Lane Tech baseball player helps team clinch conference title, shows talent on world stage
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Lane Tech baseball team once again has a roster with talent. That includes one of their pitchers, senior Amaan Khan, who got a pretty special opportunity to show off his talents on the world's stage while still in high school.
Khan is all smiles after helping Lane Tech clinch the Jackie Robinson North Baseball Conference title.
"I grew up always wanting to go to Lane, so to be able to win a conference championship is everything," he said.
"It means a lot to win it. Every year that's one of our main goals, is to win the conference. That's the first box checked for this group," said Lane Tech Head Coach Sean Freeman.
Khan closed out the win that clinched the title for Lane Tech. Pitching in big spots is nothing new for the senior. Khan, whose mom was born in Pakistan, got the opportunity to pitch for the Pakistan national team. His first chance came in the World Baseball Classic when he was only 16 years old.
"Crazy opportunity for a high school kid," said Freeman. "When he first told me, I was like, 'The world baseball classic? The one that is going to be on ESPN and all the major league stars?' When I checked it out, I saw what the role was going to be, so it's just great."
"It's meant a lot, that opportunity to represent where you come from and heritage," said Khan. "You play with a lot of passion when you play with stuff like that. It's a greaty opportunity."
He got a second chance to pitch with Pakistan at the Asian Championships in Taiwan last December.
"I pitched really well, went like five innings, no runs," he said. "Got to face Japan. That was probably the coolest thing I'll ever experience. I came in in low leverage spots, was relaxed and to be able to throw against a team like that was really, really cool. Thank God it went well, so it was pretty cool."
Representing Pakistan is obviously a special experience for Khan, but it's also pretty cool for his Lane Tech teammates back here at home getting to watch their friend pitch on such a big stage.
"It was really cool to turn on the TV at 4 in the morning and see my best friend pitching," said Ethan Borggren, a Lane Tech senior. "It's pretty surreal, and to have him come back and talk about all those experiences is really cool. I was really happy for him, and he handled it really well."
Khan, who's committed to Lenoir Rhyne, is one of a number of Lane Tech players set to play baseball in college, including Ethan Borggren, who's going to Northwestern, and freshman phenom Sebastian Wilson, who's already committed to Tennessee. The champions are hoping all this talent leads to a deep state tourney run.
"We put a lot of work in the offseason. We set a lot of goals. We know the job's not finished," said Borggren.
"This team has put so much work into this, super excited for everything past this," said Khan.
Next up for Khan and Lane Tech is the Chicago Public School playoffs this week. Then it's on to the IHSA playoffs where they have a #2 seed in class 4A.