Baseball Victoria's Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 16 February 2017, at which Baseball Victoria released its 2015/16 Annual Report to Clubs.
Ormond GH 9 defeated St Kilda 3
Footscray 10 defeated Chelsea 3
Pakenham 6 defeated Mulgrave 1
Ballarat 5 defeated Berwick 0
No game summary provided
Sunshine 4 defeated Doncaster 3
No game summary provided
Upwey FTG 5 defeated Werribee 0
No game summary provided
Williamstown 5 defeated Bonbeach 0
No game summary provided
Malvern 5 defeated Port Melbourne 2
No game summary provided
Baseball
Australia, in conjunction with Little League® International, is proud to
announce that starting in 2017, the winner of the Australia Region Senior
League Championship will be granted direct entry to the Senior League Baseball
World Series.
Australia’s Little League
program is one of the fastest growing in the world, with over 1,000 Little
League teams registered across the country. The increased popularity has
translated to more than 50 percent growth in participants in Little League
programs across Australia over the past three years. For the first time, the
winners of the Australia Region Little League, Junior League and Senior League
Championships will gain direct entry to their respective World Series, held at
various locations throughout the United States.. At the 2016 Senior
League Baseball World Series, Southern Mariners Little League from Melbourne,
competed as the Asia-Pacific Region Champions, where they advanced all the way
to the championship game, which aired on ESPN, finishing as runners up.
Baseball Australia’s Head of
Little League and National Championships, Mathew Sundstrom, is delighted by the
inclusion.
“The opportunities and
experiences Senior League provides has been widely embraced by the Australian
baseball community,” Sundstrom said.
Baseball Australia is pleased
to gain direct entry to the Senior League World Series and is excited about the
continued growth of Little League in Australia”
“We are grateful to see the
dedication and support of Little League in Australia since 2008, when the first
leagues were established, and will continue to provide the greatest experience
for Little Leaguers throughout the country,” said Dan Velte, Little League
Senior Director of League Development and Regional Operations.
“The success and achievements
that these young athletes have accomplished is a testament to our strong
partnership with Baseball Australia and the many dedicated volunteers who help
make Little League in Australia possible.”
The 2017 Australian Senior
League Championship will take place at Albert Park Baseball Complex in Lismore,
NSW, Australia on 14-19 May. The winner will advance to the 2017 Senior League
Baseball World Series, held in Easley, South Carolina, U.S.A at the JB 'Red' Owens Recreation Complex., from July 29 to
August 5.
About Little League®
Founded
in 1939, Little League® Baseball and Softball is the world’s largest organized youth
sports program, with nearly 2.4 million players and one million adult
volunteers in every U.S. state and more than 80 other countries. During its
nearly 80 years of existence, Little League has seen more than 40 million
honoured graduates, including political leaders, professional athletes,
award-winning artists, and a variety of other influential members of society.
Each year, millions of people follow the hard work, dedication, and
sportsmanship that Little Leaguers® display at our seven baseball and softball
World Series events, the premier tournaments in youth sports. For more
information, visit LittleLeague.org, and follow Little League on Facebook
(facebook.com/LittleLeague), Twitter (twitter.com/LittleLeague), and Instagram
(Instagram.com/LittleLeague).
As part of their preparation
for the World Baseball Classic, the world #4 ranked Chinese Taipei team made
the sunny Gold Coast their home for a intensive two-week camp.
In conjunction with the Gold
Coast City Council, the Chinese Taipei team stayed at the RACV Royal Pines
Resort and spent most of their time at the Surfers Paradise Baseball Club,
where they honed their skills and prepared for their opening round games
against South Korea, Israel and The Netherlands.
The team also made their way
to Brisbane where they claimed three wins from three games against the Windsor
Royals, and the back-to-back ABL Champions, the Brisbane Bandits.
All three games were met
with a groundswell of support from the Taiwanese local contingent, who
supported the team in droves and made the atmosphere at Holloway Field
electric.
The final game of the pre-tournament tour came to an end last night as Chinese
Taipei defeated the Bandits 5-4 in an entertaining encounter. Well over 350,000
people tuned into the livestream that was hosted on www.abltv.com and the Brisbane Bandits facebook page,
as well as over a million people reached during the game itself.
Baseball Australia Chief Operating
Officer Justin Drew was excited to host the Taiwanese team.
“It was an honour to host
one of the best teams in world baseball,” Drew said.
“The tour was met with a
fantastic response from the local community, and it further enhanced the
relationship between Australian and Taiwanese baseball. A special thankyou must
go to the Gold Coast City Council for their continued support. Thanks also must
go to the Brisbane Bandits, Baseball Queensland and the Windsor Royals Baseball
Club, for their cooperation and professionalism to ensure the smooth delivery
of this event.”
Sandringham 3 defeated Essendon 0
Strong performances on the mound and at the plate led Sandringham to a 3-0 defeat over Essendon in their first clash of the season.
Jackson Boyd allowed just one hit and two walks for no runs in 2.2 innings of work, while Sam Street pitched 6.1 innings for three hits, a walk and no runs to keep Essendon scoreless.
With the bat, the Royals managed 10 hits over eight innings off Gareth Formisano, Luke Abels and Russell Spear with eight of the nine Royals in the line-up achieving hits.
For Essendon, Ross Bament was the only one that delivered multiple hits, going two for four on the day.
Fitzroy 2 defeated Newport 1
Fitzroy’s Fine Fellows have kept their winning streak alive with a narrow 2-1 over Newport at home.
In a game largely dominated by pitching, Newport’s Jimmy Jensen would throw 8.0, striking out nine and conceding just the two runs while Fitzroy’s pitching staff of Leigh McKay and Brock Pawley combined to give up just a single run on six hits.
For the Lions, Tom Wilson and Reese Gregory picked up two base hits each while for the travelling Rams, Jimmy Jensen and Jack Van Wyngaarden also picked up two hits each.
Waverley 5 defeated Moorabbin 3
No Game Summary Provided.
Moorabbin 8 defeated Cheltenham 7
No Game Summary Provided.
Blackburn 9 defeated Cheltenham 0
No Game Summary Provided
Preston 4 defeated Geelong 3
No Game Summary Provided
Mid-week FIXTURES
Melbourne and Essendon passed the lead back-and-forth on Tuesday, but eventually Essendon prevailed 7-5.
The game started with Essendon scoring 4 in the first followed by Melbourne scoring in the bottom half and it looked like it could be a long night for the fielding teams.
Essendon knotted the game up at five in the top of the fifth inning scoring one run when Tim Sullivan homered with zero outs in the fifth inning.
Essendon batting in the top of the sixth on an error, a bunt, a single for one run and a double driving another run.
Melbourne failed to score in the bottom of the sixth to give Essendon the win.
Scott Moore, Nathan Aron, Mitch Ayres and Sam Boone were the only players for Melbourne to get hits. On the other hand Essendon racked up a team total of 10 including a solo shot.
The Sandringham Royals visit to the Blackburn Orioles home ground, Billabong Park, started of with the Royals scoring 2 runs in the first from a walk and three hits. In reply the Orioles scored 3 runs off 2 walks and 3 hits from Jackson Boyd's start.
Jackson was then replaced by Branden Stenhouse who allowed 3 further runs by Blackburn batters, before Reed Mason took the mound to close for Sandringham.
The Royals struggled to get further hits from the Orioles non-national pitcher Nathan Harris, and were unable to add to their score, whilst Blackburn added runs off Reed Mason.
Blackburn clinched the 2 hour time game in the bottom of the sixth, with 4 final runs, three unearned from a muffed fly then a wild throw from the left field boundary to produce a final score of 11-2.
Mitch Dening has an insight into Japanese baseball that no
other player on the 2017 World Baseball Classic team has.
Dening is the only member of the team to have played in
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the number one league in Japan.
“Playing in the NPB was a life changing experience,” Dening
reminisced.
“After spending nine years in minor league baseball in
America and Japan, going through the grind and making it to the top level, it
was an incredible time for me.”
Dening racked up 64 games for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows,
picking up 42 hits, 22 RBI and four home runs to finish with a .222 batting
average, as well as an understanding of how the Japanese play, and what to
expect from their fans.
“Everything gets you so excited to play the game,” Dening
said.
“There are 50,000 people in the crowd with drums, trumpets
and it really keeps you in the game. Every player has a different chant, it
really takes a bit of the pressure off knowing the support is there. It was a
real eye opener for me, and I’m sure it’ll be just the same for some of the
rookies on the team.”
After playing in the last two World Baseball Classic’s,
Dening is pulling no punches about the strength of Team Australia’s 2017 WBC
roster.
“This is the strongest Australian team I’ve been apart of,”
Dening said.
“We’d like to beat up on China, and then be able to compete
with Japan and Cuba for a spot in the next round. A lot of the guys have put
their hand up to play in this tournament, and if there’s ever going to be a
time where we make some noise, it’s right now.”
Dening’s competitive nature and intensity is well known in
Australian baseball circles, combine that with the experience of playing at the
top level in Japan and you have a vital piece in Australia’s quest for history
at the World Baseball Classic.
Baseball Australia in conjunction with Team Australia
Baseball is proud to announce the 28-man roster that will represent Australia
at the 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble is excited by the squad put together for the WBC.
“This selection process was by far the most extensive we’ve ever conducted,” Deeble said.
“We’re really happy with how the team has ended up, it’s a great blend of maturity and youth. It was a tough situation, we were torn between wanting to take youth, but also having guys that won’t be overawed on the biggest stage.”
The Australian team travels to Seoul, South Korea on 24 February for a pre-tournament tour, then moves to Osaka and finally Tokyo for their first game on the 8 March.
After the recent increase of Australia’s world ranking, Jon Deeble is setting the bar high both on and off the field.
“We’ve had guys come from all over the world to prepare for this, the commitment is first class,” Deeble said.
“When we get over there, rules will be followed and a system put in place, we’re not going over to make up the numbers and have high expectations of our performance.”
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble is excited by the squad put together for the WBC.
“This selection process was by far the most extensive we’ve ever conducted,” Deeble said.
“We’re really happy with how the team has ended up, it’s a great blend of maturity and youth. It was a tough situation, we were torn between wanting to take youth, but also having guys that won’t be overawed on the biggest stage.”
The Australian team travels to Seoul, South Korea on 24 February for a pre-tournament tour, then moves to Osaka and finally Tokyo for their first game on the 8 March.
After the recent increase of Australia’s world ranking, Jon Deeble is setting the bar high both on and off the field.
“We’ve had guys come from all over the world to prepare for this, the commitment is first class,” Deeble said.
“When we get over there, rules will be followed and a system put in place, we’re not going over to make up the numbers and have high expectations of our performance.”
Tim Atherton (CAN)
James Beresford (MEL)
Travis Blackley (BRI)
Allan de San Miguel (MEL)
Mitch Dening (ADE)
Brad Harman (MEL)
Liam Hendriks (PER)
Luke Hughes (PER)
David Kandilas (CAN)
Jon Kennedy (MEL)
Tim Kennelly (PER)
Steven Kent (CAN)
Peter Moylan (MEL)
Mitch Nilsson (BRI)
Trent Oeltjen (BRI)
Robbie Perkins (CAN)
Ryan Rowland-Smith (BRI)
Dushan Ruzic (MEL)
Warwick Saupold (PER)
Ryan Searle (BRI)
Josh Tols (MEL)
Todd Van Steensel (SYD)
Logan Wade (BRI)
Stefan Welch (ADE)
Lachlan Wells (SYD)
Aaron Whitefield (BRI)
Matthew Williams (ADE)
Mike Walker (MEL)
*ABL affiliation in
brackets
Support Staff
Glenn Williams – Head of Delegation
David Nagy – Travel Manager
Robert Moden – Equipment Manager
Todd Hutcheson – Head Trainer
Jason Roberts – Assistant Trainer
Clinton Bown – Media Manager
Sam Finn – Digital Content Manager
The 28-man squad will travel to Seoul, South Korea for a
pre-WBC tour on the 24 February before heading to Japan on 1 March.
See below schedule for Australia’s first round of the World Baseball Classic.
Australia (10) vs. Japan (1)
Tokyo Dome
7pm (local)
Wednesday 8 March
2017
Australia (10) vs. China (18)
Tokyo Dome
7pm (local)
Thursday 9 March 2017
Australia (10) vs. Cuba (5)
Tokyo Dome
12pm (local)
Friday 10 March 2017
*numbers in brackets
denote World Baseball Softball Confederation World Ranking
President, Baseball Victoria
To purchase your ABLCS tickets using the BV members discounted offer click here and entering the promotion code “ABLCSBV”.