U16 7th Place Playoff: Victoria White 8-6 Australian Capital Territory
Familiar foes Victoria White and the ACT played out another tight ballgame, but Victoria White’s consistency was the difference as they finished their tournament with an 8-6 victory.
Victoria White scored in five of their six offensive innings, including a game-changing four spot in the third which swung the momentum their way.
The top half of the Victorian lineup did the damage in this one, as Cal Vance finished his tournament on the right note, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Tom Shakespeare and James Warwick picked up two hits apiece for the ACT as they jumped out to an early lead.
However the ACT’s offence was slowed by Victorian Finn O’Connell who tossed three scoreless innings to keep his team in the ballgame.
Vic White pushed a run across in each of the final three innings as they withstood a late ACT fightback to finish seventh.
U16 5th Place Playoff: Queensland 4-2 New South Wales Country
Queensland used three first inning runs to set the tone, and held on against a fast finishing NSW Country side to claim fifth place at the Australian Youth Championship.
Patrick Day was outstanding for Queensland on the hill, as he struck out six in 6.2 fantastic innings of work.
Day was given a three run cushion early on, as Deegan Powell’s two RBI triple capped off the big first inning.
Day’s opposite number, Country starter Brett Allen overcame a slow start to settle into his work nicely.
Allen struck out four and only allowed one run in his final four innings of work.
As they’ve done all tournament, NSW Country consistently found their way on base, and the final inning was no exception.
Back to back singles and a sac-fly scored a run for Country, but they couldn’t push any more across as Queensland held on to finish their tournament in fifth.
U16 Bronze Medal: Western Australia 7-3 South Australia
Western Australia scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the Bronze Medal, as they defeated South Australia.
Will Sherriff battled all morning on the mound for Western Australia in his five inning start, while Tye Kazmierowski shut the door on South Australia, as the WA utility tossed two scoreless innings to end the ballgame.
Ben Drew was the only WA played to record multiple RBIs (2) from a triple and two walks, while Ayden Cartwright finished his solid tournament with a pair of hits.
Liam Bull and Kiall Whitcher claimed two hits apiece, with Bull picking up two RBIs.
South Australia took the lead in the third inning, but from there it was all WA, as they scored the final five runs of the ballgame to finish in third place.
U16 Gold Medal: New South Wales 3-2 Victoria
New South Wales U16s capped off their perfect Australian Youth Championship with a walkoff victory in the gold medal game against Victoria.
Clayton Campbell put the ball in play with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, and despite his solid tournament at shortstop, Jarryd Wood couldn’t complete the final out as the winning run crossed the plate.
Both teams were understandably on edge in the early frames, with Keenan Spence’s mammoth solo shot giving Victoria an early one run lead.
Chris Nielsen was immense for Victoria, as the righty gave his team every chance to win.
Nielsen’s fourth outing of the tournament was one of his best, as he cooled the hottest offence in the competition – only giving up two runs in 5.1 unbelievable innings of work.
NSW starter Blake Cavill failed to settle on the mound, as manager Scott Tunkin turned to his bullpen early.
That moved proved a master stroke, as Josh Pearl only gave up one hit and struck out six in 2.2 innings of relief.
Solomon Maguire continued his excellent form in the final, as the right fielder finished with three hits.
Neither team blinked in the late stages, as extra innings seemed a formality.
However as they have done all tournament, New South Wales failed to take their foot off the pedal and with two outs they took control.
Back-to-back singles from Travis Bazzana and Solomon Maguire had everyone on edge, and from there it was Clayton Campbell whose quality hitting enabled Bazzana to score the winning run.
U18: Western Australia 7-4 New South Wales
New South Wales got the jump on Western Australia, but late runs saw WA get home on the final day of the Australian Youth Championship.
Lochlan Southee gave up four runs in the first two innings, but eventually settled nicely to end up with a complete game for Western Australia.
Jett Wright finished off his tournament well, as the Perth Heat representative went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI.
Josh Gessner was given the start for NSW and worked manfully on the hill, as he struck out eight and only allowed three runs in five innings of work.
Jaylin Rae lead the line for New South Wales with three hits, while clean-up hitter Caleb Shepherd drove in three of NSW’s seven runs.
New South Wales threatened all the way to the end leaving the bases loaded in the ninth, but WA had the final say to sneak home.
U18: Western Australia 5-3 Australian Capital Territory
Western Australia finished their U18 campaign on a solid note, overcoming a pair of strong ACT pitchers to win 5-3.
The ACT rolled out their two Australian U18 representatives in Jake Green and Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis, with Cooper-Vassalakis striking out seven and only allowing one hit in his three innings of relief.
Daniel Ivester nailed a solo homer in the sixth to bring it back for the ACT, while Thomas Lord had a team high two hits.
Hits were shared for Western Australia, as each of the top five in the lineup claiming a base hit each.
Jack Bowins fanned five in his two innings of work, while Raleigh Pelkonen and Broadee Binder combined to keep the ACT offence quiet through the middle frames.
The ACT scored twice in the second to claim an early lead, however some strong team play from Western Australia pulled them back and the 2017 champions held on for their fifth win of the tournament.
U18 Bronze Medal Game: Victoria 9-4 New South Wales Country
Victoria scored early and withstood a Country comeback to claim the bronze medal in the U18s this morning on Diamond 1.
Behind a fantastic start from Liam Evans (4IP, 3H, 1ER, 8K), Victoria sealed a well-earned third place.
Evans was backed up by a strong Victorian offence, as four hitters recorded two hits each.
Zak Skinner picked up a team high two RBIs, as Victoria consistently found men on base throughout.
The early innings was where the game was won for Victoria, as they scored eight runs in the first four innings.
Jack Fishburn did his best to keep NSW Country in the ballgame, striking out five and only conceding one run in 4.1 innings of work.
Pinch-hitter Mitchell Pearce picked up two RBIs from his double in the eighth inning as Country scored three runs.
Country had a couple of runners on base in the ninth inning, but Richard Kiel finished off the ballgame for Victoria as they sealed bronze.
U18 Gold Medal Game: South Australia 9-0 Queensland
South Australia have broken a 30 year drought as they claimed the U18 Australian Championship at Blacktown International Sportspark this afternoon.
Behind a stunning start from Adelaide Bite representative Tyson McKee, South Australia defeated Queensland 9-0.
McKee finished with seven shutout innings on the day, scattering four hits and striking out five in a performance for the ages.
Queensland starting pitcher Kaiki Furutani-Burns battled all afternoon against a tough SA lineup, but South Australia broke the game wide open in the fourth inning.
Jarrod Miller began the fourth with a leadoff double, and capped it off seven runs later with his second double of the inning.
Miller finished the ballgame with two doubles, three RBI and a seventh inning home run, sending his South Australia teammates into raptures on the bench.
As they have done all tournament, South Australia’s pitching and defence lead the foundation for the victory, which enabled their bats to string together multiple hits.
Queensland played some outstanding baseball all tournament, but they ran into a high quality arm and a red-hot South Australian offence.
This U18 Australian Championship is South Australia’s first in 30 years, with the 1988 team including former MLBer Mark Hutton and Adelaide Bite General Manager Nathan Davison.
U16 Final Standings
1. New South Wales
2. Victoria Blue
3. Western Australia
4. South Australia
5. Queensland
6. New South Wales Country
7. Victoria White
8. Australian Capital Territory
U18 Final Standings
1. South Australia
2. Queensland
3. Victoria
4. New South Wales Country
5. Western Australia
6. New South Wales
7. Australian Capital Territory