Match Report courtesy of BASEBALL AUSTRALIA
SENIOR LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
ASIA PACIFIC (Southern Mariners) vs. CENTRAL, 2 August 2016
The Southern Mariners held a five run lead in the middle innings, but it wasn’t enough as Central clawed their way back to claim a 13-8 victory.
The Mariners swung the bat well in what was their first loss as a team, after going through the state, national and Asia-Pacific tournaments undefeated.
The hits were shared, with Josh Meyer going 3-for-4 while Jack Dunn and Jayson Arthur picked up a pair of hits each.
Mariners starting pitched Jackson Boyd toiled in the loss, throwing four tough innings, while Jordan Barnett cooled Central’s offence, throwing a scoreless inning of relief. Rydge Hogan drove in four runs against a strong Central defence, including one of the six runs scored in the fourth inning.
The Mariners continue their tournament early tomorrow morning (3am AEST) against the winner of Southwest and East.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Southern Mariners | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 2 |
| Central | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | X | 13 | 13 | 3 |
The Australian Emeralds presented by Boral are proud to announce the following 20 athletes that will represent Australia at the LG Presents WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2016 Gijang (Korea).
These 20 athletes were selected for the Australian Emeralds side after an intense three-day camp in conjunction with the Gold Coast City Council held at Surfers Paradise Baseball Club over the weekend.
Emeralds Head Coach Simone Wearne was impressed with the quality of the camp.
"The selection camp held over the weekend was a great success,” Wearne said.
“We had 32 of the best players from across the country come in and play five games, take part in various off-field activities, and all showed a great commitment to the Emeralds program."
There are a number of headliners in the squad, however after taking a ten-year hiatus from the national team, Chelsea Forkin returns to the Australian Emeralds. After debuting in 2004, Forkin will be the second player to represent Australia in both Baseball and Softball at World Cup level.
Coach Wearne had an unenviable task of selecting the team, but is pleased with the final 20.
"It was a very difficult task selecting just 20 players from a group of talented girls, but we feel like we have a great mix of veterans and rookies that will really work well together in Korea," Wearne said.
"The final team includes 10 rookies, plus two returning players who have not been on the National Team for around 10 years. It really is an exciting time for women's baseball in Australia".
The Australian Emeralds take on USA (#2), Chinese Taipei (#6) and Hong Kong (#9) in pool play during the tournament, which gets underway on September 3 in Gijang City, South Korea.
For Simone Wearne, Head Coach of the Australian Emeralds presented by Boral, expectations are high heading into the selection camp for the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup 2016 presented by LG, Gijang (Korea).
“Realistically, if we don’t come away with a medal, it’ll be disappointing,” Wearne said.
“We’re ranked third in the world, which is where we should be sitting. If we went away and played really well, we could battle the USA for 2nd place. The girls have committed and have been working hard in their states, but it’s different to actually get out there though and get into a game situations with a bit of pressure.”
The quest for a medal begins this weekend on the Gold Coast, with 39 hopefuls going head to head for 20 spots on the plane to South Korea and the 2016 Women’s Wold Cup.
With a number of players missing from the 2014 World Cup team that came away with a bronze medal, Wearne is excited to see the new breed come through and impress at the weekend camp at Surfers Paradise Baseball Club.
“This weekend will be quite exciting because we’ve lost 12 players from the Women’s World Cup in 2014,” Wearne said.
“There are quite a few positions available, and with a couple of impressive young players on the squad, I’m excited to see how hard the girls have been working.”
With three games on the first day, and two on the second as well as team building and other activities, the girls will be tested both physically and mentally.
After a watershed year for women’s baseball, in which Boral committed as the naming rights partner of the Australia Emeralds, Coach Wearne is looking to build on the success of the year.
“2016 is going to become a year to remember for women’s baseball,” Wearne said.
“With the growth of the sport this year as well as the Boral partnership, we’re excited to get over to Korea and continue the success.”
The team that will represent Australia is announced early next week.
Due to the families wishes the funeral for Ian McKenzie will be private. Baseball was important to Ian and he was a well-loved figure within the sport in Victoria. As such Baseball Victoria and the McKenzie family will be working together in the coming months to decide on the best way to celebrate the life of Ian. More information regarding this event will be released closer to the date of the occasion itself. The McKenzie family is grateful for the support of the baseball community but has asked that their privacy be respected during this difficult time.
Despite a strong offensive performance, Team Australia’s quest for Honkbalweek glory has come to an end, falling 9-4 at the hands of Japan in the preliminary final.
Australia out-hit Japan 15-10, but couldn’t make the most of their opportunities, while a five run seventh inning from Japan proved the difference.
Two quick runs for Japan in the second were immediately cancelled out by Australia, with an RBI single from Ryan Battaglia followed by a quality 10 pitch at-bat from Jacob Younis which brought Australia back into the ballgame.
Mitch Dening had one of the strongest offensive performances of the tournament, going 4-for-5 with an RBI.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble was impressed with his team’s performance during the tournament.
“We got the hits but couldn’t bunch any together,” Deeble said.
“All in all on the preparation we’ve had as a team compared to the other countries, I’m not disappointed at all with the performance.”
Every Australian in the starting lineup had a hit, but some impressive pitching during the middle innings from Takuya Kato, who struck out six in three innings kept Australia’s offence at bay.
Despite a pair of late runs driven in by Mitch Dening and David Kandilas, it was too little too late for Team Australia, who couldn’t match Japan’s bullpen, and ultimately fell in a tough loss.
The next chance to see Team Australia will be at the World Baseball Classic, which will take place early next year.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble was pleased by the overall standard of the tournament.
“I was really impressed with the quality of play,”
“There’s definitely some lessons to be learned here, we need to take it to the next level if we’re to progress. All in all though it’s been a great chance to get these guys together and set our sights firmly on the World Baseball Classic next year.”
In the most exciting game of Honkbalweek so far, Team Australia needed 12 innings to defeat Curaçao 8-7 at Pim Mulier Stadion.
Sydney Blue Sox veteran David Kandilas drove in the winning runs for Team Australia in the bottom of the 12th with a single to centre field.
Starting pitcher Steve Chambers had his second superb outing of the tournament, this time only giving up two earned runs and striking out three in 6.1 innings on the mound.
Trent Oeltjen got the scoring underway in the bottom of the fourth when he nailed his second home run of the tournament, this time with a solo shot to right field. However as soon as Oeltjen got things going for Australia, Curaçao tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
Oeltjen was again in the thick of the action in the following inning, when a delayed steal paid dividends for Team Australia, with Oeltjen managing a tough slide into home plate to give Australia a one run lead.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble continued to praise his team’s effort and execution in the victory.
“We swung the bats really well again,” Deeble said.
“Even when it seemed we were down and out in the ninth these boys kept on fighting. They know when they represent Team Australia they have to leave it all out there and it’s great to see the character of the group shining through.”
After that though, Curaçao started to swing the bats better and make the most of their opportunities, and with a three run lead heading into the final inning, it seemed like Curaçao were destined for their first win of the tournament.
But true to the trademark Australian spirit, Team Australia hung tough. Two clutch RBIs from Logan Wade and Mitch Dening followed by the game tying RBI from Team Australia debutant Andrew Campbell and miraculously, the game was headed to extra innings.
Enter Josh Tols to the mound in a tough situation, with automatic runners on first and second base, but that didn’t phase Tols, who, despite getting into a couple of tricky situations, pitched his heart out with the game in the balance.
“Tols came in and did an exceptional job for us,” Deeble said.
“He was really unlucky to give up the one run in challenging circumstances, his work was outstanding.”
After Curaçao tacked on the go ahead run in the top of the 12th, it was all or nothing for Team Australia, and David Kandilas came up with everything. Following a textbook leadoff bunt from Mitch Nilsson, Kandilas drove the game winning runs in to book Australia’s place in the preliminary final.
Team Australia's opponent is yet to be decided, with the loser of Japan and The Netherlands taking on Team Australia at 7pm (3am AEST) on Saturday night.
Stay in touch with everything Honkbalweek on the Team Australia Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Despite swinging the bats well and some solid defensive plays, Team Australia took a tough loss against the Netherlands, 9-0 at Pim Mulier Stadion tonight.
Team Australia started the game stronger, with Logan Wade and Trent Oeltjen leading off the game with back-to-back singles. Mitch Nilsson ripped a ball into left field, but the throw to home just beat Oeltjen, who was out at the plate.
After a scoreless first inning, Dushan Ruzic had to leave the ballgame in the second with shoulder soreness, forcing Australia to make a change on the fly and bring in Matt Williams, who was forced to get into gear immediately.
Team Australia manager Jon Deeble was impressed by his team’s hitting.
“We swung the bats well,” Deeble said.
“We just couldn’t find the gaps, the contact was great, but they just weren’t dropping.”
Back-to-back lead off singles from Luke Hughes and Mitch Nilsson got the fourth started, but Hughes couldn’t make it to third safely after tagging up from second.
Sydney Blue Sox star and Team Australia rookie Jacob Younis collected his first hit in Team Australia colours in the fifth inning, but once again, Australia failed to capitalise on some decent positions.
“We have to keep battling,” Deeble said.
“We’ve had two tough losses, but we’re not going to lay down. We’re going to keep playing the game the right way and focus on what we need to do.”
Australia will face Curaçao tomorrow at 2pm (10pm AEST) for a spot in the Preliminary Final at Honkbalweek Haarlem.
Team Australia fell to The Netherlands tonight after the home side used a five run third inning to propel them to victory.
The Netherlands got on top early, but a solo home run from former MLB representative Trent Oeltjen levelled the ballgame in the bottom half of the frame with a deep solo shot to right field.
The third inning proved to be the difference between the sides, with The Netherlands piling on five runs. A pair of singles, a pair of questionable balks from Wilson Lee and a passed ball saw five runs cross the plate.
Wilson Lee was replaced on the mound by Perth Heat veteran Scott Mitchinson (4.2IP, 1ER, 3K) who threw admirably in front of a parochial home crowd.
Team Australian Manager Jon Deeble was impressed with Mitchinson’s performance.
“Scott battled hard and kept us in the ballgame,” Deeble said.
“He did a great job, threw the ball really well and should be right to go again in a couple of days.”
Team Australia managed to peg one back in the bottom half of the third when Mitch Nilsson drove in Sydney Blue Sox catcher Trent D’Antonio.
From there, defence reigned supreme, with Dutch pitcher Jim Ploeger and Mitchinson throwing strongly.
Team Australia hit the ball well as a group, but couldn’t find any clear ground, with the Dutch defence getting behind Ploeger.
Shane Lindsay and Aaron Sookee both threw shutout innings of relief but it wasn’t enough, as The Netherlands got over the line and sealed the top seed heading into the playoffs.
Australia will against face The Netherlands in a qualifying final at 3am AEST (7pm local time) tomorrow morning.
Team Australia Manager Jon Deeble is upbeat by the prospect of facing The Netherlands again.
“We’ve put ourselves in a great position with three wins so far,” Deeble said.
“Our bullpen is fresh and we’ve aligned our pitchers up well, we have no fear going into tomorrow’s final.”
Baseball Victoria is now welcoming applicants for the;
Charter Development Officers who will be offered 4 month roles (August - December) with a focus on engaging new members into the sport through school clinics, activation of new programs and the growth of charter capacity.
To apply for a Development Officer Role, please follow this link.
Charter Head Coach who will be championed with ensuring the success of the Academy and All Star program within the charter. This includes, upskilling the coaching staff to meet the strategic goals of the charter and offering quality coaching to the members of the various charter programs.
To apply for the Charter Head Coach Role, please follow this link.