Marek Deska

Marek Leszek Deska (born August 24, 1985) is a Polish-Canadian professional baseball player who began his baseball career in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and as of 2007, is playing in the Dutch Major League (Honkbal Hoofdklasse) for Mediamonks RCH.[1] Upon his first start, which was against Instant Holland Almere '90 on May 20, 2007, Deska became the first player in history to play in the highest Dutch league with a Polish passport.[2] Deska is a right-handed pitcher and started his professional baseball career with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Major Baseball League.

In 2006, as a rookie in the Intercounty Major Baseball League, Deska acted as a reliever for the Toronto Maple Leafs and posted a 1–2 record with a 3.12 ERA while tallying 19 strikeouts in 17.1 innings of work.[3]

Deska pitched in his first Dutch Major League (Honkbal Hoofdklasse) season in 2007 for RCH Mediamonks who made their first appearance in the top Dutch league in 6 years. Deska ended the season with a 3.70 ERA and boasted a 3–6 record.[4] He finished in the top 10 in the league in pitching categories such as innings pitched, complete games and quality starts with 7 while finishing 12th in the league in total strikeouts.[5] He fell to 2–8, 4.85 in 2008.[6]

Deska has also pitched for the Polish National Baseball Team. In the 2008 European Championship Qualifiers, Deska allowed two runs and fanned 12 in 9 innings of work for Poland, leading the Prague qualifiers in K's; Poland failed to advance to the 2009 European Championship with a 2–2 record.[6]

Deska is currently a physical education teacher at a catholic high school in Brampton, Ontario, Canada