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Bahrain’s expat baseball star Donovan Worrall is hoping to strike lucky as he takes aim at the highest levels of the sport after impressing on a summer tour of the United States.
St Christopher’s School pupil Worrall, 16, fell in love with the sport after moving to Bahrain 10 years ago, and balances his hectic school life with travelling to Dubai, sometimes weekly, during the baseball season to play competitively.
The native South African, who was born in Johannesburg, said: “I used to play cricket in South Africa, so when I moved here I wanted to carry on with that. However, I couldn’t find anywhere to play.
“Instead, I tried baseball as it was the closest thing and I fell in love with it instantly. It’s a passion that still hasn’t gone away and is stronger than ever.”
Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two opposing teams who take turns batting and fielding which has a massive following in the US, Japan and Australia.
The game proceeds when a player on the fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a ball which a player on the batting team tries to hit with a bat.
The objectives of the batting team are to hit the ball into the field of play, and to run the bases – having its runners advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called ‘runs’.
The objective of the fielding team is to prevent batters from becoming runners, and to prevent runners’ from advancing around the bases.
A run is scored when a runner legally advances around the bases in order and touches home plate – the place where the player started as a batter. The team that scores the most runs by the end of the game is the winner.
Worrall started off by playing at the Bahrain Military School’s field for six years, before seeking more competitive action as there wasn’t an established baseball league setup in the kingdom. As a result he joined a juniors’ team in neighbouring Saudi Arabia based at oil giant Aramco’s home, and was driven by his father, Bradley, a project manager for an IT company based in Riyadh, across the causeway three-times-a-week.
Now, having got too old for that competition, he plays in the Dubai Little League which is for under-18s. This consists of just two teams which play each other, but also merge together to go on tours around the world. The next one, which Worrall will be participating in, is to Singapore in November.
“I just loved the sport from the second I started playing it,” Worrall explained. “There’s just something about it that hooked me. I still enjoy and play cricket, volleyball and other sports, but nothing gives me the same thrill as baseball. I think I like it because it’s skilful, competitive and has many aspects of both combined together.”
Worrall is proficient in both batting and pitching, although as he progresses he wants to specialise in the latter. He has been measured at delivering the ball at 80mph and is aiming to get to around 85mph soon, with his most successful pitches being curveballs, sliders and changeups.
Twice-a-week, he goes to the rugby club and does long toss throws across the pitch to improve his arm strength, while three-times-a-week he practices his pitching on an astro-turf mound constructed by his dad at his home in Saar where his mum, Daleen, a pilates teacher, also offers him full support.
He also practices his hitting every night with an adjustable baseball trainer in his back garden and cycles to a gym to further improve his fitness.
He is currently resting his arm after a gruelling two-month tour of the US, organised by World Baseball Showcases, in which he played for two touring teams, based in Australia, the Colts U18s and U16s, across 14 states.
He spent the first five weeks on the West Coast, playing 22 games against Varsity and college teams in the U18 team. He pitched for 26 innings with a strike rate of 67 per cent and his On-Base Batting Percentage was 0.529.
Then, he played for the U16 team on a three-week cross-country tour from Los Angeles to New York. He played 13 games, pitching for 15 innings, striking out 22 players with a strike rate of 69 per cent. His On-Base Batting Percentage was 0.541.
His favourite game of the tour was in Omaha where he pitched the whole game (six innings, 105 pitches), striking out 12 batsmen. He also went 3/3 at the plate, hitting two doubles and scoring two RBI’s.
Worrall said: “The tour was pretty amazing, absolutely my favourite baseball experience. We had this image of American teams being on level above us, with it being one of their national sports and ingrained in school sports from a young age, but our own performance was surprisingly high. We even managed to win a few games which was brilliant.
“Personally, I was so happy with my performances. Even compared to my own teammates, I surprised myself with what I can do. It gave me a whole new lease of confidence and I know for sure that this is what I want to do.”
Worrall’s current goal is to secure a university scholarship in the US, which will allow him to study for an academic degree whilst playing college-level baseball, with a portion of the tuition fees paid for under a scholarship.
His dream is to make it to the highest level of the professional game, Major League Baseball (MLB), which involves playing to a high standard through various divisions of college and being spotted by MLB scouts.
If that fails, he wants to go into medicine. In the US, this involves doing a four-year science-related degree and then moving into a certain field of medicine.
“I really hope I can make it to professional baseball, but I’m aware that it’s as much about getting connections and being seen at the right moment as much as it is personal performance,” Worrall explained.
“Luckily, our Showcases coach, Steve Fish, is also the Australian national team coach and he has a lot of connections. I hope I made an impression on him and others watching when I was in the US.
“As well as Coach Fish, I’d also like to thank Tim Murray, the CEO of Alba, who coached in Bahrain and started me on pitching, and also Chris Kelp who got me into baseball in the process. I hope one day I can make you proud!”
