Tracy High senior John Jaeger couldn’t wait until summer to play baseball, so he went to Australia for the two weeks over Christmas and New Year’s to serve as a baseball ambassador for the U.S.

Jaeger, a right-handed pitcher for the Bulldogs, competed against Australia’s regional teams as part of the 18th annual Australia Goodwill Series. It included 12 games over two weeks between Dec. 22 and Jan. 2, with stops in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

“It was a fun trip,” Jaeger said. “It gave me experiences that California teams wouldn’t give me.”

The Goodwill Series brings together players from Australia, the U.S., China and Japan, and introduces them to each country’s of baseball.

“It brought me a whole different way of thinking about a baseball game,” Jaeger said.

Jaeger, who was the San Joaquin Athletic Association co-most valuable player for 2012, will pitch for the NCAA Division I University of the Pacific following his senior year at Tracy High. In the meantime, he plays for a San Francisco Giants scout team out of Stockton.

Jaeger said he got the opportunity to take the trip after the scout team’s head coach, Keith Snider, introduced him to Bob Williams, one of the organizers for the Goodwill Series.

“They don’t really have high school ball (in Australia),” Jaeger said. “They have state and national teams, and they use this to get ready for nationals.”

As a member of the under-18 Nationals, Jaeger got to show off his skills both on the mound and at the plate.

He pitched for wins in three games, including a complete seven-inning game on Dec. 27 against the Western Australia State All Stars, a 4-1 win for his team where he gave up five hits and struck out nine batters.

Jaeger also played first base, and went four-for-10 at the plate, with two RBI’s and two runs scored, in five other games.

• Contact Bob Brownne at 830-4227 or brownne@tracypress.com.