Narre Warren North’s Dean Leskie will represent the Victorian Primary Schools’ Sports Association at this month’s School Sport Australia Softball Exchange in New South Wales. 24311 Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan
NARRE Warren North schoolboy Dean Leskie has been one of the region’s top junior softballers over the past two years.
The Maramba Primary School student is a two-time most-valuable-player award winner and has also represented the Casey Softball Association twice.
But Leskie, 12, can now claim to be one of the state’s most talented junior softballers after making the cut for the Victorian Primary Schools’ Sports Association squad.
He joins fellow Narre Warren Softball Club member Hayden Trezise in the side.
Leskie is looking forward to pitching to some of the country’s top hitters at this month’s School Sport Australia Softball Exchange in New South Wales.
“I’m pretty proud; it’s really good. I just want to play well and enjoy the game,” he said.
“I’m just happy to be in the team because I’ve tried out for a few years.”
Leskie’s favourite pitch is his fast ball, but the right-hander also has a rise ball, drop ball, a change-up and a knuckle ball in his arsenal.
His father, Andrew, who is the vice-president at Narre Warren Softball Club, is extremely proud of his son’s achievements to date.
“He’s only 12 and getting to where he is now is exceptional work,” he said.
Leskie’s sister Teagan also used to compete at Narre Warren, while his other sister Kirsty is a netballer.
Leskie is playing in the under-13s, under-14s and under-17s for Narre Warren this season, while training three times a week.
“I love all of the game – the pitching, batting and everything,” he said.
“Playing against the older kids is pretty hard because they pitch faster and all that, but you get used to it.”
Australian junior representative and Narre Warren Softball Club player Drew Faulkner has helped fine-tune Leskie’s pitching skills, but he feels he has plenty of improvement left.
“I still need to get better with my batting, and I need to get my pitching a bit faster,” Leskie said.
