Elliot Johnstone
HP HAWK’S ‘STATES’ OF PLAY y ball in the USA, By signing a contract to pla s rounded first base a local baseball pitcher ha way to home plate, as he seeks to run all the ins. as JON RAWLINSON expla
He’s a friendly enough young man but Elliot Johnstone intimates that he’s prepared to intimidate by playing hardball with his fastball to the tune of ‘chin music’. “You don’t want the batters to be too comfortable in the batter’s box. If I have to go close to hitting them, to get them off my plate, I definitely will,” the Howick Pakuranga Hawks and Auckland Tuatara pitcher says. “I’ve been clocked at 94 miles per hour, which is about average in Major League Baseball (MLB), but coaches have told me they see potential for me to increase my velocity even more.” His father’s business, Howick Funeral Home, is an ironic setting in which to chat with Elliot, considering his pitching is as lively as it gets. The former Star of the Sea student is now hoping to star in America’s minor leagues and, thanks to a contract with the New York Mets, he’s on the road to ‘the big show’. “I’m a mid-season signing, so I’ll be going to [The Mets’] Florida Spring training centre. They’ll put me through my paces and we’ll see where it goes from there. I’ll probably start playing rookie ball with the Gulf Coast League Mets and then, maybe, on to the minor leagues,” he says. “When I was young, I thought it would be cool to play Major League ball but now this opportunity’s presented itself, it’s a surreal feeling.”
Elliot Johnstone Photos Wayne Martin 12 | eastlife | july 2021
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