A core group of the nation’s best under-18 baseball players has been named to form what Baseball New Zealand officials believe could be the best Junior National Diamondblacks team that the program has ever put together.

Eleven players have been named as alternates, and the final five players will be selected from this group by New Zealand U18 manager Dan Tan and his coaching staff in the coming weeks. The final twenty players will head to Guam for the 2019 U18 Baseball Confederation of Oceania (BCO) Championship from January 23 - 27. It is likely Australia, Guam, American Samoa and Palau will field sides in the tournament.

The New Zealand side will compete for the right to play at next year’s World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) U18 Baseball World Cup to be played in South Korea later in 2019.  The staff was able to look at many of the nation’s best players last month in Arizona, where the team travelled to participate in the Arizona Fall Classic, the most prestigious collegiate showcase tournament in America.

Tan and national coaches Nate McDonald and John Lee will meet up with US-based pitching coach, Gary Wheelock, a long-time Seattle Mariners minor league pitching coach.

The coaching staff selected the following players to represent New Zealand in Guam:

Pitchers:

1.            Charlie Adamson—Los Angeles, Calif., USA

2.            Ryan Sanders—USA

3.            Chayton Krauss—Dallas, Texas, USA

4.            Abishek Brindhaben—Dubai, UAE

5.            Matthew Fegan—Auckland, New Zealand

6.            Harrison Loudon—Auckland, New Zealand

7.            Caleb Taylor—Welllington, New Zealand

Catchers:

8.            Faenza Bishop—Brisbane, Australia

Infielders:

9.            Joshua Pakola—Los Angeles, Calif., USA

10.          Marcus Feagaiga—Brisbane, Australia

11.          Tyrone Boaler—Auckland, New Zealand

12.          Taichi Nakao—Auckland, New Zealand

Outfielders:

13.          Maxwell Leuga—Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

14.          Dominic Elliott—Auckland, New Zealand

15.          Sage Shaw-Tait—Hutt Valley, New Zealand

Alternates (Five will be chosen to represent the nation in Guam):

1.            Huriwaka Repia (C)—Auckland, New Zealand

2.            Kazuya Yasue (C)—Tokyo, Japan

3.            Minjae Kim (C)—Auckland, New Zealand

4.            Harrison Wildbore (C)—Auckland, New Zealand

5.            Tukuteihu Repia (P/INF)—Auckland, New Zealand

6.            Ryoma Fuse (P/INF)—Auckland, New Zealand

7.            Beckham Crooks (P/INF)—Brisbane, Australia

8.            Jed Woodger (P)—Victoria, Australia

9.            Marlee Saunderson (P)—Auckland, New Zealand

10.          Taylor Irwin (P)—Auckland, New Zealand

11.          Te Aati Paul (P)—Auckland, New Zealand

“We have a solid nucleus on this team,” said Tan, after naming 26 total players to the roster and alternates as well who will play for the final five spots. “We’re finally beginning to build some pitching depth, and up the middle we have some young talent who we believe are college prospects in the very near future.”

Guam last hosted the U18 Oceania Championship in 2012 when Tan was a member of the coaching staff and the team roster included future Orioles minor leaguer Pita Rona, former Oregon State University left-hander Mak Fox and perennial national team players Joe Boyce and Dewald Deklerk. The qualifier is an opportunity for the team to test its mettle against the Oceania region’s best players, and also collect valuable points in the global WBSC standings.

Article added: Thursday 22 November 2018