Three Howick College students are set to embark on a trip to the United States of America to represent New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region at the 2023 Little League Senior Baseball World Series.
Joseph Hill (Y11), Juntaro Miyata (Y11) and former student, Jayden Whittle (2022) were all selected in the Auckland U16 Senior League Team.
Hill is also a talented softball player and has been selected for the NZ Developing Sox U18 softball team to represent New Zealand at the Queensland State Softball Championships at the end of September.
He was named the best NZ team batter in the NZ Developing Sox U16 Boys Softball team that competed in the 2022 Queensland competition.
The tournament will run from July 29 to August 5 in Easley, South Carolina, and is so significant in world baseball that every game is covered by ESPN.
Multiple youngsters from the Howick Pakuranga Hawks Baseball Club have also been selected for their respective Auckland League sides that will be travelling to Korea to compete in the Little League World Series Asia Pacific Qualifying Tournament from June 20th.
HP Hawks president Mike Bongiovanni says the club is extremely proud of the players that have been selected to represent Auckland and New Zealand in the various age groups.
“It is a testament to their hard work, their parents’ commitment to bring them to practice every day and to the coaches who put a great deal of time into their professional development which translates into highly skilled baseball players,” he says.
Respective tournament winners will also represent Asia Pacific in the 2023 Little League World Series in the USA.
“We wish the players and teams the best of luck, and again, a special congratulations to the parents and coaches,” Bongiovanni says.
The full list is (with attached Givealittle pages);
- Amani Etzenhouser (12U Major League)
- Curtis Campbell (12U Major League)
- Ethan Lloyd (12U Major League)
- James McCloughen (12U Major League)
- Kanema Cooknson-Siono (12U Major League)
- Simon Aukett (13U Intermediate League)
- Nathaniel Scordino (13U Intermediate League) https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/nates-baseball-dream-come-true
- Ngapera Arthur-Witika (13U Intermediate League)
- Risa Miyata (13U Intermediate League)
- Nikau Waru (14U Junior League) https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-nikau-play-baseball-in-asia
- Shayne Scanlan (14U Junior League)
For more information on the Howick Pakuranga Baseball Club visit www.hphawks.co.nz, registrations for the 2023/2024 season will open in mid-August.
