BRIT BALL: Will Kraemer celebrates after getting a hit for Great Britain in the U18 Baseball European Championship held earlier this month in Regensburg, Germany. Rising Hun School senior Kraemer batted .429 with nine hits in 21 at-bats, four doubles, seven runs, and four RBIs in the tourney to help Great Britain finish fourth in the competition. (Phot provided courtesy of Derrick Kraemer)

By Bill Alden

Will Kraemer culminated his junior season for the Hun School baseball team this May by helping the squad win the Mercer County Tournament title at the Trenton Thunder Stadium and Prep A state championship on its home diamond.

In July, Kraemer found himself competing for another title some 4,000 miles away from the Princeton area as he played for Great Britain in the U18 Baseball European Championship in Regensburg, Germany.

For Kraemer, the chance to prove himself on an international stage had him fired up.

“It was something that I was excited for,” said Kraemer whose mother was born in London, enabling him to get a British passport. “I don’t know when the next time I am going to be able to play on foreign soil is and just to play for a country, it is something bigger than me.”

Infielder Kraemer came up big, batting .429 with nine hits in 21 at-bats, four doubles, seven runs, and four RBIs as Great Britain finished fourth in the competition.

“It was the best the U18 team has ever placed in a tournament for the European championship,” said Kraemer. “It was good to put GB baseball on the map.”

For Kraemer, getting a spot with the Great Britain team resulted from the program’s research of eligible players in the U.S.

“They can take up to five internationals who have citizenship in Great Britain,” explained Kraemer. “They kind of scouted through PBR (Prep Baseball Report) tournaments and through summer tournaments guys who have citizenship. They ended up finding me and reached out to me.”

Kraemer headed to England for a training camp and intra-squad scrimmages in Farnham from July 1-3 and then the squad moved on the Munich to fine-tune things and scrimmage some other teams before starting play in the tournament on July 8.

“I think the biggest thing just collectively as a team was knowing each other’s personalities because you are grabbing kids from all over the world,” said Kraemer. “It took a day or two to get everyone together. It was really cool because we had a couple of coaches that were from America, a high school coach from California and the NJIT pitching coach (Anthony Deleo).”

In addition, Kraemer’s father, Derrick, also joined the staff. “He ended up volunteering,” said Kraemer of his dad. “It was really cool being in the dugout with him, having him coach me for the last time.”

Great Britain got off to a really good start in the tourney, topping the Czech Republic 4-2 in its opener as Kraemer contributed two key hits.

“The game against the Czech Republic on day one was probably the biggest game in that tournament for that specific day,” said Kraemer. “I would say we had two to three thousand people there under the lights. We ended up winning 4-2, it was a really good game that set the leeway for the rest of the tournament.”

Coming through in the clutch in the opener proved to be a confident boost for Kraemer.

“I had a two-out double that put us up 1-0 and another 2-out single that put us up 3-1,” said Kraemer. “That helped a lot, especially being an international because I wanted to prove that I could help the team. It was good making an impact on game one. It relaxed me, once I got that first hit, I felt like I took off for the rest of the tournament.”

After topping Sweden 10-0, falling 9-1 to the Netherlands, and then beating France 11-5, Great Britain faced Italy in the semis inn a game that turned out to be a topsy-turvy contest. With Kraemer hitting a double and scoring the tying run in the seventh inning, Great Britain knotted the game at 5-5 to force extra innings but ended up falling 6-5 in the eighth.

“That was probably the biggest night of my life,” said Kraemer, reflecting on the Italy game. “It felt like there was so many people, there were probably three to four thousand I would say. It was something that I will truly never forget.”

In Kraemer’s view, the level of play at the tournament was comparable to the quality of opponents on Hun’s schedule.

“I would say team like Sweden and Belgium would be kind of like a Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) team like a Hill School and then when we played the Czechs, the Netherlands and Italy, they would be like the top teams in New Jersey like Delbarton or Gloucester Catholic,” said Kraemer. “International kids over there can sign when they are 16 so like the kid I hit a double off on Italy has signed with the Phillies. The Netherlands had a couple of Blue Jay guys and a couple of Giants so they had some real good athletes. It was a big tournament for a lot of the international guys because most of them don’t take the college route, they try to get signed right away. There were probably 15-20 MLB scouts there for each game.”

It turned out to be a big tournament for Kraemer, a Boston College commit, as he looks forward to his senior year at Hun.

“I grew tremendously over that week, picking brains from a couple of coaches on our team,” said Kraemer, who went 1-for-4 with a run as Great Britain fell 5-3 to the Netherlands in the bronze medal game to end the tournament. “I think that playing in those big games is going to help me so much for college. I played really well. I am happy that I got to play in big games because I know when I am older, it is going to be something that I will be playing in a lot. It was cool.”

One of the squad’s coaches, Kraemer’s father, Derrick, was impressed by how he played.

“William started at shortstop the entire tournament and was leadoff or batted in the two-hole,” said coach Kraemer. “In pool play he led us in several offensive categories and finished the tournament as one of the top offensive players in several categories — hits, doubles, OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), and stolen bases. I have never been prouder of him.”

After excelling in his first international competition, Kraemer is aiming to see more action with the Great Britain program.

“I am hoping to play for the U23 team, there is a chance I might go to China for the Worlds in August and September,” said Kraemer, noting that event is a world championship tourney. “I would have a smaller role with that team, there are a lot of independent league guys and college guys on that team. I might go over there. I hope when I am older I can be one of those dudes on the U23 team.”