Bonbeach Bluejays Baseball Club

Rikki Johnston Gets Call up to Aussie Squad

MANY are called, few are chosen.

Even fewer are chosen again.

But in the case of Bonbeach Bluejays outfielder Rikki Johnston, his second national call-up came last week, more than ten years after pitching Australia to a bronze medal in the under 17 world championships, and himself into a professional career with the Detroit Tigers.

However, since his 2003 release from a second professional contract in the USA with the Colorado Rockies, the last thing Johnston expected was last week’s national call-up for a possible Olympics berth.

At 26, in his eleventh year since signing his lucrative professional contract at just 16, his career highlight may yet lie ahead of him after the eleventh-hour call to join the Australian team’s four game series against Canada in Queensland, beginning this Thursday.

“I actually had a message on my phone from Baseball Australia from the evening before, so I had to sleep, asking myself if it could be a possibility that I had been called up,” Johnston said.

“When I finally spoke to the team manager and he told me the news, I guess I was a little shocked, but mostly excited."

“Once I had finished up in the States I would have never thought in my wildest dreams that I would take the field wearing the green and gold.”

Johnston will join his old state battery partner from his junior pitching days, Sunshine’s Matthew Kent, as well as fellow Victorians Paul Rutgers (of), Paul Weichard(of), James Beresford(ss), Daniel Berg(util) and Greg Wiltshire(p) in Australia’s Olympic push.

Having lost his contract and his arm strength, Johnston was confined to the outfield in division two of the VBA, where he had to face the game from the unusual situation as a hitter—and now there’s no place like home.

His immediate adaptation to the role caught the eye of Victorian selectors in 2005, earning him a spot on the bench of the Claxton Shield team, from where he regained most of his former arm strength to scrap his way onto the starting roster for the next three years.

“Making a comeback as a hitter has meant that I have had to prove to everyone that I can do it, because people remember me as a pitcher. I have had to make every post a winner statistically because people just expect that you will fail.

“Not many people have been able to successfully make that transition.”

The switch has given him an understanding few players, if any, at the international level can boast, having seen the game through enemy eyes.

“Being a former pitcher allows you to sum up situations and view it through the eyes of a pitcher.”

The southpaw has been as permanent as the onshore summer breeze at Bonbeach’s Thames Promenade since he began playing as a seven-year-old.

“It is funny because most of the guys that were at my first training are still my teammates to this day.”

However, Johnston will have to leave his team behind to chase his Olympic dream, with the Bluejays entering this week’s playoffs as firm division two favourites. But he has faith in his teammates’ abilities, such as likely replacement, power-packed outfielder Matthew Donnelly.

“Matty (Donnelly) will most likely fill my spot and he is more than capable of nailing it down.

“They have plenty of quality to cover the loss,” he said, pointing out the efforts of pitchers Ben Donald and Matt Prior.

“ The key to our finals hope will be our pitching and defence. If we can pitch well and make the plays in the field, we will be tough to beat.”

Bonbeach coach Craig Kernick lightly jibed selectors for not picking up on Johnston’s performances earlier.

“His selection in the National team is no suprise to me, I just can't beleive it took the selectors so long to notice him,” Kernick said.

While pointing to Johnston’s importance, Kernick reiterated his side’s strength at being able to perform without its biggest offensive threat.

“Rikki is a tremendous asset to the Bonbeach Baseball Club, his performance this year has been great."

“He is very important, but we have a team that is good enough to win and I'm sure if the players focus on the job at hand we can still be a threat in the finals series.”

His personal finals aspirations now set aside, Johnston will concentrate on the lofty prospect of repeating, or even bettering the Australian baseball’s finest hour.

“At full strength the team should have a genuine chance of medalling at Beijing. Many of the players on the team are members of the 2004 Olympics silver medal team, so there are plenty of quality players.”

After taking on the Maple Leafs, a 24-man squad will be chosen for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Taiwan next month.

Australian coach John Deeble wouldn’t rule out selecting Bonbeach’s comeback kid over some of the nation’s high-priced professionals.

“In terms of our preparation, we have had the benefit of the recent Claxton Shield (national championships) to identify some emerging talent and will now get the chance to see how they perform against Canada – one of the World’s top sides,” Deeble said.

“Truth be told, nobody is guaranteed a ticket to the qualifiers, so I am going to take whoever’s hot at the time.”

As his Bonbeach teammates are slugging it out for the VBA championship in Bonbeach blue, Johnston will be matching their efforts in the green and gold.

“I never expected to be in this situation, so I am going to go out and just try to be able to contribute to the team any way I can.”

Div 2	Reserves	Thirds	Fourths