Flynn pitches into US scholarship

Flynn pitches into US scholarship

A dream has come true for Levin baseball player Flynn Warren, who is winging his way to Hawai’i having secured a university scholarship.

Flynn, 18, will spend the next four years playing baseball on an athletic scholarship at Hawai’i Pacific University, where he also plans to study business management.

“This has been my dream,” he says. “I’ve been wanting to go to college in the US and play baseball since I was 8 years old,” he says.

Soon after arriving, the Waiopehu College head boy will join the Hawai’i Pacific Sharks baseball team competing in the Pacific West Conference, part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II.

Flynn, a pitcher, was offered the scholarship having attended a two-day baseball camp late last year, where his pitching skills stood out.

So how is it that he came to play baseball? It’s not your traditional Kiwi sport, like rugby or netball. All it took was one baseball game on a family trip to the US a decade ago. It was a Los Angeles Angels home game against Seattle Mariners and he and younger brother Fletcher were mesmerised.

On returning home, their father, Hendrix, set up the Levin Hustle Baseball Club, which quickly grew in number and allowed the boys to play the sport they wanted to play.

Flynn says he’s grateful for the support he’s had from parents Hendrix and Jenny Warren, and Levin Hustle, and the opportunity to play representative age grade baseball.

For the past two years he’s flown to Auckland to play baseball for club side Bayside Westhaven. In that time he rose in the club ranks from U16 to U19, then premier grade. It led to selection as pitcher for NZ U23 team.

“That helped get me to where I needed to be and to the next level,” he says. “I’ll always be thankful to my parents.”

Flynn, who left for Hawai’i late last week, plans to return home each Christmas, but will spend the US summer breaks playing baseball there. 

Having had this dream come true, he says he now wants to see how far he can go in baseball.

“Who wouldn’t dream of playing major league baseball? Travelling and doing what you love.”

Horowhenua Star had to ask Flynn what his fastest recorded pitch was to date.

“It’s 90.7mph,” he says, which equates to 146km/h.