At the Annual General Meeting held on 9 February 2016, two board members were re-elected to their posts and two others had their casual vacancy appointments ratified.
Please see the attached release for more information.
At the Annual General Meeting of Baseball Victoria held on 9 February 2016, the members unanimously endorsed the recommendation of the board that Julie Jones be awarded Life Membership of Baseball Victoria.
“On behalf of the Victorian baseball community, I congratulate Julie on being awarded Baseball Victoria’s Life Membership,” President Myles Foreman said. “From her tireless devotion to Baseball Victoria and the exponential growth of the Winter Championships under her watch, Julie has shown a remarkable commitment to the betterment of baseball for all Victorians. She is very deserving recipient of our highest honour.”
General Manger Ashley Blair:
“I’ve always enjoyed working with Julie, especially during the winter state championships. Her unflagging energy, impressive attention to detail and amazing baseball knowledge have all served her very well in all the varied baseball roles she has played. Congratulations on this amazing accolade.”
Julie has been active on Baseball Victoria’s Winter Championship committee since 2009 and has been its chair since 2012. Since then, she has attended every state winter championship—20 in total—and has assisted Baseball Victoria in the running and administration of these tournaments.
Because of this unparalleled success, Baseball Victoria has appointed Julie as tournament director for numerous competitions. She has also been a Bendigo Baseball Association (BBA) delegate to the Victorian Provincial Baseball League (VPBL) for the past 12 years and regularly attends meetings on behalf of that league.
Prior to the committee appointment, Julie was on the Victorian Provincial Baseball League board for 12 years (1996-2008) where she shepherded VPBL Carnivals from their infancy to what is now widely knowns as the winter championships and organised the representative teams that competed at the national level.
During the years 2008-15, Julie was part of the executive committee in charge of winding down the VPBL.
She first became involved with baseball in 1987 when her children began playing with the Falcons Club, a member of the BBA. Soon thereafter Julie could be seen regularly at training sessions, at junior games, umpiring and even running the canteen. Scoring then became her passion as she was selected as the scorer for the Falcons’ Legends Team from 1984-93.
Recently she has established a scorers’ club in Bendigo which meets regularly, with Julie teaching and assisting those who want to learn how to score. She has scored nearly every year for the past 15 for Bendigo representative teams, as well as served as the first division tabulator for Essendon over the last decade.
Julie became the secretary of the Bendigo Baseball Association in 1997, holding the post for nine years. During her tenure, she earned a reputation as being an exceptional organiser and statesperson, who quickly developed a deep and thorough understanding of all things baseball.
After resigning from the secretary role she took the role of BBA registration secretary, which she has done for the last 16 years. Additionally Julie has been secretary and president of the Falcons Baseball Club and was bestowed Life Membership in 2002. The BBA Hall of Fame opened its doors to her in 2011.
Julie also played for the Falcons women’s team and appeared in C grade men’s team contests. When not on the diamond or in the scorer’s box, she is very involved at every level of the Falcons Baseball Club and has given more of her time to the BBA then any who came before.
When her two boys, Paul and Casey, began playing baseball for Essendon, Julie took a more active role with the club. She became club secretary in 1999 and still holds that post 16 years later. She received Life Membership with Essendon in 2007.
For all the above reasons plus many more, Julie Jones is a very deserving recipient of a Life Membership from Baseball Victoria. Congratulations!
A new tradition is coming to Australian baseball. From April 1-3 at the Waverly Softball Association in Jells Park, the first-ever Girls Charter State Championships will take place. This inaugural event will run concurrently with the Little League State Championships.
All girls under age 15 will have the opportunity to play with and against other junior girls, gain valuable tournament experience, acquire new baseball knowledge from established coaches and managers, and—most crucially—enjoy a dynamic and fun weekend of baseball.
The tournament will also provide a clear pathway for future opportunities, preparing those participants for the Youth Women (under 16) National Championships next year.
If you are you interested or becoming a player or coach, please register your interest now. The date is fast approaching so you don’t want to miss out.
It’s a great time to be a female baseball player in Australia. The game is growing fast and Victorians continue to shine: they represented very well at the Youth Women’s National Championships and five young athletes have been selected to represent Australia in the Women’s Under 18s and the Phoenix Cup in Hong Kong next month.
If the charter system is unclear, please do not hesitate to contact Baseball Victoria for clarification. Ideally all charters will enter a full team but if that falls short, the plan is to combine charters to ensure no young lady misses out on this exciting new opportunity.
Don’t wait to get your registration submitted. And please stay tuned to Baseball Victoria’s website and social media channels for updates about trials and other relevant information.
Another two victories by the Southern Mariners (A) squad highlighted this slate of six games between the Under 12s in the Little League Charter & Junior League Charter Academy.
Southern Mariners (A) 12, Eastern Athletics (Green) 6
The top-of-the-ladder Southern Mariners (A) squad picked right up in the new year where they left off at the end of 2015. After ceding four runs in the top of the first, they stormed back to score five in the bottom half, four more in the second and three in the last of the third to provide the winning margin.
Zac Dawes started for the visiting A’s; he was relieved by Tyler Evans and Koby Lyon. Austin Thorn and Kynan Jones shared the catching duties. For the victors it was Angus Newman on the bump first, followed by Luke Anson, Genieve Trendbeacon, Mitchell Johnston and usual catcher, Millar Kuhl. In Kuhl’s place, Balin O’Callaghan donned the tools of ignorance.
Eastern Athletics (Gold) 4, Southern Mariners (B) 2
This was an impressive, textbook win. The A’s (Gold) did everything right: they scored first (two each in the first two frames), had excellent starting pitching and played solid defense. The result was their most impressive victory in what has been an up-and-down season.
James Richardson started for the winning side before giving way to Austin Neave, Keeley Ronalds-Greatbatch and Patrick Gawith. Blake Mitchell and Will Stone both took turns behind the plate.
For the Mariners B squad, the hurlers consisted of James Lynch, Cooper Williamson, and Mat Kaplan. In Pudge-like fashion, Tahj Rossell caught the entire game.
Northern Diamondbacks (Orange) 12, Geelong Baycats 8
What a game! Back-and-forth the entire four innings, it featured three lead changes with the visiting D’Backs eventually hanging on for the 12-8 triumph. The winning side scored two in the first, one in the second, five in the third and another four in the fourth to secure the victory. Offensively they were ridiculously balanced, getting hits from seven—Mitch Nolan, Jimin Lee, Jaycob Pascuzzi, Darcy Broom, Adam Jirik, Addison Bishop-Wom and Lachlan Davis—of their starting nine.
Lee, Davis and Pascuzzi also pitched as Nolan caught the entire game.
Across the diamond, the Baycats also did well at the plate, recording six hits. Two came from Hudson Carter. The sole knocks were curtesy of Jordan Baumann, Hayden Peoples, Brooklyn Barker and Marton Sherry. Harper Rickard caught extremely well while Peoples, Cooper Tipping and Barker deserved better pitching fates.
Southern Mariners (A) 8, Eastern Athletics (Gold) 6
Building on their early morning win, the Mariners again fell behind early only to rally in triumphant fashion. Down 5-2 after one, they tallied five times in the bottom of the second and then traded runs in the fourth to consecrate their second victory of the day. O’Callaghan started and was relieved by David Pillinger, Dylan Williamson and St Kilda Saint Ferris Sulka. Johnston and Millar, Sulka’s club teammate, split the catching duties.
Lachie O’Connor caught the entire game for the A’s, giving signals to Bronson Neave, Blake Mitchell, Jack Romanin and Will Stone.
Southern Mariners (B) 8, Eastern Athletics (Green) 2
An excellent bounce-back effort, the B side scored once in the first, five times in the second and twice in the third to win their first game of 2016.
The Mariners were led by the superb starting pitching of Tyler Ellis and a capable relief corpsa: Tom Connolly, Josh Tribe and Lachlan Smith. Ben Campbell did yeoman duty behind the dish.
For the A’s, Finn Weichard started and threw 58 pitches. Nick Parton (22 pitches) and Ewan Jones (seven) also took the hill. Charlie O’Connell was stalwart behind the plate.
Geelong Baycats 12, Northern Diamondbacks (Green) 8
Down one in the bottom of the last (third) inning, the Baycats exploded for five runs to salvage a split against the Diamondbacks’ squads. Led by Noah Brennan’s two hits, Peoples, Sherry, Aspen McGovern and Hudson Carter all contributed big hits while Rickard and Carter were excellent on the mound. Baumann and Brennan each caught a good game.
For the D’Backs, Zac Gorman, Billy Kolyniuk, Campbell Hutton, Angus Stals and Joshua Dawson all had hits. Kolyniuk, Stals and Denzel Pelelopeti pitched, all to Gorman, who caught the entire game.
Here is how the comp stands after the fourth round: https://sportsdesq.imgstg.com/portal/index.cfm?fuseaction=competition&competitionID=10393&OrgID=16724&clubOrganisationId=0#ladder. Next week the Under 14s are back in action. Check back here for a full report of all six games.
At the 2016 Victorian Little League Championships, Baseball Victoria will introduce numerous competitions to run concurrently at the Little League All Star Tournament in April.
From April 1-3 2016 at Jells Park, there will be
Little League All Stars State Championship
Little League Development Cup
Little League Minor Challenge
Girls Charter Competition
Club Tee Ball Gala Event
For more information on the teams, please contact your charter directly or Baseball Victoria.
The Australian Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted some of the most influential figures in the history of Australian Baseball, bestowing them with the highest playing or coaching honor an individual in our sport can receive. This year is no exception, as Baseball Australia announces the Class of 2016, and inducts four new members in the Australian Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Baseball Australia Hall of Fame, established in 2005, recognises excellence in the categories of:
1. Playing
2. Managing /Coaching.
Inductees must have had a prolonged impact on the game of baseball at the highest level available at their time, they must be of good character and not be deemed to have brought baseball into disrepute, and statistical information is taken into consideration.
There are seven eras of classification:
· Pre 1900, 1900 to 1918 (when the game expanded rapidly after regular interstate competition)
· 1919 to 1946 (the start of the Claxton Shield and American Influence)
· 1947 to 1967 (post war American influence)
· 1968 to 1988 (Asia influence)
· 1989 to 1999 (first Australian Baseball League)
· 2000 to date
· There is also a Special Classification for players who have had outstanding International careers and made contributions to the game primarily outside of Australia.
The Class of 2016 will be honored during an on field ceremony at the upcoming Australian Baseball League Championship Series, February 6 at Holloway Field, the home of the Brisbane Bandits.
The class of 2016 includes:
· Philip Clifton Brideoake (dec), South Australia
Category - Playing 1947-1967
· Ernie George Bolton, Victoria
Category - Playing 1947-1967
· Peter "Yowie" Vogler, Queensland
Category - Playing 1989 -1999
· Micheal Nakamura, Victoria
Category - Playing - Outstanding International Career
Baseball Australia extends our congratulations to Philip, Ernie, Peter and Micheal, you join the ranks of Australian Baseball greats.
Australian Baseball Hall of Fame Honor Roll
The Australian Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted some of the most influential figures in the history of Australian Baseball, bestowing them with the highest playing or coaching honor an individual in our sport can receive. This year is no exception, as Baseball Australia announces the Class of 2016, and inducts four new members in the Australian Baseball Hall of Fame. Baseball Victoria is very proud to acknowledge that two Victorians, Michael Nakamura and Ernie George Bolton, are members of this years class. Both of these men represent the best of Victorian baseball and Baseball Victoria is extremely proud that they are being recognized as Australian Baseball greats.
· Michael Nakamura
Michael Nakamura represented Australia at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic games as part of the Australian Olympic Baseball Team. He played for the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays in MLB and was drafted in the 4th round of the 2004 draft by the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. He struck out more batters than innings pitched, and did not give up a single run in the second half of the season. In his second year Nakamura made 39 saves, setting a new Pacific League single-season record, and the Fighters won the Japanese championship series. Nakamura pitched in 4 Japanese championship series games, and did not give up a single hit. Nakamura retired as a member of the Saitama Seibu Lions after the conclusion of the 2012 season. He threw sidearm and relied mostly on two types of curves and a fastball around 90 mph.
· Ernie George Bolton
Known as “Smiler,” Ernie was an outstanding personality on the mound and in the batters box. As a rookie in 1956 Bolton handled his first game like a veteran. Ernie hated to throw walks and his ability to spot the ball and change speeds made him one other games greatest pitchers. In the opening game of the 1959 Championships Ernie had the distinction of throwing a no-hitter. In 80 recorded innings of Claxton Shield over 6 series, his ERA was a minuscule 1.12. He was a member of the Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield All-Star team as a result of representing Victoria with such distinction. Ernie Bolton had the ability to vary the pace of the ball to such a degree that he is acknowledged as one of the game’s greatest ever pitchers. An All-Australian player, he pitched a no-hitter in the opening game of the 1959 Claxton Shield series. In 80 recorded innings of Claxton Shield over six series, his ERA is an incredible 1.9.
The Class of 2016 will be honored during an on field ceremony at the upcoming Australian Baseball League Championship Series, February 6 at Holloway Field, the home of the Brisbane Bandits.
The Victorian Baseball community extends a massive congratulations to both Michael and Ernie as they join the ranks of Australian Baseball greats.
Leading Team Australia in the Qualifier, Manager Jon Deeble who will serve in this capacity for the fourth time during WBC play.
“ I am really looking forward to getting the team into camp and getting underway”, said Deeble. “ After a great ABL season, it’s now our chance to dig in and get after it, and show the Aussie fans what we have got."
The 28-man roster features nine players affiliated with Major League Clubs, including right-handed pitchers Sam Gibbons (MIN), Peter Moylan (KC), Warwick Saupold (DET) and Todd Van Steensel (MIN); left-handed pitcher Steven Kent (ATL); catcher Matt Kennelly (ATL); infielders James Beresford (MIN) and Logan Wade (MIN); and outfielder Aaron Whitefield (MIN).
Team Australia Roster
Manager Jon Deeble