U16: New South Wales Country 14-1 Victoria White
New South Wales Country scored seven in the first and never looked back, defeating Victoria White 14-1 in the opening game of the day.
No Country player claimed multiple hits as they used a solid team hitting performance to score their 14 runs.
Third baseman Ryan Hudson had a team high three RBI while in relief, Kynan Harding only allowed a pair of baserunners in two scoreless frames.
Connor Schibeci and Finn O’Connell both nailed doubles for Victoria White, who scored their lone run in the final inning.
U16: South Australia 12-11 Queensland
Both teams opened the offensive floodgates in the middle innings, and it was South Australia who held on, keeping Queensland scoreless in the seventh to record a tight win.
South Australia’s offence was well spread throughout, as five players drove in two runs each.
Jack Higginbotham had the unenviable task of completing the ballgame on the hill for SA, but stepped up and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings to seal the win.
Marcus Feagaiga was a home run away from the cycle, as he finished with three hits and three RBI. Queensland’s catcher Tim Preston also swung a consistent bat, going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a walk.
Queensland reliever Ian Lee threw the final three innings of the game scoreless, but South Australia held on for a much-needed victory.
U16: New South Wales 12-3 ACT
New South Wales kept their perfect record intact, scoring early and often to defeat a determined ACT lineup.
Centrefielder Aaron Riley drove in a team-high three runs for New South Wales, while Solomon Maguire was an impossible out for the ACT.
Maguire went 2-for-2 with a triple, two runs, two RBI and two walks.
Using a battery of six pitchers, New South Wales kept the ACT relatively quiet throughout, with James Nati striking out three in two perfect innings.
Lachlan Maurer finished with a double and two RBI for the ACT, while Darcy Franks claimed a team high two hits.
U16: Victoria Blue 4-2 Western Australia
Victoria’s pitching and defence shone as they defeated Western Australia in a high quality encounter.
Mitchell Thomas (3IP, 3H, 2ER) and Chris Nielsen (4IP, 1H, 0ER, 1K) consistently found the zone and let the Victorian defence work behind them as they combined for a fantastic pitching performance.
Jarryd Wood starred for Victoria Blue with the bat, claiming three of his team’s nine hits, including a pair of doubles.
William Sherriff drove in WA’s only earned run of the ballgame, while Caiden Deal and Josh Paull battled all game on the hill.
Western Australia had a pair of baserunners in the seventh and final inning, but couldn’t capitalise as Victoria sealed an important victory.
U18: Victoria 8-4 Western Australia
Both teams were strong in the first three frames, however Victoria pulled away to seal a much-needed four run win over Western Australia.
Lachlan Hockey was an integral part of the Victorian win, only conceding one run in 5.1 innings of relief work. Hockey shone in the late stages of the ballgame, as he failed to allow WA a baserunner in their final three innings.
Offensively it was Josh Meyer who lead the line for Victoria, driving in three runs from his three base hits.
Leadoff man Ben Fierenzi also chimed in, driving in two runs from his two doubles.
Nicholas Riley finished the game with two hits for WA, while Josh Greenham and Cayden Nicoletto drove in one run each for WA.
U18: New South Wales 6-5 Australian Capital Territory
In one of the games of the tournament, New South Wales had the final say, walking off the ACT 6-5 in dramatic circumstances.
Daniel Bannon scored the winning run after Luke Passmore’s sacrifice fly saw him scamper home in the bottom of the ninth.
Back-to-back doubles in the top of the ninth from Nick Hosie and Nick Graham tied up the game for the ACT, while Zac Rauter finished with two hits.
Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis struck out seven and only gave up one earned run in a fantastic five inning start.
Luis Gonzalez was one of NSW’s best with the bat, driving in a pair of runs from his two hits.
The ACT flew out of the blocks, scoring four times in the first two innings, but some solid relief work from the NSW trio of Jayden Bastow, Sam Xotta and Aidan Torpey kept their team in the game.
The final few innings were tense for both teams, however NSW prevailed in a fantastic display of baseball.
U16: Queensland 5-3 New South Wales Country
New South Wales Country scored two in the fourth to bring themselves back in it, but a late Queensland run proved the difference.
QLD left fielder Brock Wollin worked a bases loaded walk in the seventh for an extra insurance run.
NSW Country utility Chet Robinson nearly extended the game in the seventh, but was thrown out at home to end the ballgame.
Cooper Bake-Smith was the only Country player to claim multiple hits, as he went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Kailen Hamson, Ian Lee and Deegan Powell made up the top three of the Queensland lineup, as all three finished with two hits apiece.
A solid start from Jacob Ponton (3IP, 2H, 1ER, 3K) gave QLD a great platform to build on, while Country’s Ben Ridgewell also had a strong outing on the hill.
U16: Victoria White 5-4 ACT
Victoria White broke the tied game in the top of the ninth, and held the ACT scoreless to claim their first win of the tournament.
ACT’s designated hitter Luke Brown was one of the game’s best hitters, as he went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Connor Schibeci tossed three innings of scoreless relief for Victoria White, striking out three and only allowing the one hit.
On the opposite side, Jack Mitchell also impressed on the bump, with the ACT reliever giving up one run in 4.2 innings of work.
The ACT tied things up in the bottom of the fourth, however Cal Vance scored the go-ahead run in dramatic circumstances to see Vic White home.
U16: New South Wales 7-3 Victoria Blue
New South Wales scored early and often, and withstood a Victoria Blue comeback to maintain their perfect record.
Luke Krkovski was fantastic on the mound for New South Wales, only allowing two baserunners in three scoreless innings of work.
Dylan Martin continued his strong tournament, going 2-for-4 with a double, a single and three RBI.
The heart of the Victoria Blue lineup had another strong day, with Jacob Bald, Charlie Collins and Jarred Woodger all claiming two hits.
Victoria Blue scored their three runs in the final two frames to put some pressure on NSW, but it was too little too late as New South Wales picked up their seventh win from as many games.
U16: Western Australia 8-1 South Australia
Western Australia used a big sixth inning to topple South Australia and claim a confidence boosting victory at the end of pool play.
WA were anchored by Will Sherriff, who only gave up one hit and fanned four SA hitters in four fantastic innings.
Dan Stephenson and designated hitter Ben Drew picked up two hits apiece for WA, while Maddux Stivey and Tye Kazmierowski plated two runs each.
SA centerfielder Ethan Badcock was the only SA player to pick up two hits on the day, as Liam Bull drove in SA’s only run - an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Only two runs separated the teams at the end of five innings, however Kazmierowski’s two-RBI single capped off a massive sixth inning for WA, who never looked back.
U18: Queensland 12-9 New South Wales Country
New South Wales Country skipped out to an early lead, but Queensland reeled them in to hold on for a 12-9 win.
QLD’s Tyson Zamora was outstanding with the bat, going 3-for-4 and driving in a game-high five runs.
Second baseman Ryoto Kusumoto also finished with three hits for Queensland, while Callum MacDonald and Daniel Shannon picked up three RBI apiece.
Seth McClelland struck out three in four strong innings of work for Queensland, while starter Kaiki Furutani-Burns only conceded two runs in his four digs.
Mitch Ellison, Sam McLean and Luke Clapson all finished with two hits for NSW Country.
The final inning wasn’t without drama as Country rallied. Luke Livian drove in a run, which brought the tying run to the plate, but Jaiden Holly came in and got the job done for Queensland.
Please stay tuned for the reseeding of the U16s, as well as a schedule for the remaining four days of play.