The Counties Baseball club has produced five New Zealand Diamondblacks representatives and over 20 New Zealand age-group internationals since their formation in 2014 and are set to add to that number.
Matthew Borchert, La Aerenga, Randy Yard, Jason Matthews and Tairea Thompson have all represented the New Zealand men’s national side – the New Zealand Diamondblacks – and are products of the Counties Baseball program.
Matthews continues to play professionally in the United States while Yard and Thompson are among the leading domestic players.
Borchert and Aerenga came out of the original Counties Baseball club that competed in the early 1990s. Borchert has since been a leading figure in establishing the existing club in 2014.
Yard was signed to the Cincinnati Reds organisation and played minor league baseball before moving to New Zealand. He’s had a huge impact on the club as both a player and coach and continues to be the MVP of the Premier side.
He is the sole Counties Colt to have made it onto the Auckland Tuatara roster after being named to the Australian Baseball League side in the successful 2019-20 season.
The ABL club recently announced a Tuatara Pathways initiative to be run collectively with Baseball New Zealand with up to 40 players aged 16-23 involved. Counties Premier players Thompson, outfielder Dominic Elliot and right handed pitcher Taylor Irwin are likely to be involved in that concept and project to be future Tuatara representatives.
Youngsters such as Caleb Dufty, Kaleb Wade, Katene HUrawai, Tipene Kennedy and Joseph Hill also project to be future Diamondblacks or Tuatara players having already caught the eye at age group level.
Counties Baseball List of Representative players and coaches
Auckland Tuatara (ABL)
Randy Yard
NZ Diamondblacks
Matthew Borchert
La Aerenga
Randy Yard
Jason Matthews
Tairea Thompson
NZ U18
Dylan Irwin
Jason Matthews
Tairea Thompson
Gino Timoti
Kyle Anderson
Ayrton Laird
Taylor Irwin
NZ U15
Taylor Irwin
Marlee Saunderson
NZ U12
Caleb Dufty
NZ U13 Cal Ripken World Series Team
Taylor Irwin x 2
Brooklyn Te Kawa
Caleb Dufty (Reserve)
NZ 17U Senior League
Dylan Irwin x 2
Jason Matthews
NZ 16U Senior League LL
Taylor Irwin x 2
Jayden Priestley
Marlee Saunderson
Matthew Gavin
Kaleb Wade
Tipene Kennedy
Katene Hurawai
ASIA-PACIFIC 16U Senior League (World Series)
Taylor Irwin
Jayden Priestley
NZ Junior League LL
Kaleb Wade
Caleb Dufty
Joseph Hill
Jayden Whittle
Brody Gwatkin
NZ Intermediate League LL
Caleb Wade
NZ Major League LL
Caleb Dufty
Jaden Takiari
Cole McWilliams
Major League Baseball
Randy Yard – Cincinnati Reds Organization
Collegiate Baseball USA
Randy Yard – Central Arizona College
Randy Yard – University of Hawaii
Jason Matthews – University of South Carolina
Jake May – Alvin Community College, Texas
Regional Honours:
Jason Matthews – Counties Manukau Junior Sportsperson of the Year
Coaching
Randy Yard – NZ U13 Cal Ripken Team (Manager / Head Coach)
Mark Irwin – NZ U12, U14, U16 (Assistant / Pitching Coach)
Mark Irwin – NZ 18U (Executive Officer)
Mark Irwin – NZ U13 Cal Ripken Team (Assistant / Pitching Coach)
Mark Irwin – NZ 17U Senior League LL x 2 (Manager / Head Coach)
Mark Irwin – NZ 16U Senior League LL x 1 (Manager / Head Coach), x 3 (Assistant / Pitching Coach)
Mark Irwin – Asia-Pacific 16U Senior League LL (Assistant / Pitching Coach)
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