The Star: August 01, 2019

The Star Thursday August 1 2019
28
SPORT
news online at www.star.kiwi
Nothing out of hand with this pitcher
FAST BALL: Josh Wilson will become just the second
Canterbury baseballer to play at college in the United States.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
• By Gordon Findlater
TEENAGE BASEBALL Josh
Wilson will take his talents
stateside after striking a
scholarship to play at Hesston
College in Kansas.
The 18-year-old pitcher
will become just the second
Canterbury baseballer to play
at college in the United States
and the first to receive a
scholarship to play when
he leaves for Kansas on
August 11.
He is also the latest youngster
chasing the dream of becoming
Kiwi to play in Major League
Baseball. Christchurch softball
turned baseball player Travis
Wilson – who is of no relation
to Josh – came tantalisingly
close to cracking MLB in the
early 2000s.
Wilson only took up baseball
three years ago when he was
introduced to the sport by a
friend. However, a background
in cricket made the adaption
easier.
“He’s taken to it like a duck
Eddie’s Eastern Eagles on
the hunt for elusive trophy
• By Gordon Findlater
THE EASTERN Eagles will have
their first crack at the business
end of the club rugby league
competition in seven years as
they hunt for their first Pat
Smith Trophy since 1981.
The Eagles relished the do or
die nature of their final roundrobin
match against Riccarton
on Saturday to make the top four
for the first time since 2012.
On Saturday they leapfrogged
Riccarton into fourth with a
31-16 victory at Wainoni Park.
Of the squad which won at the
weekend only Mikaere Ropiha
and Longe Faalilo were part
of the Eagles squad which last
appeared in their last semi-final
appearance.
The Eagles will head to
Kaiapoi next weekend to play
the Northern Bulldogs for a spot
in the preliminary final. The
other semi-final will see minor
premiers Linwood host Hornby.
The winner will gain automatic
entry to the grand-final, while
the loser will play in the preliminary
final.
After finishing seventh in 2017
the Eagles rebounded last year,
but missed the top four by one
point. Coach Eddie Timo-Latu
believes a shift in culture and
mind-set has been key in the
team’s resurgence.
“It’s about having the heart
for the club and not the heart
for being a premier player . . .
people’s hearts and minds need
to be with the whole club and
not just their own identity,” said
Timo-Latu.
Part of the shift in creating a
whole club culture has involved
BIG STAGE: Sea Muaimalae crosses the line for one of two
tries which helped the Eagles defeat Riccarton on Saturday.
many of the Eagles premier players
coaching junior teams at the
club and cooking meals for prize
giving each Saturday.
Timo Latu says his side’s biggest
challenge is their lack in size
against the likes of Hornby and
Linwood’s forwards. However,
the Eagles have adapted by introducing
a rugby union influenced
defensive patterns. They have
adopted a “legs first” tackling
technique, breaking away from
the traditional technique of tackling
higher to wrap up the ball
handler’s arms.
“We’ve always known it’s going
to give opportunities for offloads,
so it’s about our outsides
being aware and smart about it,”
he said.
The club known as Eastern
Suburbs between 1968 and 2005
and the Aranui Eagles until
changing name to Eastern Eagles
last year. They last won the Pat
Smith Trophy in 1981.
Meanwhile, the bottom four
finishers of the round-robin
Riccarton, Halswell, Celebration
and Papanui will now play for
the Gore Cup.
to water. The cricketers seem to
be able to adapt quite well,” said
Canterbury Baseball president
Brian Hemera.
“They see the ball coming
overarm to them with cricket,
so it’s a bit like facing a full toss
really.”
Wilson says he enjoyed
watching baseball and had
played t-ball in his primary
school years, but was unaware a
baseball competition existed in
Christchurch.
“I hadn’t done much pitching
before baseball, but I knew
I had a decently strong arm
from fielding on the boundary
in cricket . . . when I was first
started I was rubbish. I couldn’t
throw a strike to save my life,”
said Wilson.
“My coach helped me a lot
with solidifying solid form and
a good technique. It’s a massive
part of pitching and I’ve just
kept doing that. I don’t even
have to throw a ball, I just go
through the same motion over
and over again.”
• By Gordon Findlater
WATCH OUT Larry the Lamb,
Canterbury and Highlanders
outside back Josh McKay has
taken his first steps towards a
career after rugby – as a mascot.
Contracted Canterbury
players were made unavailable
for Sunday’s final between
Lincoln University and High
School Old Boys which HSOB
won 34-29. However, that wasn’t
the case for McKay. He couldn’t
bend the rules to get himself
into the match day 22, but he
was able to take the jumper
(or costume in this case) of the
team’s unofficial 23rd man –
their Ram mascot.
The idea came about through
a conversation with the
university’s sports co-ordinator
Graeme Campbell following
their semi-final victory against
Shirley.
“I thought, it’s the only way
I’m going to be able to get myself
on the field in this final . . . some
of the boys were there when he
asked me to do it, and they were
pretty keen. They said give it a
crack it’ll be pretty hard case,”
said McKay.
It wasn’t just the Lincoln side
that made a red-hot start to
Sunday’s final at Rugby Park.
While the Rams jumped out to
an early 29-5 lead, their Ram
(McKay) was beginning to
feel the extra heat and sweat
that goes with being inside a
costume.
McKay had a less pleasant
second half as HSOB completed
an impressive comeback, scoring
a number of tries in front of their
vocal supporters.
Persistence has paid off. Last
year Wilson travelled to the US
with the New Zealand under-18
team which competed at the
Arizona Fall Classic Showcase.
The tournament allowed Wilson
to show off his talents in front of
college scouts which has led to
the scholarship opportunity at
the junior college.
Wilson says he gets most
of his strikes from curve balls
and sliders and can currently
get his fast ball near 80mph
(128km/h).
He currently plays in
the Christchurch mens
competition which has just
four teams. However, with a
number of younger players
taking up the game he can see
more of them following in his
footsteps.
“I can definitely see guys
younger than me going there. I
wish I started when I was 12 or
13. Those kids are getting really
good coaching and I can see
them doing really well,” Wilson
said.
Super Rugby star
turns Rams mascot
NEW CAREER: Josh McKay
went from the Canterbury
wing to Lincoln University
wing man for their club
final on Sunday.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
“Unfortunately we weren’t
scoring too many points so I
didn’t venture down there too
often,” he said.
“Once they found out it was
me under the suit I copped a fair
bit of abuse.”
McKay is now back to
concentrating on his efforts on
the field ahead of Canterbury’s
Mitre 10 Cup campaign which
begins against Waikato next
weekend.
However, after an impressive
debut as Lincoln’s Ram he
admits he may look for some tips
from his superiors before setting
his sights on a potential career
move.
“I probably should have taken
some tips off Larry the Lamb.
I’m not much of a dancer and
I don’t have much rhythm . . .
I could look at that as a career
after footy,” he said.