A valuable baseball family

By Marc McGowan
PAKENHAM father-and-son combination Red and Jesse Hunter are both celebrating after recently winning the most-valuable player awards for their respective baseball teams.
Red, 35, played the sport for three seasons as a teenager, while Jesse, 10, had never played before.
They played their first season for the Pakenham Pumas this year in the Dandenong Baseball Association.
Jesse suited up for the Pumas’ under-12 side as a catcher before turning his hand to pitching in the last few matches.
“It was a surprise to win,” he said. “I had fun and, hopefully, all the guys from my team did, too.”
Jesse and Garfield driving partner Lachie Schreurs also finished seventh in the Australian Junior Sidecar Championship in January.
He has competed in the sport since he was five years old at Gippsland Speedway Motorcycle Club and also led Pakenham Consolidated School to the district title in the 4 x 100m relay on the athletics track.
Red’s return to baseball coincided with Jesse’s interest in the game.
He practised with his son at home every night to help him develop his skills before one day Pumas’ president Rob Printz asked the older Hunter to fill in for the club’s B2 senior side.
Red, who was a national-level track cyclist in his youth, accepted the invitation and, in his own words, ‘just kept going back’.
“The major reason for Jesse’s success is his commitment to baseball, which is the same for all sports he does,” he said.
“He just saw baseball and fell in love with the game. I believe if you help them as much as you can with all sports it makes them a better person. I grew up with sport every day and I have an eight-year-old (Max) as well who is finding his sport as well and filled in in a couple of (baseball) games in winter.”
Jesse will play baseball over summer as well, but Red is taking a break to rest his body before resuming in winter.
“I’ll play again next year, but I’ll probably only stay with the B2 side because they’re a good bunch of blokes down there,” Red said.
“Some of the guys in B2 have never played before and come from cricket, so all it is is a bit of fun.
“Some of the other guys’ kids also play in the under-12s, so it’s something they can do with their kids.”