National honours for QE baseball player

A Year 9 boy has been selected to represent Great Britain in baseball this summer.

Rion Hoshino, who plays in the London Youth Baseball League (LYBL), has been chosen to join an All-Star team that will represent Great Britain in Kutno, Poland, in July at the Europe & Africa Regional Tournament.

The winning team will go forward to represent Europe & Africa in the Junior Division Little League World Series in Michigan, USA. Little League Baseball is one of the largest youth sport organisations in the world.

The President of LYBL, James McClure, said: “This is an élite playing opportunity to compete against teams from many other countries in Europe and Africa. As the players will be staying along with the other teams, it is not only a significant athletic experience, but also a cultural learning opportunity.”

Rion started playing baseball three years ago and plays every weekend in the LYBL. He was also selected to play for Team GB at the U15 European Championships in Prague in April 2013, when the team reached the quarter-finals.

“We are very pleased with Rion’s baseball achievements thus far and wish him every success in the forthcoming tournament,” said Headmaster Neil Enright. “It is very satisfying to see our boys performing so well in such a diverse range of sports.”