---RONEBERG: "It's going very well so far"

Baseballer playing in dream-land

Brett Roneberg is living his dream.
From a young age the gifted baseballer dreamt of playing in the United States.

At first it may have seemed a long way off but the hard work and persistance is paying handsome dividends as he begins to make his mark in his chosen sport.

"It's going very well so far, real exciting," said Roneberg from the US.
"It's a lot different to what I thought it would be. I expected it to be real tough, a grind and be real tired every night but if you look after yourself you're right to play every day."
"Mainly going to bed early and eating properly, that's the main two things."

Roneberg, 17, has been in Florida almost three months living, ironically, in the town of Melbourne, which has a population of about 100,000.
"It's a very laid-back city, only one main street like Cairns, it's very similar," he said.

Soon after arriving Stateside, Roneberg got straight into spring training with his tem, the Florida Marlins, the two-time defending champions of the 12-team Gulf Coast League.
"A lot of the first-year players were there, getting fit, getting arm strength to last a season to avoid injuries," he said.
"I struggled a little bit early because it was a bit tough but as the season's wore on I've got better."

The Marlins will play 60 games in their 70-day season and after just 10 games Roneberg has established himself as a capable fielder both at first base and also in the outfield..

But he is yet to hit a coveted home run, a feat he achieved for the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League finals at just 16 years of age.
"I've come close, I've hit a couple off the fence but hopefully it's not much longer before I get one," he said.

"You get paid but you don't get paid very much but the reward's there at the end of the day if you work hard. I'm the only player in the team that plays infield and outfield so that will get me more game time which is really good."