Getting Your Foot In The International Door With Austrian Second Division Baseball

In October 2013, Jeff Barto decided to get an early start contacting clubs in Europe for the 2014 season. The NCAA division one grad from the Utah Valley University had a number of opportunities quickly pop up soon after creating a profile on the International Baseball Community website. After exchanging a few emails with about 8 different clubs, his inbox dried up and all leads fizzled up. Just before the new year and right around the time when Barto starting wonder if he was going to get another opportunity, a club from second Division Austria made him an offer and he jumped on it. Second division Austria was not the ideal level of competition, but Jeff knew it was a chance for him to harness his coaching skills and get his foot into professional baseball overseas. Upon arriving in Austria, Barto was whisked off to Florence, Italy, where the team spent a long weekend for spring training. When the season finally rolled around, Barto and his young squad found themselves at the top of the standings early on. The drastic level of talent and age in the league was something new to Barto as he was surprised to find himself playing alongside a couple of 16 year olds. Eventually the inexperience of his team succumbed to a few of the more experienced clubs in the league who also had some talented imports on their roster, including former indy players out of the U.S. and Japan. The club managed to finish a respectable fourth and made strides in their development as a whole, absorbing the knowledge that Barto brought with him. Barto enjoyed the benefit of living near the Alps near the border of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Germany. He also had the opportunity to play at one of Europe's largest international tournaments (Finkstonball) with a team formed of imports playing across Europe. Barto finished the tournament with an era of 0.00 and walked away with the best pitcher award. When asked about the tournament Barto referred to it as "A party with a little baseball". Upon recording this interview in mid-August as the season in Austria was winding down, Barto announces that he has recently signed on to play winter ball in Perth, Australia. A foot in the door no doubt.