Hamilton grad plays baseball for Lithuanian National club team

Greg Dowdall enjoyed two weeks in Europe playing baseball thanks to an offer from a Major League Baseball scout.

Dowdall, a 2003 graduate of Hamilton High School and a 2007 graduate of Quincy University, spent two weeks playing baseball for the Lithuanian National club team. Jim Pransky, a major league scout and former Quincy University coach, asked QU athletic director Pat Atwell if he knew anyone on the Hawks baseball team that would be interested in playing on the Lithuanian National club team. Dowdall jumped at the chance.

“I wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity like that,” said Dowdall.

The Lithuanian team had 12 players on it. Dowdall pitched and played in the outfield.

The team was competing in a five-day, qualifying tournament for the European Cup in 2008. The tournament was in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Like most of Europe, baseball was not popular in the city.

“Blagoevgrad wasn't a very big city,” said Dowdall. “I'd say about 300 people attended the championship game. Baseball just isn't very popular there.”

Training with his new teammates took place in Vilnius, Lithuania for one week. He began learning the differences between American baseball players and European baseball players.

“We can watch it on TV every day or read about the game in newspapers and magazines,” said Dowdall. “Over there, it's not a big deal. It isn't covered very much. Most of the exposure is through the Internet. There's a lot of little things you pick up just by watching the game. It takes longer for them to learn.

“We can play as kids every summer if we want to. It's harder over there; the funding isn't always available. It was cool to watch guys who loved to play the game. Sometimes guys here take it for granted.”

The Lithuanian team finished fourth out of eight teams. Russia won the tournament, followed by Slovakia in second and Ukraine in third place. Other countries in the tournament were Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Austria.

Dowdall threw 18 innings over the five days. He struck out 17 and walked none. His ERA was about 1.00. He was given a trophy as “Best Pitcher” in the tournament.

“I learned a lot about European culture and traditions,” said Dowdall. “Each team brings its culture to the field. It was interesting watching them play.”

Dowdall finished his senior season at Quincy University with a team-low 2.06 ERA in 78.2 innings pitched. He struck out 60 and walked 10 as the team finished with a record of 30-20. He threw 62.1 innings in 2006, striking out 33 and walking 12. His ERA was 1.73 for the 40-20 Hawks.

He plans to help with the graduate assistant program at QU this fall.