Our Play Ball Pioneers program has been extended to the end of Term 1 as part of the Brookdale Reserve Activation Project in partnership with Wyndham City Council.

We are having a blast out at Brookdale Reserve with BV Development Officers leading players through an introduction to baseball focused on running, hitting, throwing, and catching skills. This is a great opportunity for kids to develop baseball skills and try modified matches.

Sessions run every Wednesday through 27 March with 5-8 year-olds from 4-5:30pm and 9-14 year-olds from 6-7:30pm. There is a $10 fee per session, payable weekly onsite (no commitment required).

Sign up online or contact development@baseballvictoria.com.au for more info.

At the start of the 23/24 VSBL season, Pakenham Pumas Baseball Club introduced a change from traditional white pants to new black pants for the women after feedback and consultation with their playing group.

"The main goal was to boost the confidence for our players while out on the field and we have been receiving great feedback on the change already and even generated conversations around the club about the potential to expand the black pants into the seniors' competition as part of their away uniform,” Jo Blackler said. “The change has been such a success for Pakenham that we have had clubs already reach out for more information about how they too can implement change for their ladies.

“It's a small change for our club with big hit energy for our members and a fantastic way to make women in sports feel comfortable and confident while playing our game."

The 2024 Baseball Victoria AGM was held on Wednesday 7 February, with the election of three BV Board Directors and the awarding of BV Life Membership to a distinguished baseball volunteer.

Anna Ronald, Jessica Toop, and Geoff Boyes were elected as Directors of Baseball Victoria for a term of three years (2027).

“We are pleased to have Anna Ronald, Jessica Toop, and Geoff Boyes on the Baseball Victoria Board and look forward to working together to support baseball in Victoria,” BV CEO Chet Gray said. “Also, thank you to outgoing director Joanna O’Connor who made numerous contributions to our organisation in her six years on the BV Board. We wish her all the best.”

The AGM also resulted in a new Baseball Victoria Life Member, with Leanne Gibbons awarded this honour following decades of dedicated volunteering to support the Geelong baseball community.

Congratulations Leanne!

Leanne Gibbons Summary

Leanne has made a significant and long-term contribution to the sport of baseball throughout Victoria in the delivery of local and state representative competitions at both junior and senior levels. Currently, she is an active part of the 'Baycats' BC organisation having undertaken secretarial, event coordination, training, and compliance roles over the past decades. At an operational level, she has variously undertaken key volunteer resource roles as administrator,  scorer, Certificate level 3 scorer-trainer, junior coordinator, umpire coordinator and canteen manager, doing so across all levels - from grassroots to elite level - and within 3 clubs and the association to which those clubs belong. For these services she has received Life memberships at 2 clubs (Bellarine and Baycats BCs) and multiple Best Club Person Awards at Baycats BC. These awards deservedly illustrate what a committed and much-respected person Leanne is, and a testament to why the organisations she has been involved with over the years have, without exception, prospered and developed.

At the AGM, we also presented the inaugural Baseball Victoria Service Award winners:

• Adrian Dunn (Waverley) - Service to Baseball Award for his dedication as a volunteer
• Chris Rickard (East Belmont Saints) - Service to Baseball Award for extensive coaching at club and state level
• Roland Stott (Newport) - Service to Baseball Award for 45 consecutive years as a coach and administrator
• Andrew Gluth (Sandringham) - Outstanding Contribution Award for 20+ years umpiring junior baseball

Well done to all and we look forward to another great year of baseball ahead. If you would like to catch up on the year that was, please view the 2022/23 BV Annual Report on our website.

Team Australia has announced its Under 18 National Junior Squad, with nine Victorians making the cut.

Congratulations to Addison Bishop-Worn, Ty Daniels, Ben Howard, Will Kent, Jayden Kim, Jack Ratcliffe, Tane Graham, Robinson Smith, and Ryder Wilson.

The squad will head to the USA from September – October to play games in front of a big audience of scouts and college recruiters, with it being an off-year for the U18 World Cup.

Read the full story HERE.

After 10 years, Essendon Baseball Club is excited to announce the opening of Chris Lane Field at Boeing Reserve.

The official opening will be held on Saturday 17 February, with three teams competing in a round-robin event and plenty of family fun all night long.

Mark your calendars and join the EBC community for an awesome day of baseball honoring a beloved Victorian baseballer.

Please note games start at 2pm and the official opening will get underway at 6pm with speeches and an appearance by Australian artist David Bromley with an incredible art display of Chris Lane, which you can read more about in The Age.

Play Ball Pioneers are back in Term 1! We had 170 registered kids join us in the first session from October to December, and we look forward to more baseball fun at Brookdale Reserve.

BV Development Officers will lead players through an introduction to baseball focused on running, hitting, throwing, and catching skills. Sign up online for free with a $5 per session fee payable on-site (no commitment required).

Contact development@baseballvictoria.com.au for more info.

The U18 Victorian State Team took out the gold medal at the 2024 Australian Youth Championships while the U16 side secured bronze.

Our U18s led the tournament with Jack Ratcliffe earning back-to-back MVP honours and Ryder Wilson winning the Golden Arm Award.

Congratulations to our 2024 Victorian State Teams and thank you to all the officials, groundskeepers, and families for the support.

Head to baseball.com.au for the latest recaps and check out photos and videos on Facebook.

Victoria's U18s are national champions after a thrilling finish at #AYC2024!

The 2024 Australian Youth Championships came down to the wire with a final decider between U18 VIC and WA on Tuesday night. VIC needed the win to secure gold, while a WA win with three or more runs would give SA the title after a 2-0 win over NSW in the afternoon.

They had to do it the hard way, but Victoria are your 2024 Australian U18 National Champions.

Addison Bishop-Worn’s RBI triple in the fourth inning completed a four-run comeback on a base hit that sent the ballpark into bedlam.

Western Australia raced out to an early 4-0 lead, and put South Australia in pole position to win it all.

But Victoria’s comeback win secured them a 3-0 record in the second round, and a national title.

Had Victoria lost this game, they would have finished with the Bronze.

Victoria made their move in the third inning. A Jayden Kim single, followed by a slew of walks and wild pitches, allowed Victoria to score four and tie it up.

Then, the Addison Bishop Worn triple. Bedlam.

Ben Howard also starred for Victoria, collecting three hits in the win.

Jai Hewitt had a booming 2-RBI double for WA.

Jack Ratcliffe consolidated his incredible tournament performance by pitching out the final two innings of the game, holding WA scoreless. He won the tournament MVP.

Under 18
1. VIC (3-0)
2. SA (2-1)
3. WA (1-1)
4. NSW (0-3)

VIC def NSW 5-2
SA def WA 3-1
VIC def SA 1-0 (extras)
WA def NSW 5-4
SA 2 def NSW 0
VIC 5 def WA 4

Medal Round got underway on Day 5 of the 2024 Australian Youth Championships, with Victoria's U16 and U18 teams putting on amazing displays of baseball.

All 10 games were close as the #AYC2024 action included a no-hitter, multiple complete game shutouts, many comebacks, epic defensive plays, extra innings thrillers, home runs, and teams who booked a spot in Tuesday’s Gold Medal game.

Check out highlights below and stay tuned to socials for the latest updates from the U16 and U18 tournaments.

AYC U16 Day 5 - Medal Round

Victoria 4 def Western Australia 3 (8 innings)

It was a Mitch Langworthy special as Victoria sensationally stormed back from three runs down to defeat Western Australia in extras.

Western Australia seemed in control after scoring three early runs. Leanard Golding hit a solo shot for WA and Victoria were left stunned.

In the bottom of the fourth the game started to turn. Langworthy collected the first of three hits on the day, when he cranked a double to the wall to score the first run for Victoria.

In the bottom of the sixth Langworthy blasted a triple to the wall to cut the lead to 3-2. He scored on a sacrifice fly from Sam Walk on the next at bat. Tie ballgame.

Off to extras we go…

Liam Puncher induced a 1-2-3 inning of Western Australia in the top of the eighth.

Langworthy struck again – with a bunt single in extras to bring the winning run to third who was later scored on a bases-loaded walk.

Prisov, Golding and Samukawa had the RBIs for Western Australia.

Records: Victoria (1-0), Western Australia (0-1)

Victoria 3 def Queensland 2

Money Mitch Langworthy does it again – with the bat AND on the mound. Victoria had to comeback from multiple runs down to win again!

Queensland scored first off a sacrifice bunt and RBI groundout in the bottom of the third to lead 2-0.

Then Victoria made their move with five singles in the fifth.

The biggest of all was with bases loaded. Down 2-0, Mitch Langworthy knocked a 2-RBI single into the outfield to tie the game. Jordan Ellis followed and drove in the eventual winning run.

Ellis and Jake Bertucci finished the game going 3-for-4 from the plate.

Cooper Busch pitched 6.2 innings for Victoria, striking three while allowing no earned runs.

In the bottom of the seventh, with two runners in scoring position for Queensland and two outs, Mitchell Langworthy induced a flyout to centre field to close the game.

Crotty, Duncalf, and Pearce each recorded a base hit for Queensland.

RECORD – Victoria (2-0), Queensland (0-2)

AYC U18 Day 5 - Medal Round

Victoria 5 def New South Wales 2

A combined no-hitter for Victoria as they take the game from a late-game surge.

New South Wales were the first to get on the board with an RBI groundout from Lucas Stancic in the bottom of the first.

A fielding error by NSW with two outs in the top of the fourth allowed Victoria to capitalise on back-to-back, two-out walks to tie the game.

RBI singles by Will Kent in the top of the sixth and Matthew Johnston in the top of the seventh highlighted a two-inning, four-run surge by Victoria.

Will Kent also made the play of the game in the bottom of the seventh with an impeccable catch and throw to first off a hard-hit ball to keep the no-hitter alive.

Tane Graham pitched 3.0 innings in relief for Victoria, striking out four. Jack Ratcliffe completed the no-hitter with a 1.0-inning, two strikeout performance.

RECORDS – Victoria (1-0), New South Wales (0-1)

Victoria 1 def South Australia 0

Victoria walk it off in extra innings to punch a ticket into the gold medal game.

It was a day for the pitchers.

Ryder Wilson pitched an 8.0-inning shutout for Victoria, striking out four while only allowing four hits and a walk. Amazing.

Alistair Tanner started for South Australia, allowing just two hits and two walks as he struck out three. He also hit a top speed of 94mph.

Will Couzner pitched 3.1 relief innings, allowing only two hits and two walks as he struck out four.

Jayden Kim led Victoria on the offensive end, going 2-for-4 with a double.

Matthew Johnston’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eight scored the game-winning run. He finished the game 1-for-2 with a walk.

Altamura, Lucas, Thomas, and Hodges all recorded a hit for South Australia.

RECORD – Victoria (2-0), South Australia (1-1)

Read the full report on baseball.com.au.

Photos: @trent.schwarz/@baseball.com.au