Tyson Gillies got a ticket on Wednesday. And he really likes it.

Gillies, an outfielder from Kamloops who plays for the Class AA Reading Phillies, received his plane ticket to Germany where he will play for Canada in a World Baseball Classic qualifying tournament.

"I'm really excited to be playing with Team Canada," he wrote in an email to The Daily News.

Gillies, who has never been to Europe, is to fly to Germany on Sept. 17. The tournament runs from Sept. 20-24 at the Armin-Wolf-Arena, a 10,000-seat facility in Regensburg.

Canada went winless in the 2009 tournament, as did teams from Chinese Taipei, Panama and South Africa. They are four of 16 teams playing in qualifying tournaments at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., Rod Carew National Stadium in Panama City, Xinzhuang Stadium in New Taipei, and Regensburg.

The other 12 teams have been invited to take part by the International Baseball Federation.

In Regensburg, Canada will play in a pool with Great Britain, Czech Republic and Germany. Each qualifier is a double-elimination affair, with the winner getting a spot in the 2013 WBC.

Canada will open against Great Britain, likely on Sept. 20.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Gillies, who will turn 24 on Oct. 31, went into Thursday's action hitting .300 for Reading, the Class AA farm team of the National League's Philadelphia Phillies.

In his last 10 games, Gillies, a left-handed bat, was 16-for-44 (.364), and that included an 0-for-5 on Wednesday night.

Reading, which plays in the Eastern League, is 73-64, good for second in the Eastern Division, four games behind the New York Yankees' affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. With the regular season wrapping up this weekend, the Thunder and Phillies appear headed for a best-of-five first-round playoff meeting.

Gillies has been plagued by hamstring problems over the last two or three seasons, so much so that his teammates have nicknamed him Hamster. But he has been swinging the bat well since returning from his latest episode.

He also missed a few games this season after Philadelphia suspended him following a verbal altercation with Reading's bus driver.

Gillies said he will be joined on Team Canada by Jay Johnson, a southpaw reliever from Sussex Corner, N.B., who is 2-1 with Reading. The two have become good friends during their time in the Philadelphia organization.

Gillies last wore a Team Canada uniform in 2006 when he played for the national junior team.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

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