Naylor Ready For Lakewood
by Joe Adelizzi/APP.com
April 3 - Of all the ball yards, in all the towns, in all the world, Drew Naylor finds himself on the pitching mound at FirstEnergy Park, more than 10,000 miles from his home in Queensland, Australia.

So you can imagine the odds that when he looks to his catcher for a sign for the first pitch of the Lakewood BlueClaws season he would see a familiar face. But sure enough, he'll see Joel Naughton, a player he has known since he started pitching when he was 13 years old.

"It's certainly a nice feeling knowing that my catcher knows me so well and I'm so comfortable throwing to him,'' Naylor said as he prepared for Opening Day at 6:35 p.m. Thursday against the Lake County Captains.

Like most of this year's BlueClaws, Naylor is a big guy. He's 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and comes here following a big season with the  Williamsport Crosscutters in the New York-Penn League last year.

He was as close to an ace as you can be at that level. He was 8-6, led the league in innings pitched with 93, strikeouts with 97 and tied for the league lead in complete games with two.

"I could have kept going,'' he said. "I wasn't tired.''

He played ball in Hawaii in the fall and went home to Australia, waiting for his next assignment.

That was in Clearwater, Fla., this spring. It was the second mainland state he had visited.

"Florida, Pennsylvania and now New Jersey,'' Naylor said.

It is a long way from home, but he said that he has adjusted to life away from his country.

"You get over the homesickness. You learn to survive,'' he said.

It's not that baseball comes natural in his home country, nor do the 100 or so current players under contract to major league teams get a whole lot of attention back in Queensland.

"Oh, we know each other and might see each other at the ball park. But when you walk down the street people aren't looking at you,'' he said.

It was his father, Geoff, who got him involved in the strange game.

"He saw an ad in a newspaper for something called T-ball,'' Naylor said. "So he took me and my brother (Reece) and we started to learn the game.''

Baseball is taught at academies in Australia with junior teams. He started playing with Naughton when he was 13 and learned how to pitch.

"I've known him for a long time,'' Naughton said. "We lived about five miles from each other growing up.''

Naughton figures to be the starting catcher today, and will share duties with Jesus Sanchez this season. He brings experience to Lakewood, a team he played for last season.

"Having been here, I have a sense of what playing in Lakewood is like,'' Naughton said. "I also have some responsibilities as a leader.''

Naylor is ready to follow.

"I understand the honor of being an Opening Day pitcher. I appreciate the chance,'' Naylor said.

If all goes well, he will use his curveball to get outs.

"I think it is my best pitch,'' Naylor said.

How he goes about setting up hitters is a different story. There is little scouting available on players at this level when the season starts.

"You basically throw your stuff and learn about them as the game goes on,'' he said. "But I'll know some of them from last season in short season. You don't forget what pitches worked and which ones didn't.''

He's looking forward to learning about New Jersey and has already moved in with a host family, as have many of the BlueClaws who've arrived here Monday and began finding out about where they will be spending their summer.

"My family is planning on coming over to see me pitch this year,'' Naylor said. "I'm looking forward to that. They've never been to a game in America.''

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