Jells Park, Wheelers Hill welcomed over 200 baseball players over the weekend for the 2016 Little League Championships where the 500 strong crowds were witness to an outstanding showing of baseball skill, sportsmanship and fair play.
Friday morning started the tournament with six fields in play, opening the Little League All Stars, Little League Development Shield and Girls Charter Competitions with a bang.
The development shield hosted two teams from the Athletics charter (Green and Gold teams) and the Mariners (Blue and White), up against a single team representing Diamondbacks. This competition offered players a firsthand look at the tournament structure and offers a clear pathway to future Little League programs. It also allowed budding umpires a chance to showcase and extend their skillset in a tournament.
In a fantastic new program, four charters were represented in a Girls Competition. The Mariners, Athletics, Diamondbacks tested their skills against an Invitational team made up of players from other charters. After two games each, all four Girls Charter teams were deadlocked at 1 win and 1 loss each - showing just how even the teams were.
The fantastic facility at Waverley Softball Association allowed for a night game to take place, but prior to that, Baseball Victoria welcomed all 17 teams, major sponsor Fielders Choice and Councillor Robert Davies of the City of Monash who threw out a first pitch to officially open the tournament and mark the beginning of the Home Run Derby.
After 10 swings each, the competition was taken out by Lili Cavanagh of the Southern Mariners with a massive 27 points. (3 homeruns, 3 triples, 3 singles) Lili collected a new bat courtesy of Fielders Choice and narrowly missed winning a new glove after hitting the "fielders choice prize ball" into the base of the home run fence.
While the Southern Mariners, Northern Diamondbacks and Sunraysia Giants played two games earlier in the day, the Friday night game pitted the Eastern Athletics against the Geelong Baycats, with the Eastern Athletics taking the points and made for an interesting Saturday morning game against the also undefeated Mariners team.
Saturday morning marked the start of the Minor League competition where the Southern Mariners (Blue and White) were to play against the Diamondbacks in a three team participation round robin. The Minor League competition is an extension of the many minor league competitions that run throughout the Summer and was a chance for the players to try a little league style competition.
Saturday Night was the Girls Semi final between the Southern Mariners and Northern Diamondbacks, with a spot in the final at stake, both teams played terrific baseball. Highlight after highlight prevailed and it was the Mariners who outlasted the Diamondbacks for a close win in what was a great representation of baseball.
The Little League Allstars competition finished the round robin and the Athletics secured a spot at Nationals and in the final by being undefeated with the Diamondback and Mariners to play Sunday morning for a spot in the final, and the Baycats to play Sunraysia for a spot in the 3rd place playoff. The Mariners scored 4 runs in the bottom of the last inning to scrape by the Diamondbacks who were to play the Baycats after they avoided the improving Sunraysia team.
After a fantastic day 1, the Minor teams were back for day 2 and didnt miss a beat. As the confidence grew, the level of play skyrocketed and teams could have mistaken for the Allstars at some stages, with the Mariner White team heading the standings after two complete rounds.
Sunday was finals day for all other competitions, and after three long days of baseball (for coaches and players), the Mariners White faced off with Mariners Blue in the Development Shield and it was the Blue who took out the intracharter rivalry game.
On the back of quality pitching, the Eastern Athletics Girls moved into the final over the Northern Diamondbacks during the morning game. In the 3rd place playoff, the Invitational Stars flexed their offensive muscles and poured on some runs to take out the bronze. In similar circumstances, the Mariners had the pitching and the bats to secure the first title and collect the trophy.
And so it was down to the final two games of the tournament to see who would represent Victoria at the National Championships. After a hot start by the Baycats, the Diamondbacks wrestled back the lead and ran out eventual winners to punch their ticket.
With all other games completed, the crowd built for the Allstars final and what a final it was. Quality arms on both teams, fantastic defense, a Grand slam and two teams who played together and represented themselves, our sport, their charters and their parents in a very positive way.
In a game that went all the way to the wire, the Mariners made it a clean sweep for the week and handed the Athletics their first loss for the tournament.
Congratulations to all charters on the baseball they played over the three days. Coaches, scorers and EOs, a heartfelt well done on the product that was delivered.
A special thank you to the parents and supporters of all teams who created a fantastic atmosphere for the players.