with each other."
Bartorillo will be doing just that - swinging his bat in two major tournaments in two separate codes in successive weeks.
The World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament against Australia, South Africa and the Philippines takes place in Blacktown from February 11 to 14. The tournament winner will qualify for the 16-team 2017 WBC finals in the United States.
Bartorillo will fly back to Christchurch on February 15 and the Papanui Tigers stalwart will suit up for the Canterbury Red Sox in the National Fastpitch Championships tournament three days later.
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