Tapiwa Nyamayawo (19) is all about baseball.
Even his Twitter bio reads #Baseball. The plays that can be implemented, the strikeouts, the home runs, and especially the thrill of standing in the outfield waiting for a ball to land into the safety of his glove, do it for him.
The Melville resident and student at Rosebank College in Braamfontein has played baseball for South Africa in his age group since 2014 and has dreams of making it professionally in the United States of America. He has also played for Gauteng since U14 level.
“I like being an outfielder because you are the last line of defence,” he said. “Outfielders make the ‘sickest’ players because it is ultimately up to you to stop the ball, take a catch or run somebody out.”
Nyamayawo plays for the Marks Park Mustangs and was awarded the Marks Park Sports Club Sportsman of the Year in September for his selection in the South African team. The team played in the U18 Baseball World Cup in Japan in August and September last year, which was in the 2015/16 baseball season.
“I didn’t make the SA side to play in the U23 Baseball World Cup this year because of a shoulder injury,” added Nyamayawo, who normally bats at about number eight.
He said it all started at the tender age of four when he was already playing soccer at Marks Park. “Some of my friends started playing baseball and they invited me,” he said, standing on the field before a game at the same club 15 years later. “I feel such a drive when I play. I love the adrenaline of batting and fielding.”
His proud mother, Angela, said she loved watching Nyamayawo play. “I support this dream of his,” she said. “He loves to play baseball and I can only encourage him.”
Chairperson of baseball at the club, Allen McCabe, said, “His strength is in defence. He has a good glove and a good arm. He is quick in the field too.”
Nyamayawo hopes to one day earn a scholarship to play at one of the colleges in Seattle as he has friends in the city.
