Great Britain players in Europe: May 2009 update

There are a number of players who have represented Great Britain in recent seasons who are currently playing in continental European top-tier leagues. Below I provide an update on how they are getting on at this early stage of the season, which includes news of a GB player leading the Dutch batting standings.

Country: The Netherlands
Division: Hoofdklasse
Teams: Eight

Aeden McQueary-Ennis (ADO, 7th place)
Aeden has been batting clean-up in recent games as ADO’s designated hitter, and so far this season has accumulated a league-leading .442 batting average to go with a .744 slugging average. His eight doubles puts him joint first in that category. He has also pitched in a few games, amassing 7.17 strike-outs per 9 innings and 1.89 strike-outs per walk, good for 14th and 15th place in those respective categories.

Country: Germany
Division: Bundesliga South
Teams: Seven

Chris Falls (Mannheim Tornados, 3rd place)
Chris has played 13 games at second base and one at catcher. His .986 fielding average at second base in 74 chances puts him second in that category in the division, behind a fellow GB player (see below). He is tied for fifth in the division in runs scored with 18, and is hitting .310/.414/.382.

Richard Klijn (Buchbinder Legionäre, 1st place)
Richard has appeared in two games for the the division-leading team, spending most of his playing time so far with the club’s second-tier team. In six games at shortstop, he has made just one error in 26 chances (for a .962 fielding average), and scored 8 runs (third in the league) and driven in 6 runs (fifth) while batting .278/.389/.480.

Will Lintern (Gauting Indians, 6th place)
Will has caught in all 16 of the Indians’ games and is batting .172/.172/.234. He has been catching for GB team-mate Paul Waterman.

Craig Pycock (Mannheim Tornados, 3rd place)
Playing on the same team as Chris Falls, Craig has played in seven games at third base, six at catcher, and one at second base, and has made two appearances on the mound (10.13 earned-run average). He is batting .275/.294/.413 and has struck out just four times in 64 plate appearances.

Paul Waterman (Gauting Indians, 6th place)
With GB team-mate Will Lintern as catcher, Paul has pitched 44.0 innings (third in the division) and has a 2-5 record. He has an earned-run average of 3.27 (eighth), and has struck out 37 hitters (tied fourth), which gives him ratios of 7.57 per 9 innings (fifth) and 2.47 per walk (also fifth).

Sam Whitehead (Heidenheim Heideköpfe, 3rd place)
Sam is batting .275/.294/.373 from 15 games, all at second base. He is the only second baseman in the south with at least 8 games who has has not made an error (58 chances). From the mound, he has picked up two saves (tied fourth in the division) from three appearances but has an earned-run average of 10.80.

Country: France
Division: Championnat de France – Elite
Teams: Eight

Jason Holowaty (Montigny Cougars, 7th place)
Jason has played in three games at second base and is hitting .125/.250/.300.

Alex Malihoudis (Templiers de Sénart, joint 4th place)
Alex has made six appearances at catcher, three at second base, and one at shortstop and is batting .266/.266/.435 .

Ian Young (Rouen Huskies, 2nd place)
Ian, who was part of the 2008 Templiers de Sénart squad, has moved to the Huskies, who are the defending champions. He has played all of his games so far in the outfield and is hitting an impressive .380/.380/.480.