After a breakthrough season for the Auckland Tuatara, pitcher Elliot Johnstone seemed to have the baseball world at his feet, until the outbreak of Covid-19.
The 21-year-old pitcher has been voted the Australian Baseball League's rookie of the year, bouncing back after a 2018 to forget.
Johnstone's 2019 stats make for much better reading, having thrown 28 strikeouts as the Tuatara reached the playoffs for the first time.
That hot form was set to result in Johnstone's New Zealand Diamond Blacks debut in Arizona, before coronavirus put a halt to the World Classic.
Major League scouts were expected to be in attendance, and manager Steve Mintz said he was hoping to see his star man crack the big time.
"We felt pretty confident," Mintz told 1 NEWS.
"I had already called and told Elliot, 'When you come over here, you gotta hug and kiss everyone goodbye, 'cause I'm hoping you're not going be going home.'"
Despite the setback, though, Johnstone is happy to wait for his chance - if and when it comes around a second time.
"Just gotta wait," he says.
"I'm sure the same opportunities that happened before Covid-19 will still be there."
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