Kansas City, Mo - Josh Tols is pretty excited. He is back in his hometown of Adelaide, Australia and playing the game he loves for the hometown team, the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The ABL is owned and run by Major League Baseball.
 
Tols graduated with a degree in Exercise and Sports Science in May, 2014 and then began the journey to his dream, playing in the MLB. He went to multiple tryouts before catching a break and signing with the Las Vegas Train Robbers of Las Vegas, New Mexico, in the Pecos League. While Tols put up impressive numbers, they were knocked out of playoff contentions well before the season ended.
 
With the Robbers out of the playoff runnings, Tols was traded to the Trinidad Triggers, also of the Pecos League, who had the best record in league. This happens many times when teams are knocked out; the better players are traded to teams in contention to hopefully get a look by Major League Scouts. Tols joined former Hawk, Ben Baker, strengthening the team's pitching rotation. Unfortunately, the team was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. Tols finished the season 5-0 with 61 strikeouts, 25 walks, and a 3.28 ERA in 12 games. He started nine games.
 
With these impressive stats and a successful tryout, the Kanas City T-Bones signed Tols to a contract that will begin in the spring of 2015. However, with his performance for the Adelaide Bite, he might not need the opportunity to play for the Independent League team.
 
Tols is already preparing for the grind of playing baseball every day. In addition to playing for the Adelaide Bite in the ABL, Tols is playing for the Woodville Senators, in the South Australian Baseball League. "Woodville has been my team since I was eight. I've grown up playing with the same group of guys so it's all a lot of fun," Tols stated. Tols plays for Woodville one or two games a week and then plays four-game series from Thursday through Sunday with the Bite. Tols laughed saying, "it's a bit hectic, but I couldn't imagine doing anything else."
 
Since joining Adelaide Bite, Tols has put up very impressive numbers. Through 13 games, he has a record of 5-1 in 18 innings pitching as a reliever. He has given up 14 hits, 3 earned runs and 10 walks while striking out 24. Tols has held opposing batters to a .219 batting average.  His 5 wins leads the entire league and his 24 strikeouts are the most by a reliever.
 
With that resume, he received a phone call on Monday saying he had been selected to the Australian All-Star Game to be played the next day. The teams had selected the players a month in advance but with Tols' performance, they couldn't leave him off the list.
 
The World Team is made up of all the non-Australians in the ABL with the best numbers in the league. Team Australian selected Australian players wherever they played, since it is the men's national team. "Honestly, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was pretty nervous though. I was one of only three guys who aren't affiliated (with a team in the MLB). But once the game got started I just took it all in. It was pretty cool being in the same clubhouse as Grant Balfour and other Aussies who have played in the Big Leagues," Tols stated.
 
Tols knew his role would be to come in and face any left-handed batters. "They had a few in their line-up, so it was just a matter of when the situation would present itself. I got warm earlier in the game, which helped with my nerves a bit and settled me down," he said. That chance presented itself in the top of the sixth inning.
 


With runners on second and third with one out and two lefties coming up, Head Coach Jon Deeble signaled out to the bullpen for Tols. He struggled to find the strike zone against the first batter with some close misses and ended up walking the batter, loading the bases. Tols only needed two pitches to get the next hitter. On the second pitch, he threw a fastball low and away, getting the hitter to roll over to the shortstop, who then tossed it to the second baseman, who threw it to first, getting the 6-4-3 inning-ending double play Team Australia ended up winning the game 11-8, thanks to an eight-run eighth inning.
 
When asked of his plans for next year, Tols stated, "We are about half way through both seasons, so there is plenty of baseball still to be played. We are currently sitting in first place with the Bite, so hopefully we will continue to win games and make the playoffs. After both seasons end, I'll fly back to KC and start spring training with the T-Bones."
 
Tols is also excited for the upcoming Rockhurst baseball season. "I'm excited to get back to the nest and watch the Hawks play again. I was lucky enough to spend some time with the new freshmen and think that they should be able to have a lot of success this year with the mix of new and older guys. And as always 'Go Hawks!' "