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Country NSW Player Profile U18.![]()
Player Name: Lachlan O’Sullivan![]()
Position: Left Field/ Pitcher![]()
Throw: Right![]()
Bat: Right![]()
Home Club: Norths Bears![]()
Years Playing: 12![]()
Favourite Food: Hamburgers![]()
Walk Up Song: Paint it Black – Rolling Stones![]()
Whats it mean to play for Country: An opportunity to play at a higher level, and to learn and grow as a player![]()
Biggest Inspiration: Dad![]()
Favourite ABL Team: Blue Sox![]()
Favourite Team Australia Player: Aaron Whitefield![]()
Favourite MLB Team: Angels![]()
Favourite Saying: Be Better
Country NSW U16 Player Profile![]()
Player: Connor McCarthy![]()
Position: Second Base![]()
Throw: Right![]()
Bat: Left![]()
Home Club: Norths Bears![]()
Years Playing: 11 Years![]()
Favourite Food: Chicken Burgers![]()
Walk Up Song: Onna Come Up – Lil Eazzy![]()
Whats it mean to play for Country: Playing for NSW Country is an honour which only a few people get an opportunity to do and it’s something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.![]()
Who is your biggest inspiration: My dad![]()
Favourite ABL Team: Brisbane Bandits![]()
Favourite Team Australia Member: Sam Holland![]()
Favourite MLB Team: San Francisco Giants![]()
Favourite Saying: Don’t get bitter, get better.
The first question I asked Alan Connors, the newly appointed Head Coach of the Senior Men’s NSW Baseball Country touring team was ‘What size baseball cleats do you wear?’ A cliché to be sure, but I am sure you are thinking the same, Connors has some big shoes to fill. ![]()
Al Parrott, after a Bronze Medal win in the PBW tournament in the Czech Republic earlier this year, has pulled himself from the official roster after twenty-five years and eight European tours. The whole purpose of this Senior Men’s team was to bring together other representative teams from regional areas across Australia to play high-level baseball. ![]()
“It was never designed as an elite team, but as an opportunity for players to continue to develop.” ![]()
Fourteen players have been contracted to play semi-pro ball in Europe, three coaches were also contracted in Europe, more than fifteen players from the program have played in the ABL, and others have been offered college scholarships. This has all been possible because Al Parrot and others have believed in providing accessible pathways for regional players to follow and continue to play the game they love.![]()
Besides the obvious challenges of taking on the Head Coaching role from a living Country Baseball Legend like Al Parrott, I asked Al Connors what other challenges he thought he would have in his new role. ![]()
‘Distance. The tyranny of distance.’![]()
Perhaps a more subtle challenge, and a vitally important one, as the Head Coach he says is ‘to build relationships, by understanding the players and bringing these individuals together by getting them to commit and believing in the game plan.’ ![]()
There are nine regional areas in NSW that Al will need to keep tabs on, this he will do by liaising with High-Performance coaches from the nine regions. If Covid has taught us anything, it is that we can use technology to bring us closer together. Al’s key goals are more tournaments, to encourage players to commit to the Senior Men’s team, to reinvigorate baseball in the regions and to create opportunities for seniors to play competitive baseball. ![]()
‘Al Connors is the right person at the right time, to be the custodian of the program he will be well supported by a core group of committed people, who will assist him as they have me over the years’ says Al Parrott.![]()
One thing that both Al’s agree on is that for baseball to survive the key is grassroots regional baseball. Connors says the ‘regions are one of the biggest potential areas for growth for baseball.’![]()
Al started playing baseball at age ten, after two years he left and returned at sixteen (after some long summers playing cricket) and he has been involved with the game ever since as a player, a coach and through baseball development. His resume is impressive. He has been a QLD State Coach for twenty- eight years, managing u14s, u16s, u18s and u23s teams to five National Championships. He has also coached the QLD Open Women’s team and QLD Claxton Shield sides. He worked with the Oakland A’s International Coach Program in Phoenix Arizona in 2004. ![]()
In 2010 and again in 2014, Connors was awarded the Baseball QLD Coach of the Year. His Junior 2014 team were awarded Q-sport Team of the Year. Al doesn’t really want to talk about those achievements and recognition, it is partly modesty but also, he is focused and excited about his new role with NSW Country Baseball. ‘Excited?’ I ask… ‘Yeah, he says, and ready to work with the associations that make up NSW country baseball. These people are kind-hearted and generous and go out of their way to help because country baseball people are passionate about baseball’. These same people are also worried about their sport, they have seen player numbers decreasing. ![]()
What do you think is wrong with baseball at the moment? ![]()
Connor’s default setting is positive, for someone who has been around the game for a long time he has the ability to look at the game with fresh eyes, and he is willing to try new approaches to engage with communities.![]()
‘There isn’t anything wrong with baseball, it is just at a change point, we need to communicate our sport to the parents if they are committed to the idea of baseball then you get the kids. We have an opportunity to look at grassroots ball, there is so much potential for growth in the regions, look at Tamworth, not much had been happening with juniors there and look at their Zooka League at the Country Championships in September at Coffs Harbour, it was awesome.’![]()
When I ask him about when he starts, his reply is animated. He already has. ![]()
‘The trials for the Great Barrier Reef Tour in Cairns are coming up on 20th January 2024 at BISP.’ You can’t help but be excited as he is talking about the Senior Men’s Touring team or about baseball in general. Al Connors knows that a lot of people believe in NSW Country Baseball and want it desperately to be strong. Connors is motivated to work alongside the associations to shape country baseball to be different than before, and for it to be what it needs to be for today.![]()
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Writing Credit: Aimee Weekes