Team Shipley 11-9 Team Lloyd
Team Shipley built and early lead and withstood a strong comeback from Team Lloyd to claim an 11-9 win.
Solomon Maguire was exceptional for Team Shipley, striking out five and only giving up one hit in his two innings on the mound. Victoria's Jacob Bald set the offensive tone for Team Shipley, going 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, with Patrik Paramonov and Jaycob Pascuzzi each picking up two hits.
WA's Maddux Stivey was impressive for Team Lloyd, driving in two runs from his two hits, stealing a base and scoring twice. Local Lismore lad Cain McClelland also picked up a double and an RBI.
Team Lloyd brought the margin back to two, but two insurance runs late in the ballgame ensured a victory for Team Shipley.
Team Nilsson 7-6 Team Balfour
Pitching starred early for both Team Balfour and Team Nilsson, but the bats eventually got going, and it was Team Nilsson that snuck home with a 7-6 victory.
James Nati (2IP, 0H, 1BB, 3K) and Clayton Campbell (2IP, 0H, 5K) were both outstanding on the mound for their respective teams, while Dustin Brown did everything he could to keep Team Balfour in the ballgame, throwing two scoreless innings.
James Napier lead things off for Team Balfour, as he finished with three hits and an RBI on the day, with Nicholas Chappell and Jude Barker each claiming a pair of hits.
Charlie Collins went 2-for-3 in the leadoff spot for Team Nilsson, while a two RBI double from Dylan Bojarski extended his team's lead in the fourth.
Team Balfour threatened in the final frame scoring two, but Team Nilsson held on for an opening day victory.
A grand slam from Jarryd Dale and a clutch performance on the mound from Jett Wright has helped Australia escape with a tie in their seventh game of their pre-World Cup series against Canada.
Jarryd Dale nailed his second home run in as many days, with this one coming at a crucial point for Australia. With a single to Jess Williams and walks to Dermot Fritsch and Alex Hall, Dale crushed one to left field, giving his team the lead and breathing new life into the Australian camp.
Canada responded instantly, with a two-run home run of their own to tie the ballgame up again in the fifth, and from there the intensity between the two sides lifted.
Manager Steve Fish continued to preach the need for consistency post-game.
"We need to cut down on those mental mistakes," Fish said.
"It's all about the little things in tournament baseball, and if we continue to throw strikes and play well defensively, we can really challenge at the U18 World Cup."
Canberra's Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis had some struggles on the mound, but eventually found his rhythm, striking out six and only giving up two earned runs in four innings of work.
Jess Williams again proved a tough out at the top of the Australian lineup, going 2-for-4 with a walk, while Jarryd Dale drove in all five of his team's runs care of the grand slam and a ninth inning sacrifice fly.
The final frame saw international tiebreaker rules come into effect, and having pushed a run across in the top half, Perth's Jett Wright was called upon to finish the game on the mound. Despite giving up a bases loaded walk, Wright stepped up to retire the next three batters in order to deny Canada the victory.
Australia plays it's final warm-up game before the U18 World Cup tomorrow at 10.30am local time.
Australia were unable to claim their fourth consecutive win of the pre-U18 World Cup tour, as they were defeated 10-5 by a Canadian team who made the most of their opportunities.
Both starting pitchers were on song in the early going, with South Australian Jack O’Loughlin only surrendering two hits and one earned run in his first four innings of work.
O'Loughlin worked exceptionally hard during his outing, and was relieved as his pitch count approached 100. The middle innings proved hard to get through for the Australians, as Canada made the most of their hits, as well as some costly Australian errors to score multiple runs.
U18 World Cup Manager Steve Fish saw today's game as a chance to continually build.
"It was a tough one today given we were in a position to win the ballgame," Fish said.
"Mental mistakes and errors really cost us today. We're going to give up hits, but we weren't as switched on today. We'll be in good shape moving forward though, this is a great example of needing to be on our game every time we step on the field."
Australia piled on four runs in the sixth frame, with an RBI single from Alex Hall and a massive three run bomb from San Diego Padres signee Jarryd Dale bringing the margin back to two.
Just as it looked like Australia had wrestled the momentum back, Canada replied with three runs of their own to put the result beyond doubt.
Jess Williams and Jordan Barnett made appearances on the mound, with both tossing scoreless innings late in the ballgame.
Australia will continue their pre-U18 World Cup tour of Toronto tomorrow as they face Canada once again.
Both starting pitchers were on song in the early going, with South Australian Jack O’Loughlin only surrendering two hits and one earned run in his first four innings of work.
O'Loughlin worked exceptionally hard during his outing, and was relieved as his pitch count approached 100. The middle innings proved hard to get through for the Australians, as Canada made the most of their hits, as well as some costly Australian errors to score multiple runs.
U18 World Cup Manager Steve Fish saw today's game as a chance to continually build.
"It was a tough one today given we were in a position to win the ballgame," Fish said.
"Mental mistakes and errors really cost us today. We're going to give up hits, but we weren't as switched on today. We'll be in good shape moving forward though, this is a great example of needing to be on our game every time we step on the field."
Australia piled on four runs in the sixth frame, with an RBI single from Alex Hall and a massive three run bomb from San Diego Padres signee Jarryd Dale bringing the margin back to two.
Just as it looked like Australia had wrestled the momentum back, Canada replied with three runs of their own to put the result beyond doubt.
Jess Williams and Jordan Barnett made appearances on the mound, with both tossing scoreless innings late in the ballgame.
Australia will continue their pre-U18 World Cup tour of Toronto tomorrow as they face Canada once again.
An outstanding start from Victorian hurler Jackson Boyd set the tone as Australia’s U18 World Cup side claimed a 5-2 win over Canada in Toronto.
Boyd looked in control throughout his five innings on the mound, scattering two hits and striking out six in Australia’s fifth warm-up game of the pre-U18 World Cup tour of Toronto.
Canadian starter E. Cerantola looked strong through two, however some good team baseball from Australia broke the scoreless deadlock. Rixon Wingrove reached on an error, before a perfect sacrifice bunt from fellow New South Welshman Jake Amos moved him into scoring position. Victorian Jordan Barnett did the rest, doubling to left field to score his team’s first run of the ballgame.
WA’s Jess Williams then doubled the advantage, with a line drive triple to extend the lead.
Manager Steve Fish was pleased with the overall performance.
“Jackson Boyd was outstanding today,” Fish said.
"He made some huge pitches late in counts and really kept hitters guessing. Offensively we're grinding out at-bats and did the little things well today. The resilience of the group has been fantastic so far this tour, and we'll take that momentum into the World Cup”
Canberra’s Mitch Edwards executed a perfect squeeze play to drive in Alex Hall and tack on another for the Australians, before an error saw a pair of runs cross the plate, and in the blink of an eye it was a five run ballgame.
Canada claimed their first two runs in the sixth, before Lochlan Southee settled things nicely, consistently hitting his spots and finishing with 2.2 scoreless innings.
The host-nation threatened with the tying run in the batters box in the final frame, however Liam Holm kept his nerve to record the save and Australia's third win in as many games.
As a follow-up to last week’s announcement of the new Charter Committee and with another #SumemrOfBaseball drawing closer, Baseball Victoria wanted to take the opportunity to provide an update on everything related to junior baseball.
Included in the above downloadable update is information in relation to:
Please note that while it hasn’t been included in the update, the Charter Committee has also moved to officially accept Doncaster Baseball Club’s move to play within the Eastern Athletics Charter.
With Come n Try Days season well and truly upon us, we are hoping that as many people as possible get out and support their Club’s in helping attract new people to the sport.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for further announcements around junior, senior women’s & master’s baseball for this season.
A massive fifth inning proved the difference as Hills Little League defeated Midwest 11-7 in their final game at the Little League World Series.
Midwest jumped out to an early four run lead, however Hills responded instantly, driving in three runs of their own in the bottom of the first to keep Midwest on their toes.
Making his second appearance at the Little League World Series, Tom Stancic was outstanding on the mound, striking out nine and only giving up two earned runs in four strong innings.
The top third of the lineup did the damage for Australia, with Ethan Treble (3-for-3, RBI), Harrison Wheeldon (2-for-4, 3B, 3RBI) and Stephen Courtney (2-for-4, 2RBI) all setting the tone for the Hills victory.
Hayden Purchase also swung the bat well to claim a pair of hits, while Yasiru Jayawardene was the only Hills player to claim a double on the day.
Australia came into the bottom of the fifth trailing by one, however a three-RBI triple from Harrison Wheeldon broke the deadlock, and Hills were never headed.
Cody Brian held his nerve despite having the tying run at the plate, as Liam Padovan made the final play of the ballgame to give Hills a well deserved victory.
Hills gave it everything they had in a game that had everything, but eventually their rally fell agonisingly short, as the Caribbean claimed an 8-7 win.
Australia were down by six runs with six outs remaining, but scored the final five runs of the ballgame to make the Caribbean side work just that little bit harder for the win. A two hour rain delay also thwarted the momentum of both sides, with lightning in the Williamsport area.
Australia held a two-run lead after two innings care of a passed ball and an RBI from Tyler Spiteri, however a six-run rally from the Caribbean saw them take a four run lead.
Starting pitcher Harrison Wheeldon battled manfully across his five innings on the mound and despite giving up some runs in bunches, Wheeldon kept his cool to finish with eight strikeouts.
Wheeldon also showed his strength with bat in hand, claiming two hits and an RBI, with the entire team showing a much improved performance with the bat.
Cody Brian made an excellent catch in left-field, then fired a strike to second base to turn a momentum building double play heading into the final inning, however the fightback fell just short, and ended Hills' quest for the Little League World Series championship.
Hills will now play a team from the US Bracket on Wednesday at 1am AEST.
Hills’ historic run at the Junior League World Series has come to an end, falling 9-0 to Latin America in Taylor, Michigan this morning.
Latin America scored a pair of runs early, before their bats came alive through the middle innings. Those big bats threatened to blow the score out for Latin America, however a strong relief outing from Andrew Martin ensured the game continued.
Martin only allowed two baserunners in an impressive 2.2 innings. Australia struggled to string multiple hits together against an outstanding Latin American pitcher, with Riley Watson and Clayton Campbell each picking up a single.
As Latin America began another rally in the fifth inning, an inning ending double play turned by Clayton Campbell kept the strong Latin American lineup at bay.
As Lianna Davidson grounded out to end the ballgame, Hills can hold their heads high as history makers on the Junior League World Series stage.
Hills Little League battled against traditional powerhouse Tokyo-Kitasuna Little League, eventually falling 8-0 at the Little League World Series.
Tokyo-Kitasuna were a constant threat offensively, but some timely strikeouts from starting pitcher Tom Stancic and a solid defensive performance ensured Tokyo-Kitasuna had to battle for each and every run.
Despite a few shaky moments, Tom Stancic’s debut on the biggest stage in Little League was excellent, as he struck out three and limited the damage against a three-time Little League World Series champion.
Ethan Treble claimed Hills’ first hit of the Little League World Series, while Liam Padovan had the distinction of picking up a hit from the first pitch he saw at the prestigious tournament.
Hills will now face either the Asia-Pacific (South Korea) or the Caribbean (Dominican Republic) in an elimination game at 8am AEST, Sunday 20 August.