Ryan Kurtzer (born in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

), is an International Baseball player who plays for the

Great Britain national baseball team The Great Britain national baseball team is the national men's baseball team of the United Kingdom. It is governed by the British Baseball Federation, and is also a member nation of the Confederation of European Baseball. History The Britis ...

. He is the first and only GB baseball player to play at all levels (Juveniles, Cadets and Juniors) while not residing in Britain.

2004

Kurtzer represented Great Britain in the 2nd annual Kenko International Tournament that was held in

Nettuno Nettuno is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, south of Rome. A resort city and agricultural center on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it has a population of approximately 50,000. Economy It has a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. During this tournament he was the only Great Britain Juvenile catcher to throw a runner out who attempted to steal and was tied on the team for the most hits for the tournament.

2006

Kurtzer represented Great Britain at the Cadet level in the 4th annual Kenko International Tournament that was held in

Rho Rho (; uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; or ) is the seventeenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter resh . Its uppercase form uses the same ...

. During this tournament he was the winning pitcher when his team beat the national team from Slovenia 7-4. Kurtzer pitched six of the seven innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out five. Slovenia beat Ryan's Great Britain team earlier in the tournament by a score of 12-3 and later in the tournament by a score of 21-9.

2007

Kurtzer played in the European Championship Cadet Qualifier that was held in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

. He posted the second highest

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

for the tournament at .467. He also finished fourth in slugging percentage (.533), seventh in

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

(.500), tied for fourth in hits (7) and tied for sixth in

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hit (baseball), hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single (baseball), single, 2 for a double (baseball), double, 3 for a triple (baseball), triple and 4 ...

(8). All of these were Great Britain team highs for the tournament. ''(July 2009)'' - Two players from this tournament have signed with

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

teams: Italian Luca Martone (

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

) and Lithuanian

Dovydas Neverauskas Dovydas Neverauskas (born January 14, 1993) is a Lithuanian professional baseball pitcher for the Charros de Jalisco of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and in Nippon Professi ...

(

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

2008

Kurtzer played in the European Championship Cadet Qualifier held in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and led the Great Britain team to the Championship against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and Great Britain's highest finish ever, a Silver Medal. He batted .353 with one home run (hit against Ukraine), scored nine runs and had five stolen bases. He was the only British player to hit safely in all five games. While pitching he earned the only save of the tournament in a one run game against eventual third-place finisher

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

where he came on in the 8th (extra) inning and struck out three. Kurtzer also pitched three innings against the national team from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

where he gave up one hit, did not allow a run and struck out seven. At the plate against

he was 2-for-3, scored four runs, had three RBIs and had two stolen bases. His ground-rule double in the 4th inning easily cleared the right field fence. Kurtzer finished the tournament tied for first in

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

(9), tied for second in

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

s (2), tied for second in

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

(1), tied for third in

(11), fourth in

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(.647), tied for fifth in

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

(6). His pitching stats were tied for first in

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

(0.00), first in saves (1), and tied for fifth in batters stuck out (10) in four innings pitched.

2010

Kurtzer played in the European Championship Junior Qualifier held in

Attnang-Puchheim Attnang-Puchheim is a town in Austria, located in the Vöcklabruck district, lying between the cities Vöcklabruck and Schwanenstadt. Its partner city is the city of Puchheim in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Attnang-Puchheim is centered in the ''Ha ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He batted .350 with four doubles. In one appearance on the mound he faced Bulgaria for 4.1 innings and struck out four. After a slow start, Kurtzer finished the tournament in 13th place in batting average (.350), second in doubles (4), fourth in hits (7), fourth in total bases (11) and second in two-out RBIs (4). Kurtzer's hit and double totals were Great Britain team highs while his total bases were second on the team. NOTE: Five European based players at this tournament were selected to attend the 2010 MLB Academy in Italy. The MLB Academy in Italy is for the 50 best European baseball players aged 15–19 who reside in Europe.

Notables

*2008 - Member of Freshman HS Conference Championship team (scored winning run that clinched the Championship) *2008 - Member of Great Britain Silver Medal team at European Cadet Championship Qualifier *2008 - Member of Colt team that was runner-up *2008 - Member of Fall Wood Bat League Championship team run by the Chicago White Sox Academy *2008 - Tied for 3rd in first ever 16-18U Cangelosi Baseball Winter Indoor Hitting League as a 15-y/o *2009 - Member of Chicago White Sox Academy 16U Elite Baseball team (Hit .500 at 2009 17U Triple Crown Summer Nationals Tournament) *2009 - Member of HS Sophomore Baseball team *2009 - Member of HS Varsity summer baseball team that reached Elite 8 in the Illinois Summer State Finals (4A) *2009 - Member of Great Britain Junior National Baseball Team pool-of-players (no European tournament scheduled) *2010 - Member of HS Varsity Baseball team that won the Regional Championship and reached the Sectional Championship *2010 - Member of Chicago White Sox Academy 17U Elite Baseball team *2010 - Member of HS Varsity summer baseball team that reached the Regional Semi-Finals *2010 - Member of Great Britain Junior National Baseball Team *2010 - Member of HS Varsity summer baseball team (played "phenomenal" in the playoffs, had two hits and scored two runs against eventual Summer League State Champion - Nazareth HS in the playoffs
Wednesday Journal Sports Section
*2010 - Member of Cangelosi Baseball Fall Elite Baseball team coached by former World Series Champion John Cangelosi

National Team Opponents

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine

Coaches

*Sam Dempster: Current Milwaukee Brewers scout, Canadian College Baseball Head Coach, Great Britain Senior National Team Head Coach and 2007 MLB Envoy of the Year *Ingo Gottwald: Hungarian Senior National Baseball Team Head Coach *Will Lintern: Current Great Britain Senior National Baseball Team member, Great Britain Junior/Cadet National Team Head Coach, International and former US College (Menlo) player *Adam Roberts: Former Great Britain Senior National Baseball Team and International player *Paul Vernon: Great Britain Junior National Baseball Team Head Coach

References

* * *
2010 White Sox Academy 17U

Cangelosi Baseball
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtzer, Ryan English baseball players

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Great Britain national baseball team players Living people Year of birth missing (living people)