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Botany Downs National SS Champs
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 03 April 2012 12:00
- Written by Daniel Silverton
Botany Downs Secondary College boasts the team to beat in high school baseball after adding the North Island title to its win in [last seasons] Auckland championship.
They beat Glenfield College, which had Major League Baseball signee for the Baltimore Orioles Pita Rona in its line-up, 16-7 in the final at Crossfield Reserve, Glendowie, last Friday.
Led by batter Sam Long and pitcher Jacob Burgin, who were both named in the All-Tournament team, Botany went through its seven games unbeaten.
Manager Richard Henty says the side was "optimistically confident" going into the tournament with a couple of additions to the team which beat King's College in the Auckland decider in December.
"We were expecting to win," says Henty. "The team has a good nucleus of coach and players and we head-hunted cricket players with strong throwing arms and hand-eye coordination."
With pitchers restricted to throwing 80 pitches a game, once Botany had seen off Glenfield's starter Rona, who topped the batting stats and was named tournament MVP, the hits and runs totted up.
A six-run fourth inning gave Botany a 9-5 lead, before three homers in the fifth provided the final score.
"The team was ecstatic at the end," says Henty. "We'd had a massive lead, so it felt like victory ahead of that time. The three home runs allowed the guys to rush out of the dugout to celebrate."
St Kent's Taylor Simmons and Jordan Hosking were also named in the All-Tournament team.
- Botany Downs Secondary College baseball squad:
Dylan Irwin, Sam Long, Jacob Burgin, Abba Dassannyake, Matthew Broughton, Hamish Dickason, Thomas Flanagan, Cole Holland, Anthony Holtzhausen, Zachary Petersen, Stefan Williams, Oran Henry, Vishant Kumar, Taylor Lightfoot, Diinkant Ravichandran. Coach: Mark Irwin. Manager: Richard Henty. - New Zealand Secondary Schools National Baseball All Tournament Team:
Sam Long Botany Downs Secondary College
Jacob Burgin Botany Downs Secondary College
Corey Tipene Glendowie College
Pita Rona Glenfield College (also named MVP)
Akimasa Sagabe Glenfield College
Kohei Ueha One Tree Hill College
Javarn Woolston One Tree Hill College
Taylor Simmons St. Kentigern College
Jordan Hosking St. Kentigern College
By Daniel Silverton
Photos from the 2012 Baseball New Zealand National Secondary Schools Championships
