Despite a late rally the Australian U15 World Cup team has begun their campaign with a narrow 4-2 loss against world #2 ranked Japan in Panama this morning.

Manager Andy Kyle gave Riley Yeatman the ball in a crucial opening round matchup, and the South Australian didn't disappoint. 

Yeatman only allowed four hits in 4.1 innings of work against a powerful Japanese offence, keeping the world #2 ranked side to one run in their first five innings.

Despite giving up the opening run of the game in the first inning, Yeatman - backed up by a solid defensive effort - kept his head in a game that was beamed to millions across the world.

Solomon Maguire and Jaime Fox both claimed a single and a walk each, but it was the final inning where the pressure mounted on Japan.

A hit-by-pitch and walk saw Victorian Blake Holding step to the plate with one out, and he delivered with a two-RBI double to make it a two-run ballgame.

Australia continued to threaten, however the comeback fell just short.

Solomon Maguire and Jaime Fox both claimed a single and a walk each, but it was the final inning where the pressure mounted on Japan.

A hit-by-pitch and walk saw Victorian Blake Holding step to the plate with one out, and he delivered with a two-RBI double to make it a two-run ballgame.

Australia continued to threaten, however the comeback fell just short.

Japanese starter Kyosuke Kuroyanagi was exceptional in his team's opening round game, surrendering one hit and striking out six in 3.1 innings.

However once Kuroyanagi was replaced, the Australian offence clicked into gear, as they scattered baserunners and kept the pressure on the Japanese defence.

South Africa awaits the team in their second game of the tournament, with first pitch scheduled for 5am AEST, Sunday August 12.

BOX SCORE

FULL GAME REPLAY

Hills head to the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan, as the most experienced charter to represent Australia Region.

The NSW charter has represented Australia Region at the 2016 and 2017 Little League World Series and last year’s Junior League World Series.

Les Stockdale will again manage Hills at a World Series after taking the charter to the Junior League World Series last year and Little League 12 months earlier.

“We haven’t got one kid that hasn’t been to a World Series on the team,” Stockdale said.

“They’re all experienced which is great but managing their expectations is the next thing.

“The majority came out of Little League last year which is one of the greatest shows on earth

“To go over to Taylor is quite a different experience.”

Hills open their campaign against Europe-Africa on Monday morning (Australian time) with Canada awaiting the winner.

After drawing powerhouse Asia-Pacific in the opening round last year before falling a win shy of the International Championship Game, Stockdale knows Hills has a great opportunity this time around.

“We wanted to be the first Australian team at Junior League to win a game and we won two so that was fantastic,” Stockdale said.

“You’ve always got to better yourself, so we’d love to win three games if we can and make it to the International Championship Game.

“The cards get thrown at you differently every time though, so it’s how you manage that.”

Stockdale was confident players making the transition from last year’s Little League World Series were up to the task.

“We’ve just focussed on the baseball and made it about that,” he said.

“We’ve pushed how important the baseball is and the calibre of player they’re going to come up against.

“They understand they’re coming up against big, strong kids, the velocity is going to be different and the pitching and hitting quality is all different.”

Hills’ first game against Europe-Africa on Monday starts at 10am.

Baseball Australia is proud to announce the dates for the 2019 Australian Championships

Australian Youth Championship
Venue: Blacktown International Sportspark, Blacktown NSW
Dates: 11-20  January 2019
Host Partners: Baseball New South Wales

Australian Youth Women’s Championship
Venue: Narrabundah Ballpark, Narrabundah ACT
Dates: 15-20 April 2019
Host Partners: Baseball Canberra

Australian Women’s Championship
Venue: Narrabundah Ballpark, Narrabundah ACT
Dates: 14-21 April 2019
Host Partners: Baseball Canberra 

Australian Senior League Championship
Venue: Albert Park Baseball Complex, Lismore NSW
Dates: 19-24 May 2019
Host Partners: Far North Coast Baseball Association 

Australian Junior League Championship
Venue: Diamond Sports SA, West Beach SA
Dates: 26-31 May 2019
Host Partners: Baseball South Australia 

Australian Intermediate League Championship
Venue: Aerodrome Sporting Complex, Mildura VIC
Dates: 17-21 June 2019
Host Partners: Sunraysia Baseball League 

Australian Little League Championship
Venue: Albert Park, Lismore NSW
Dates: 6-10 June 2019
Host Partners: Far North Coast Baseball Association

Gold Coast Cougars head to the 2018 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, targeting Australia’s best result at the event.

The Cougars will become the first Queensland charter to represent Australia Region at any of the Little League World Series events and have their sights on more history.

Cougars’ coach Brent Iddon says the charter is confident it can have success on junior baseball’s biggest stage.

“Our goal from day one was to be going to Williamsport,” he said.

“We’re not going over to win one game, we’re not going over to win two games, we’re going over there to win it.

“You can’t think any other way.”

The Cougars booked their ticket to the prestigious event in June, defeating Adelaide Seahawks 11-0 in the gold medal game at the 2018 Bendigo Bank Australian Little League Championship.

Since then preparations have ramped up, as has support from the Gold Coast community.

Iddon said the players had embraced the ride.

“The kids are a bit over training and wanting to dive into it, so I’ve been having to tell them to be patient,” he said.

“The message has been to take it all in, don’t expect anything and take it all as it comes.

“There’s really no sporting event in this country and big as this one, it really blows my mind how big it is.

“There’s a good six or seven that have never been overseas, let alone to America, so they’re going to love it.”

Gold Coast heads to the US today ahead of taking on Mexico Region in its opening game next Friday morning (Australian time).

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN from 7am AEST.

Baseball Australia has released the dates and locations for the 2019 Australian National Championships for each age bracket. Lismore will host the championships for Senior League and Little League whilst the Women’s and Youth Girls championships will return to Narrabundah Ballpark in Canberra. Junior League will be played at Diamond Sports in West Beach, South Australia however the Intermediate Championships are still to be determined.

 

16/18 Australian Youth Championships

Venue: Blacktown International Sportspark,

Sydney

Dates: Friday 11th January – Sunday 20th January

2019

Host Partners: Baseball New South Wales

 

Australian Youth Women’s Championships

Venue: Narrabundah Ballpark, Canberra

Dates: Monday 15th April – Saturday 20th April

2019

Host Partners: Baseball Canberra

 

Australian Women’s Championships

Venue: Narrabundah Ballpark, Canberra

Dates: Sunday 14th April – Sunday 21st April 2019

Host Partners: Baseball Canberra

 

Australian Senior League Championships

Venue: Albert Park, Lismore

Dates: Sunday 19th May – Friday 24th May 2019

Host Partners: Far North Coast Baseball

Association

 

Australian Junior League Championships

Venue: Diamond Sports SA, West Beach

Dates: Sunday 26th May – Friday 31st May 2019

Host Partners: Baseball South Australia

 

Australian Intermediate League Championships

Venue: TBD

Dates: May (TBD)

Host Partners: TBD

 

Australian Little League Championships

Venue: Albert Park, Lismore

Dates: Wednesday 5th June – Monday 10th June

2019

Host Partners: Far North Coast Baseball

Association

Applications for Victorian State coaches will be released in the coming days. Any interested parties should contact High Performance Manager, Damian Shanahan at damian.shanahan@baseballvictoria.com.au.

Baseball Victoria in conjunction with Baseball Australia are holding a series of free workshops at MSAC’s Sports House in Albert Park to train the clubs in the correct way to use the SportsTG registration platform. A number of clubs have expressed confusion with the system and have had difficulty registering their players. Baseball Victoria are aware of these issues and are working with SportsTG to fix them.

 

In the meantime, BV would like to invite representative members from each club to attend one of three training sessions being run by BV Events Manager, Taylor Crotty and BA’s Membership, Database Management and Sporting School’s Coordinator, Miranda Frisken. The training sessions will address the registration process, as well as which fees apply to different types of players. Attendees are encouraged to bring their personal device (laptop, tablet, etc) so that they are able to follow along. There will also be time for attendees to seek advice with processing their own registration or those of a club member and a step by step guide to putting individual club fees on the SportsTG platform.

 

Things to note;

 

·         You must be registered with Baseball Victoria to attend the training

·         Ensure all those at your club who need to attend training do attend

·         Maximum of 20 people per training session (first in best dressed)

 

Links to register your interest for the training sessions appear below;

 

BVIC Training Wednesday 15 August, 6pm Sports House

 

BVIC Training Thursday 16 August, 6pm, Sports House

BVIC Training Friday 17 August, 6pm, Sports House

BVIC Training Friday 17 August, 6pm, Sports House

 

The U15 World Cup is here, and QLDer Jaime Fox is taking you through his experiences as part of the #TeamAustralia family.

 

DIARY #2 - SUNTRUST PARK VISIT 

DIARY #2 - SUNTRUST PARK VISIT 

As the day started with breakfast at the hotel and a quick 30 min drive over to Suntrust Park, and it didn’t disappoint .

We had a tour of the park all the way from the VIP lounges at the top of the park even down into the dugout .

With the stadium costing over 620 million and only being opened in 2017, the new style is the stadium was amazing. 

After the tour we headed to Wahlburgers to grabs some lunch before we drove back to the hotel to get ready for the game. 

We arrived at the field ready to play, and showed that through the whole game. 

Even though we went down 4-0 the boys put up a really good fight and showed a lot of good things leading into Panama. 

We finished the night with some pizza at the hotel and all had some well earned rest.

 

INTERVIEW WITH JIMMY NATI AND JAKE BURNS 

As the #U15WorldCup preparation continues, Jake Burns and Jimmy Nati caught up with Jaime Fox after a massive day in Georgia! pic.twitter.com/NPY6f2vcHP

TRAINING COMPLEX IN EMERSON, GEORGIA

 

DIARY #1 - TRAVEL DAY

An early rise for the team today was we all arrived at the Sydney airport at 8 all eager to get the trip started. With a 14 hour flight followed by another 4 hour it’s was going to be a long day. 

As we landed in LA we had a 2 hour layover which was filled by checking into our next flight. After landing in Atlanta with 18 hours of flying under or belts we headed to grab dinner and all tried to get a early night as we are straight into the actions tomorrow.

Expansion teams Auckland and Geelong-Korea will start the Australian Baseball League season on the road, while defending champion Brisbane Bandits open their campaign at home to the Adelaide Bite.

Baseball Australia today confirmed its 2018/2019 ABL schedule, with four highly-anticipated inter-divisional matchups headlining Opening Weekend as the sport enters a new era with an eight-team league.

Auckland travel west to take on the Perth Heat in its historic first series, while Geelong-Korea will go head-to-head with the Sydney Blue Sox in Sydney, before both play at home for the first time in round two.

The Bandits will start their quest for an unprecedented fourth-straight title against the Bite at Wild Moose Stadium on Opening Weekend, while Canberra Cavalry begin their quest to go one better than last season's second-place finish with an away series against the Melbourne Aces.

The 160-game regular season will start on November 15 and run for 10 weeks.

Baseball Australia chief executive officer Cam Vale said the addition of expansion teams Auckland and Geelong-Korea set the stage for season nine of the ABL to be the most exciting yet.

"This is truly a watershed year for Australian baseball," he said.

"The confirmation of the regular season schedule is a key moment in the league's ever-growing landscape, and we're counting down the days until the most historic season of the ABL yet.

"The inclusion of Geelong-Korea and Auckland solidifies the ABL as a brand with significant international appeal."

SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS:

Each team will play two four-game series (one home, one away) against each divisional rival and one four-game series against each team in the opposing division.

Teams will play a total of 24 games (12 at home, 12 away) against divisional rivals and 16 games (eight at home and eight away) against inter-divisional opponents.

The structure of the 2018/19 playoffs will be announced in coming weeks

Inter-divisional series will take place in rounds 1, 5, 6, and 10.

There will be 160 total games, with opening day falling on Thursday 15 November.

An ABL game will be played abroad for the first time in round two when Auckland hosts Brisbane.

As reported yesterday the expansion team will play three of its five home series in Auckland with its remaining home series played in Australia at to-be-confirmed venues.

Vale said it was likely the two series would be taken to regional Australia.

Geelong will also host ABL action for the first time when newcomers Geelong-Korea take on Perth in round two.

Canberra fans will have to wait until round four to see their team at home to allow for completion of redevelopment at The Fort.

But it will be worth the wait with the Cavalry's home opener a massive ABL Championship Series rematch against North-East Division rivals Brisbane.

Canberra will then host three-straight series over the high-drawing Christmas and New Year period as it plays 16 of its final 20 games at The Fort.

The 2018/2019 season will see the introduction of divisions for the first time in ABL history.

Adelaide, Geelong-Korea, Melbourne and Perth will compete in the South-West Division, while Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney are in the North-East Division.

Vale said the introduction of divisions would grow existing rivalries and build new ones.

The All-Star Game has been dropped from the 2018/2019 schedule due to Team Australia's commitments ahead of the 2020 Olympics, allowing the playoffs to be brought forward one week.

"This season's schedule has been designed to maximise player availability in the playoffs," Vale said.

"We've brought forward the playoffs by one week, which sees the first week of post-season action taking place over the Australia Day long weekend."

ABLTV.com will be the go-to digital destination for live and on-demand games with a detailed broadcast schedule to be released soon.

The Baseball Live App is the best place to keep up-to-date with all your ABL news, scores, standings, live broadcasts and much more heading into the 2018/19 season.

The 2018/2019 ABL season marks the first under a privatised structure, with six of the eight teams already operating under new licence holders.

Perth will make a major announcement regarding its ownership next week.

An announcement on Melbourne's ownership will follow shortly after.

Parker Robinson is like any other young baseballer. 

He has big dreams, passion for the game and dedication to get better.

But Parker has something not a lot of young baseballers have.

Parker has Grandpa Jim.

Grandpa Jim is Jim Allen, a man who has been involved with baseball for over two decades at the top level.

After growing up in Phoenix AZ, Allen played baseball for Cal Western and signed with the LA Dodgers out of college.

From there, his exploits took him to all over the world, before finally landing a job with the San Diego Padres throwing batting practice.

Allen was with the Padres organisation for over 25 years.

Allen’s grandson Parker has recently been selected for the Australian U15 World Cup team, which will travel to Panama next month to compete against the best in the world.

Robinson credits Grandpa Jim for inspiring his passion for the game.

“My grandpa inspires me because he has been places and done things that I want to do with my baseball,” Robinson said.

“I love that he is still playing the game that he loves and still striking them out.”

72-year-old Grandpa Jim has battled stem cell therapy and a shoulder reconstruction over the past few years, but that hasn’t stopped him playing the game he loves. 

“After his successful shoulder reconstruction he is back playing the game,” Allen’s daughter (and Parker’s mum) Suni Robinson said.

“He often calls or texts with his game stats and loves to brag to the boys (Parker and brother Chet) about his pickoffs!”

Parker and his brother Chet have been lucky enough to hear behind-the-scenes stories, including how Padres legend Tony Gwynn hit hundreds of balls off the tee every day, even on the last day of his professional career.

As the U15 World Cup approaches, Parker believes the wealth of experience Grandpa Jim has bestowed on him will enhance his experience.

“I feel very lucky to have someone so close to me with such incredible baseball experiences,” Parker said.

“I enjoy talking to him about his career and hearing his stories about some of the greats that he played with.”

Grandpa Jim is hoping to catch up with Parker and the rest of the U15 World Cup team at their training camp in Atlanta, and there’s no doubt more stories will be shared.