Baseball Victoria is pleased to introduce VSBL Player of the Week Awards for the 2023/24 VSBL season.

Each week, a standout player will be recognised for their achievements across senior men, senior women, and junior competitions. Winners will demonstrate exemplary performance, leadership, sportsmanship, and commitment to baseball.

Nominations will be accepted from the Baseball Victoria Board, staff, member clubs, member parents, registered baseball players, scorers, umpires, and anyone else associated with affiliated clubs of BV.

Please submit your nominations at the links below by the EOD Monday for the previous weekend of play. Weekly winners will be announced on the VSBL Facebook page.

• VSBL Senior Men’s Player of the Week
• VSBL Junior Player of the Week
• Aces Sporting Club VSBL Women’s Batter of the Week
• Aces Sporting Club VSBL Women’s Pitcher of the Week

We would also like to acknowledge BV Diamond Partner Aces Sporting Club for their support with the Women's Batter/Women's Pitcher awards, as well as Ausport for giving each winner a $25 gift voucher.

The Lions community came out in support of Fitzroy Baseball Club's Moss-Leake Memorial Game & Mental Health Awareness Day on Sunday 1 October.

Fitzroy's annual memorial game with La Trobe University was combined with an important discussion on mental health. The day started with junior practice games in the morning before the charity game tradition got underway in honour of local club greats and life members Karl Leake and Graham Moss.

"The Moss-Leake Game has been run for over a decade in memory of the two men," FBC Junior Coordinator Ethan Epifanio said. "This year, we wanted to level it up by providing some awareness and education for members."

"As a family club, we appreciate the importance of having a second family via the baseball club and want to continue being strong ambassadors of mental health awareness and literacy."

After the on-field action, the club community welcomed R U OK Day spokesperson Stephen Dowling, who discussed being there for one another, sharing the load, and that it's OK not to be OK.

"Stephen presented and led a great two-way forum with members about mental health, suicide prevention, and how to look out for one another," Ethan added. "We also had a resources booth with booklets, handouts and wristbands for members to take for education."

Well done to Fitzroy and La Trobe Uni on this initiative!

Visit RUOK.org for valuable resources on mental health and supporting family, friends, and teammates.

On Sunday 1 October, Sandringham Royals Baseball Club hosted Victoria Police Baseball for their annual preseason game, which had been on hold since COVID.

It was a fantastic day for baseball as they played a seven-inning game, which Sandringham won. The early hitout for the start of the season featured friendly rivalry with Dingley winter players facing each other.

"Sandringham Baseball Club would like to thank Victoria Police Baseball for coming down to participate in the game," President Nick Stillwell said. "We would also like to thank umpires Andrew Gluth (plate), Gavin Daniels (first base), and Andrea Cormick (third base) for officiating at the game. Thanks also to Cassandra Ward for scoring."

Follow along with Sandringham's summer season on Facebook.

Vic Dingoes and Hornets are ready for action at the 2023 Barclay Cup!

Best of luck to all our awesome athletes taking part in this junior girls baseball tournament at Carine Cats Baseball Club in Perth, WA from 1-7 October.

Follow along with the action on GameChanger and the official Barclay Cup Livestream.

Andrew Land, Roman Coote, Jordan Ellis, William Hardy, William Kent, Hudson Pallay, Nathan Rumbelow, Robinson Smith, Mitch Langworthy, and Zak Stafilis spent the week at Baseball Australia’s National U16 Camp.

These standout junior players have been training hard and making the most of this unique development opportunity at the Australian Institute of Sport. Samantha Hamilton, Donavon Hendricks, and Daniel Chircop are part of the coaching staff, too.

Well done to all on this experience – we know the future is bright for all of these athletes and coaches!

The BV Coaching Panel met on Wednesday night at Newport Baseball Club, with 16 coaches in attendance as we discussed coach education and opportunities throughout the BV Performance Pathway.

Thank you to everyone who attended and Newport for hosting as we continue to support and strengthen our baseball coaching community.

We look forward to more BV Coaching Panel sessions in the coming months.

Baseball Victoria is excited to announce that Northern Sports & Remedial Myotherapy has joined the BV Diamond Partnership Program at the Single level.

This massage and myotherapy provider is led by Matthew Fraser and based in Bundoora. Since 2016, he and his team have helped thousands of Victorians with pain relief, injury prevention and recovery.

With a sporting background and an interest in baseball in particular, Matt got into myotherapy as a way to help fellow teammates prevent and recover from injuries – shoulder and ROM issues especially.

He’s been playing baseball for the last 20 years and is also involved in umpiring throughout the winter season, giving him a unique understanding of what baseballers need to stay healthy and strong on the field.

“Thank you to Matt and the Northern Sports and Remedial Myotherapy team for their support of baseball in Victoria,” BV CEO Chet Gray said. “Massage and myotherapy specialists can make a big difference to athletes at all levels, helping to prevent injuries and navigate the recovery process, and we appreciate this valuable resource.”

Matt says Northern Sports & Remedial Myotherapy hopes to continue serving community sport participants for years to come.

“We are proud to support baseball in Victoria and are passionate about helping athletes stay on top of their game with specialised injury prevention and pain relief techniques. We are open to people of all ages and activity levels, and we look forward to working with the Victorian baseball community far into the future.”

Head to www.northernsportsmyo.com.au for more information.