28 June 2024
Perth pitcher Will Sherriff to train with Japan's Rakuten Golden Eagles for six weeks
22-year-old Team Australia and Perth Heat pitcher Will Sherriff has agreed to head to Japan for six weeks to train with the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
The Eagles are an organisation in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league – the country’s top tier competition. They are based in the city of Sendai in the Miyagi Prefecture.
Sherriff flies out on Sunday 30 June and will remain in Japan until mid-August.
He says it all started through a connection with Eagles’ pitcher Takahisa Hayakawa during the 2023-24 Australian Baseball League season.
Hayawaka, who also is on Japan’s national team, played on the Perth Heat with Sherriff. Hayakawa has become one of the top pitchers in the NPB.
“I became good buddies with him,” says Sherriff. “Near the end of his time in Australia, he got me in contact with a member of the Eagles’ baseball operations front office, Nozomi Kato, and we formed a really good relationship. With that, I got an opportunity to go and train with the Eagles.”
Sherriff says he will be training with the farm team in the minor leagues.
“You never know what can come from training with them,” says Sherriff. “None of this would be possible without Nozomi and Takahisa. Hopefully this opportunity will give more opportunities to Australians and experience this like me. It’s something I will be forever grateful for.”
Sherriff has spent four seasons in the Australian Baseball League with the Perth Heat. He’s also pitched for Australia at the World Baseball Classic and the Asia Professional Baseball Championships. Sherriff spent some time in the Arizona Diamondbacks organisation and is eligible for the Under-23 World Cup later this year.
Hayakawa currently has a 2.22 ERA in 80.0+ innings in the NPB this year.














