Kye Hodges loves baseball and loves to be on the field with his teammates. It’s that simple formula that has the 15-year-old Central Coast, Australia, resident — nicknamed Big Sexy by his hometown friends — excited to be in Freeport this week with a group of baseball players from Down Under as part of the Freeport International Baseball Invitational. “Just waking up every day, coming out here, knowing you’re going to play two games of baseball, playing with your mates, going up against new kids, meeting them and talking with them, that’s been a lot of fun,” said Hodges, who returned to the U.
S. after taking part in a tournament last year at the Cal Ripken Experience in Maryland. “As soon as I saw the opportunity to come back over here with this team, I knew I had to be a part of it and bring Big Sexy back to the states to enjoy the game I love.
” The Aussie Drop Bears, a collection of baseball talent from all throughout the country, is scheduled to play nine games through a pair of contests Saturday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.
m. at Freeport Community Park. Some of the players met each other for the first time Sunday when they gathered after arriving at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Others, such as 15-year-old Perth resident Jett Marchesano and 15-year-old Sydney resident Kobi Dodd, the son of Drop Bears manager/coach Shane Dodd, have prior experience as teammates in the U.S. Marchesano and Dodd were teammates last year in a Babe Ruth tournament in Virginia.
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