Former Marist Brothers Lismore player Michael Gahan, who is the Sunday Profile, played for the Under 13 and Under 17 Australian Baseball teams before he left for the US to play college baseball. Now 24 and a regular in the national side, he has returned to Australia to play as a pitcher for the Adelaide Bite in the Australian Baseball League. He is still living between Australia and America.

How long did you live in Lismore for?

I was born and raised in Lismore and lived with my mum Emma, dad Anthony and brother Jordan until I was 18 years old. I then moved to the US to play college baseball.

What are your memories of growing up in Lismore?

I have a lot of memories growing up in Lismore. I remember a lot about playing sports really because I was playing baseball in the winter and in the summer, I would play cricket. Eventually, I moved away from cricket to focus solely on baseball. I went to high school at Woodlawn (St John's College) and enjoyed playing on the school basketball team as well.

When did you first hit or throw a ball? How did it come about that you became a pitcher? I bet you made a mess on your parents’ walls!!

From what I was told I began playing tee ball when I was four years old. I was fortunate enough that I wasn’t just a pitcher growing up and was able to play two-way player in college (Pitcher/Infielder). Recently, my focus has moved to just being a pitcher in the Australian Baseball League as that will give me the best chance to play at a higher level.

Did you mainly play baseball straight off in Lismore, or did you start on another sport?

It was baseball from the beginning and I played a few other sports occasionally. I grew up playing baseball in Lismore since I can remember.

Was it difficult to be playing baseball when so much of the focus in summer in Australia is on cricket? Did you have an idol?

When I was younger, I would play cricket in the summer until around 16 or 17 and then I began to play baseball in Brisbane during the summer, so I was playing almost close to all year round. I have a couple of idols. They are not just pitchers. I’d say my favourite player in Nolan Arenado, who is the third basemen for the Colorado Rockies. My favour pitcher would have to be Pedro Martinez, who played in the big leagues from 1992-2009. Being a Boston Redsox fan, he was one of the best in Boston during his time there.

What attracted you to baseball and what was the baseball scene like in Lismore, was it low-key or fairly intense? Who was your mentor/mentors?

I think that I was just put into baseball because of my family. All the guys in the family played and I just took it on as well. Growing we had a really competitive league in Lismore and there was a high calibre of players to learn from. I would say that the competition was extremely competitive. I think I made my A grade debut when I was 15 or 16 so playing above my age group against grown men it was tough at times, but it definitely made me a better player. I think my mentors growing up would be my dad, uncles and grandfather although Dave, Mick, and Terry Youngberry, as well as Matt Buckley played a major part in my development as a player. After being in the US for 5 years I gained a lot more mentors which has made me better as well. My college coaches Jeff Brabant and Aaron Sutton are still mentors to this day as well as all the assistant coaches during my time in college.

Which club did you play for in Lismore?

I grew up playing for Marist Brothers Baseball Club at Albert Park.

I know you were selected for the U19, U17, and U13 Australian national teams. At what stage did you decide you wanted to head overseas and take things a step further?

Being able to play for Australia is really special, it is my favourite uniform to wear. There is just something different about putting on green and gold and playing against the best players from other countries. I recently got back from Colombia in South America with the U23 Australian Team and it was an awesome experience and made me really want to keep playing. Making the U13, U17 and U19 teams were great experiences too and gave me the ability to see different places throughout the world.

What year did you first head overseas to play? It must have been a wrench to leave your family behind. Did you promise your parents you would return or not?

I played overseas in 2007, although I didn’t pack up and completely leave home until 2013. It definitely was tough leaving my family behind but they were super supportive of what I wanted to do and to be honest they were probably sick of me being at home. We never really talked about whether I would come back or not but I would come home for Christmas holidays every year during college so I would see them once a year.

Australian international baseballer Michael Gahan has returned to Australia to play for the Adelaide Bite in the Australian Baseball League. Picture: Supplied

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I read you finished playing for Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets with a career- best performance last year. You left on a high. Why?

Montana State was awesome but unfortunately I had to leave because I was graduating with a degree in Business Marketing. Technically everyone is only allowed to play four years of college athletics pending a serious injury, in which you can have a medical redshirt, to keep an extra year of eligibility. I pitched in a sudden death game which we had to win in order to stay alive in the conference championships. It was pretty cool that I threw a complete game and got us to the next game of the conference tournament. I really enjoyed my time as a Yellowjacket and enjoyed my time going to university there.

Tell us in detail about the American experience. I think you started with Miles CC. Where’s that?

I began at a junior college in Miles City, Montana, which was called Miles Community College. After two years there I had committed to a university in Denver, Colorado, but decided to transfer to Montana State University Billings which is in Billings, Montana. I spent two years at MCC and transferred to Montana State for my last two years of college.

Was it much of a step up in terms of the level of competition compared to Australia?

It was different. Everyone on the team was competing for a starting position. There was definitely a learning curve over the first couple of months. We go from practicing in Australia once or twice a week and playing on a Saturday. Over there we were practicing every day and playing four games a week, so the workload was a lot higher. As I moved up through the different colleges the competition got better and better.

You’ve got guys over there pitching at almost 100 miles an hour, giving you a reaction time as a batter of less than a third of a second. Tell us the art of being a pitcher? Is it all in the arm or is the posture something to do with it to?

It’s definitely surreal seeing those guys that throw that hard in real life. It sounds different out of the hand and it becomes harder to see and react. I had the chance to hit against a couple of guys during my time in the US that were throwing 96 mph and it is extremely hard. They definitely had the upper hand in those situations. On the other end throwing hard is being more relevant in baseball today. To some people’s belief throwing hard is not just about the arm, it’s about the whole body and getting it to work in a way that I like to call the ‘Rubber Band effect’ or ‘Coiling’. Throwing a baseball hard really comes down to getting each body part to move at a maximum velocity, starting from your legs through your hips and torso and eventually through the shoulders, then elbow, and finally released from the fingers. Today’s game of baseball is being taken over by technology and now us athletes are using it to our advantage to make us better.

How’s the gamesmanship, is there intimidation going on? Were you as the Aussie, always the outsider?

The gamesmanship was awesome, not really an intimidation as such. Being an Aussie definitely helped me become friends with a lot of people and we talk about our teams being a family and that’s what we were. We all supported each other through the ups and the downs of the game. I have made so many friendships just from playing baseball it's actually incredible.

Former Marist Brothers baseball player Michael Gahan throws a pitch for Australia. Photo: Anlocol

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Did you have to work to support yourself in the US or was the pay sufficient?

Because I went into the US on a student visa it didn’t really allow me to work unless it was on the university campus. My last year at Montana State I got a paid internship on campus so that was pretty cool. I got to make a little bit of money and got some marketing experience as well.

I think you are now playing for the Adelaide Bite. How did that come about?

That came about from playing on the Australian Team in Colombia. Our pitching coach Luke Prokopec for the national team was a part of the coaching staff for the Adelaide Bite and was impressed by my outings during the championships and it all came together from there. They gave me the opportunity to break out into the league as a starting pitcher, so I took the opportunity and haven’t looked back. I am in off-season now, so I am travelling to the US as a bit of a holiday for a month, I am in Denver, Colorado right now, and then I am coaching/working out in Canada. After that I will go back to the US for a month and go to Driveline Baseball which is basically a high tech place that people go to workout and use the high tech equipment they, such as motion sensors and biomechanical equipment to see what baseball players can do to gain more velocity and gain better ways to improve performance.

How does it feel when you come back to Lismore, how do you get treated and what about the improvements to the Albert Park baseball centre? Do you train there at all?

I enjoy coming home after being away for so long. It’s kind of relaxing in a way to just hang out at home and catch up with friends and maybe head to the beach. Everyone still treats me the same and there are a lot of good people still involved in Far North Coast Baseball. The improvements to the facilities are awesome. I enjoy coming home and seeing all the new upgrades that have happened at Albert Park. The facility is moving in a great direction and I look forward to seeing the finished product. I have trained there after a few of the upgrades but have not seen the upgrades to Baxter Field yet.

What do you feel you’ve gained from having baseball as one of the major focuses in your life? You have been living your dream in essence.

It has been an awesome journey and hopefully there is a lot more to come. I think during my time in college really taught me a lot about myself and how to handle different situations. I think one of the biggest attributes I gained was taking accountability for my performances and if it was bad figuring out a way to get better. I like to think of it as just trying to get better by one percent every day and then at the end of the month or year you can ask yourself: 'Did I get one per cent better every day and if you did then you know that you have improved from where you once were.

I know it does not come easy but any advice to any youngster playing the sport?

I think the biggest advice for youngsters playing sport is to have fun and compete. We all see people at sporting events yelling at kids what to do and to be better. It’s unbelievable seeing parents yelling at kids while they are playing sport. Let them have fun and from there, they can decide if they want to pursue their sport as a career. Too often I see parents trying to raise their kids to be the next Lebron James or Roger Federer when it should really just be about enjoying the sport.

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