Baseball Victoria, Author at Baseball Victoria

When Will Fullerton takes to the field at the 2018 Senior League World Series, he will complete a previously unconquered feat.

Fullerton will become the first athlete to represent the Australia Region at the Little League, Junior League and Senior League World Series.

Fullerton was a key part of the Cronulla side that made history as the first team from NSW to qualify for a Little League World Series in 2015.

Twelve months later, Fullerton and his Cronulla teammates booked their ticket to Taylor, Michigan and the Junior League World Series.

Despite having attended two previous World Series appearances, Fullerton says this one is just as special.

“It’s just as exciting as when I went to the Little League World Series,” Fullerton says.

“Obviously Little League is the most focused on, but the quality of baseball at each event has been fantastic.

“It’s an honour to get the opportunity to return to a World Series, as I can put into practice what I’ve learned previously.

“We get to see different styles of baseball from Japanese and Latin American teams, it’s a great experience to match yourself with some of the best talent in the world.”

Fullerton has seen the best talent in the world first-hand, and believes Australian Little League Baseball continues to make big strides on the international stage.

“The quality of baseball is getting better and better every year,” he said.

“The Gold Coast Little League team heading to Williamsport this year are pretty special, it’s amazing to see the growth of Australian baseball at the Little League level.”

With many of his Cronulla Senior League teammates experiences baseball on the international level for the first time, Fullerton has called on his own experiences to help his team succeed.

“I’ve tried to help the team as much as I can throughout our journey.”

“We’ll come across high pressure situations in Easley, but the key is to relax and have fun. I believe if our team has fun we will play much better.”

When Fullerton returns home from the Senior League World Series, he will have covered 92,332km traveling to and from each of the three World Series he has attended.

Those 92,332km have brought wins and losses, but more importantly experiences which Fullerton will call on throughout his baseball and personal journey.

The Northern Metros are going boldly where no other Australian baseball team has been before.

And the honour isn’t lost on the group of young men from Western Australia.

On the 25^th of May 2018, the Northern Metros made history, becoming the first Australian charter to seal qualification for the Intermediate League 50/70 Baseball World Series, after a hard-fought 10-9 win over fellow WA charter, the Western Suns.

Following Little League International’s decision to award the Australia Region a place at the Intermediate League 50/70 World series, six teams from around the country took part in the inaugural Australian Intermediate League Championship in Lismore.

Since that rainy afternoon in Lismore, the Northern Metros – lead by manager Simon Stanton – have been hitting the track harder than ever before, and Stanton is as excited as the kids to get to California.

“The kids are in a great place,” Stanton said.

“The support from the Perth community has been fantastic, we’ve had events with nearly 300 attendees. It’s an honour to represent the Australia Region.”

That honour is something that is not lost on the Metros, as the first team to represent the Australia region, and Stanton believes that is an advantage for his troops.

“We’re not following in anyone else’s footsteps.”

“Being the first cab off the rank gives it freshness, and the absence of a benchmark gives us the opportunity to set it as high as we can.”

Stay tuned tomorrow as Reece Coles, one of the lucky young men heading over to Livermore, begins his tour diary for the Intermediate League World Series.

The 2018 Under 14 State Winter Championships got under way today in Mildura. Whilst a little chilly in the morning it turned out to be a fantastic day weather-wise and the fields looked excellent.

The teams walked out onto Diamond 1 for the Opening Ceremony and stood for the national anthem after an address from President of the Sunraysia Baseball League, Nick Carroll.

Diamond 1 kicked off at 9:00am with a hit-fest curtesy of Diamond Valley. On the back of a strong start from Corey Poynter, DV piled on 5, 4, 4 and then 5 more runs onto a sturdy Latrobe Valley team that battled hard but ultimately went down, 15 – 0.

Sunraysia and City West went head to head on Diamond 2 and it was Sunraysia that dominated the offense. Jackson Malycha and Kolby Wakefield combined for the home association to keep City West scoreless, winning 16 – 0.

The Allies, a combination of Geelong, Ringwood and Bendigo players, took on Ringwood on Diamond 3 and fell behind after the second inning. However, the rag-tag team were able to rally late in the game and defeat a strong Ringwood outfit, 5 – 4.

In round 2, which took off at 11:15am, Finley Ronalds-Greatbatch took the mound for Ringwood against Sunraysia. His efforts kept the Sunraysia bats quiet and he managed to earn himself a win to the tune of 7 – 0.

Over on diamond 2 the Allies, who were proving to be a force to be reckoned with, went up against Latrobe Valley. Latrobe went through 4 different pitchers but couldn’t find a way to beat the rolling Allies, going down to the combination team 15 – 2.

City West’s second contest of the day was against Diamond Valley and although they put a couple of runs on the board it proved to be another tough game. Diamond Valley scored hit well in each innings to take the win, 13 – 2.

Shaping up to be the match of the day, Diamond Valley played the Allies on diamond 1 at 1:45pm. Both teams had had significant wins over the course of the day and were vying for top spot. After a hard fought game, it was the Allies who consistently plated runs and kept Diamond Valley to a single score, taking the win 5 – 1.

On diamond 2, Ringwood beat City West by a large margin (17 – 2), which propelled them into equal first place. Josh Kellock and Harrison Elustondo were very effective on the mound for Ringwood and managed to keep City West to only 2 runs.

The final game for the day was a high scoring affair, with Sunraysia taking on Latrobe Valley on diamond 3. Both teams hit the ball well but ultimately it was Sunraysia who came away with the win with a score of 14 – 8.

Tomorrow the teams will play those that they haven’t played yet to establish a ladder that will determine which ones play off for first and second and third and fourth. Currently, the Allies sit atop the standings whilst Diamond Valley and Ringwood are in second place on equal points.

RUBBISH

Please remember to keep the ballpark clean and assist our host clubs in Mildura by placing all your rubbish in the bins provided around the grounds.

ISCORE VOLUNTEERS

Baseball Victoria would like to invite anyone interested in learning the iScore system to register their interest with a member of the BV team tomorrow (Sunday 22^nd July), either for this weekend or the weekend of the 28^th July.

TEAM PHOTOS

Any teams interested in team photos should get in touch with either Kelsey Quinn or Lisa Mclellan from Baseball Victoria.

1 - Allies

Equal 2 - Diamond Valley

Ringwood

4 - Sunraysia

5 - City West

6 - Latrobe Valley

Australia and Japan have a long history of memorable battles on the baseball diamond.

From Team Australia’s two victories against Japan at the 2004 Athens Olympics which played a pivotal role in an historic silver medal, to a record 41,408 fans attending game one of the 2017 World Baseball Classic as Japan prevailed at the Tokyo Dome.

There has been a long history of Australians playing in Japan, including Jeff Williams, who had a career 2.20 ERA for the Hanshin Tigers. Williams also picked up the save in Australia’s unforgettable 1-0 victory over Japan in the 2004 Olympic semi-final.

Fast-forward to 2018, and relationships off-the-field between Australia and Japan are thriving.

The Canberra Cavalry and Yokohama DeNA BayStars this week announced a strategic partnership that will benefit both clubs on and off-the-field, while in January, Baseball Australia signed a memorandum of understanding with Fuchu City, as the Japanese city became the home-away-from-home for national team tournaments in Asia.

Australian Baseball League teams are no strangers to having Japanese players, with the Melbourne Aces consistently receiving high-quality prospects from the Seibu Lions, and the Sydney Blue Sox partnering with the Japanese Amateur Baseball Association.

Another Australian to star in Japanese baseball in Micheal Nakamura, who played for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, Yomiuri Giants and Seibu Lions from 2005-2012.

Nakamura – a former Pacific League single-season saves record holder – told Chris Coleman on StrikeZone Australia that the BayStars-Cavalry partnership has significant benefits for Australian and Japanese baseball.

“It is a massive accomplishment to have an NPB team (BayStars) affiliate with an ABL team,” Nakamura said.

“Yokohama is a strong organisation, and I believe this partnership will change the dynamic of the club and enhance the professionalism of the league as a whole.

“Baseball in Japan is astronomical, it dwarfs the biggest sporting leagues we have in Australia easily.”

The Cavalry are hoping to encapsulate a some of that interest, as they look to further enhance relationships between Australia and Japan.

Last Sunday, the 15^th July, the 2018 MLB Showcase took place for the second year in a row at Melbourne Ballpark. Around 150 kids from all over Victoria converged on Melbourne Ballpark to test their skills against the rest of the country.

The Showcase consisted of a series of tests designed to measure each player’s baseball tools.

Participants were split into three separate sessions over the duration of the day, beginning at 12pm and running through until 4:30pm where they rotated through five different drills; a broad jump, a direct sprint from first to third base, an agility workout, a throwing exercise to measure arm strength and a hitting drill to measure bat speed.

The Showcase is a chance for children aged 13 or 14 to demonstrate their baseball attributes in front of high performance coaches, players and scouts. Along with a host of Victorian State level coaches, Baltimore Orioles scout Grant Weir, Chicago Cubs scout Gavin Young and Kansas City Royals scout Neil Burke were all in attendance.

General Manager of Team Australia, Glenn Williams was also present and was impressed with the number of children interested in being involved in the Showcase. He credits Victorian High Performance Manager, Damian Shanahan and his coaching staff for the strong turn-out.

Damian agreed, saying that there was a large number of juniors from the Victorian baseball community interested in advancement.

“Victorian players want to improve and that’s a great thing. I think the Aces Academy is a good goal for kids to have in mind and this is one of the steps towards achieving that. You can really tell that these kids are all here for the right reasons – because they all want to reach the highest level they can and that’s excellent to see.”

The players with the best statistics will be invited to a High Performance camp in Lismore in August where they will be provided with national level coaching and further opportunity to play in front of Major League Baseball scouts. The statistics from each state’s Showcase will go into a national database for future reference for coaches and scouts and will help chart each participant’s progress from year to year. The types of testing involved are also a good guideline for club coaches to use during their own seasons so that players can stay up to date with their improvements.

The Showcase itself is just the start of an incredibly valuable pathway for Victorian baseball players and a great opportunity to get some exposure to the highest level of coaching available. The response to the Showcase has been overwhelmingly positive – Victoria had the highest number of participants of any state around the country and the enthusiasm from the players themselves was clearly evident on the day. The large attendance is a real testament to the success of the Aces High Performance Academy and also an indication of the widespread motivation amongst Victoria’s junior players to achieve at an elite level.

After a lengthy selection process, Baseball Australia is proud to announce the 20 young men selected for the WBSC U15 World Cup in Panama next month.

FULL SQUAD

The Australian U15 team earned a place at the World Cup following a hard-fought qualifier against New Zealand in January, with a number of stars from that that qualifier booking their tickets to Panama.

Australian U15 World Cup manager Andy Kyle believes this was one of the most difficult selection processes he’s been a part of.

“We’ve been collecting data from state high performance managers for a long time,” Kyle said.

“The overall quality of the squad was excellent, and the coaching group were challenged throughout the selection process.

“We are excited to begin our World Cup campaign against Japan, and look forward to improving on our 2016 performance.”

Australia will look to improve on their 11^th place finish in the 2016 World Cup, where they claimed two wins from eight games.

General Manager - Team Australia, Glenn Williams is excited to put this team on the field in Panama.

"We've been gathering information on these players for a long time which we have used to select the final team," Williams said.

"It’s never easy to make these decisions but we feel we have the right 20 players for this tournament and can't wait to see them in action in August."

Joining Australia and Japan in Group B are The Netherlands, Cuba, The Dominican Republic and South Africa.

Three Group B teams will qualify for the Super Round, with Australia’s opening game taking place on August 10 against Japan at Estadio Rico Cedeño.

Click here for a full schedule, and stay tuned to the World Baseball Softball Confederation for broadcast information.