By JARROD POTTER
TRADING his blue and orange for the green and gold, Lachlan Madden will get another chance to pitch for Australia’s under-21 baseball team that will vie for international glory.
After an already impressive 2014 playing his first season of minor league baseball overseas, Madden, 18, from Pakenham, was thrilled to hear he had been included in the Baseball Australia Under-21 team at the inaugural 21U Baseball World Cup in Taiwan.
The immediate selection was a nice change of pace for Madden – from the tryouts and practice matches he had to go through as a junior.
He’ll be well acquainted with donning the Australian colours and playing in Taichung’s baseball environment having represented the country at the 18U World Cup last year.
“It wasn’t really a selection process – just got an email saying you’re flying out and this is where you’re going and be prepared,” Madden said.
“It’s good though… I just want to put the uniform on again it’s a great feeling representing your country, yourself and your family… I just want to play.”
Madden is one of 18 pro-listed players on the 24-man Australian squad, highlighting a developing pool of elite baseball talent and he spent the Australian winter in the Dominican Republic honing his game with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Houston Astros minor league affiliate.
“Life abroad was really different – a big change with language barriers and on the field eight hours a day, six days a week, it was real tough mentally and physically but I enjoyed most of it,” Madden said.
He featured in 21 of the 72-game minor league season and will never forget his first time on the mound as a professional pitcher, squaring off against the Cleveland Indians’ affiliate in the Dominican Summer League.
“My first professional game, got to pick up my first strike out, got to keep the ball and that’s something I’ll get to keep forever,” Madden said.
“I was relieving but mainly as the closer – bring me in for one innings every two or three days when they wanted the game to get shutdown without any damage.
“I was a bit shocked when they asked me to be the closer… it’s something different and I really enjoyed it.”
Madden is playing summer baseball with the Cheltenham Rustlers and is especially enjoying getting reacquainted with the one-game-a-week Australian lifestyle.
The 21U Baseball World Cup is held in Taichung, Taiwan from 7 to 16 November with a six-day training camp in Sydney beforehand.
