Baseball Victoria, Author at Baseball Victoria

Youth Women

In their final game of the tournament on Friday, the Youth Women fell to New South Wales Country, 22-1. Middle infielder Hanami Campitelli did yeoman’s work as a leadoff hitter, getting on base both trips to the plate and scoring the only run. Pitcher Gabrielle Bevan and shortstop-cum-reliever Jamieson Bastian had the other hit and also threw a scoreless two-thirds of an inning.

In the Bronze Medal Game, New South Wales defeated New South Wales Country, 13-3. Congratulations to Western Australia on their 5-4 Gold Medal game victory over Queensland.

Women

The Victorian women continue to impress. Heading into Day 5 they had only lost one game, the first of the tournament, 17-0, to defending champ New South Wales. On Thursday they continued to dominate, downing Western Australia 12-1 and shellacking Queensland, 18-6.

In the first tilt it was team hitting (the top three players in the order—Belinda Cannington, Shae Lillywhite and Amy Collins—combined for six hits) and stellar pitching (Emma French: five innings pitched, no earned runs, three hits allowed and two strikeouts) that carried the day.

The second game saw Abbey Kelly and Cannington both pitch well and the Victorian women pounded out 10 hits (three from Lillywhite) and shortstop Bronwyn Gell knocked in four.

Since that opening loss, team Victoria couldn’t wait to play New South Wales again. On Friday they got their wish—and didn’t disappoint. In a wild game that featured 45 hits and 46 runs scored, the ladies got their revenge, downing their perpetual nemesis, 25-21.

Down 5-0 after the top of the first, 7-3 after three and 11-3 a half inning later, the Aces never quit. Instead they went on the offensive, tallying six in the fourth and a ridiculous 13 in the fifth to take the lead for good. New South Wales scored once in the sixth (answered by three in the bottom half by Victoria) and three in the seventh to provide the final margin.

With every starter but one getting a hit it’s tough to dole out sufficient accolades for such an outstanding performance. But here goes . . . kudos to Kelly and Cannington for each getting five hits and good on Gell for going 4-5 with four runs scored and five RBI. She also reached once via a base on balls.

Amy Collins and Cannington each drove in four runs as well.

With her one and a third innings pitched, Madeline Davis got the win and Lillywhite got the nearly four-inning save.

On Saturday, Victoria played Queensland in the semifinal. Once again they were victorious, utilising a four run fourth and two run fifth to advance to the title game with a 7-3 win.

After Abbey Kelly started and surrendered no runs in the 2.2 innings, Risa Tanaka relieved and threw 3.1 stellar innings to earn the win. Emma French finished off the game with a scoreless seventh, striking out one.

At bat it was once again Gell leading the charge as she went 2-4 with a run scored. First baseman Abe Reiko also had two hits. She and Kelly both knocked in two runs apiece.

Fittingly the Gold Medal game featured the two best teams all week long: Victoria and New South Wales. With each having won one previous against the other, the rubber match would decide whether we had a new national champion or if the title stays in New South Wales.

A six run bottom of the first by NSW pretty much decided that straight away. The teams traded single runs in the second and three runs apiece in the third, so New South Wales began the top of the fourth leading 10-4. Two runs by Victoria closed the gap but on this day it was not to be. A sole run by the Aces in the top of the seventh provided the final score: New South Wales 10, Victoria 7.

Belinda Cannington again shined for Victoria, going 3-5 with a run scored. Lillywhite, Gell, Hannah Jackson, Leslie Anglin, Reiko and Tanaka also had hits for the Aces.

Well done to the silver medalists whose only two losses were to the eventual champion.

Under 16

The Victoria White squad defeated New South Wales, 4-3, on Thursday, lost to Western Australia, 11-2, in their first game on Friday before falling to their Blue brethren, 14-4, later in the day.

Their victory over New South Wales can be attributed mostly to their pitching. Cruiz Leech started and pitched well before Hugo Leropoulos came in the fifth. In his three dominant innings he allowed nary a baserunner while striking out two.

At the dish, Lucas Taylor, Ben Fierenzi, Chris Burke, Cooper Veal and Samual Wild all had hits for the victors.

In the 11-2 loss, Veal was hit hard and the boys couldn’t recover. Second baseman Curtis Cox went 2-3 and first baseman Richard Kiel and River Stevens-Dobby each contributed a knock apiece.

The grudge match between team Blue saw White’s opponent strike early and often, plating multiple runs in innings two through four and then adding three markers in both the sixth and seventh frames. Taylor went 2-4 with a run scored from the leadoff spot and third baseman Maxwell Leuga went 2-3 with a run and an RBI.

Before dispatching of the White team, Blue defeated New South Wales Country, 6-2, on Thursday before handling South Australia, 11-1. The Blue team finished the preliminary stage with a perfect 7-0 record.

Their Thursday win, for all intents and purposes a bullpen day, goes to their pitchers, six of whom combined to give up just one hit the entire game. Most impressive was Jarrod Belbin who threw two scoreless innings, walking one and striking out five.

At the plate, Aidin Willis went 2-3 with two runs scored and an RBI and Connor Myles had a hit, scored a run and drove one in as well.

Against South Australia, Jai Lyttleton was superb in relief of Liam Madden and shortstop Jarryd Dale was Herculean at the plate, going 2-4 with a run scored and five RBI. Leadoff hitter Harvey Chinn went 2-2 with two runs scored and two RBI and left fielder Jean-Paul Callil had two hits in three at-bats, scored three runs and knocked in another.

In the 14-4 win over the White squad, the first four hitters—Chinn, Willis, Dale and Alexander Barling—all had two hits, ditto for six-hole hitter Ciaran Palmer and number eight hitter Joshia Meyer went 3-4 with a run and two RBI.

The Blue team fell just short in their pursuit of a second straight national championship, falling 7-4 to South Australia in the Gold Medal game.

Under 18

The Under 18 White team had the unenviable task of facing their brothers Blue on Thursday. The result was a 13-1 defeat.

Idle on Friday, White took the field against Western Australia the next day and played arguably their best game of the tournament. Down 7-0 after the top of the second, White stormed back to plate four runs in the second and then one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh to tie the game. Unfortunately hurler Malachi Kere—who pitched masterfully for over six innings—took the loss after some ill-timed fielding miscues in WA’s four run top of the ninth.

Shortstop Tyson Cox led the way with three hits and three runs batted in.

In their final game earlier today, the White team fell to South Australia, 14-3.

Like their younger compatriots of the same hue, the Under 18 Blue team plays for the Gold Medal today after two wins—13-1 over White and then eking past Queensland, 3-1—and a shutout defeat at the hands of New South Wales Country, 4-0.

In the Queensland tilt, Jayson Arthur was superb on the hill, allowing no earned runs and only conceding five hits in five innings of work. Matthew Beattie then closed out the triumphant victory with a two inning save.

Aaron Ouwehand (2-2 with two RBI) and Oliver Dunn (1-2 with two walks and two runs scored) paced the Aces at the dish.

In the contest against New South Wales Country, Victoria Blue shut them out for the first four innings before ceding one run in the fifth and three in the seventh to provide the 4-0 winning margin.

Designated hitter Justin Bourke went 2-3 from the cleanup spot and Liam Spence and Dunn had the other two hits.

Though he took the loss, pitcher Steven Hughes was brilliant, giving up only two earned runs in six innings of work.

Oliver Dunn had three hits on the day.

Two hits and three RBI for Aaron Ouwehand.

Ditto for Jordan Barnett.

Nathan Picchioni knocked in two and had two hits.

Nicholas Mason closed out the game to put Blue into fourth place after the round robin.

Under 18 White and Blue teams in all their glory.

The Blue squad won’t have to wait long to take their revenge as they square off again against New South Wales Country in the Gold Medal game at 4.30 p.m. today from Blacktown International Sportspark in Sydney.

Updated standings, statistics, fixtures and more can be found on the Baseball Australia website under ‘Events’ and ‘National Championships’.

In the 2016 National Open Women’s Championship, held at Narrabundah Ballpark, home to the Australian Baseball League’s second-place Canberra Cavalry, two games were played on Saturday.

The day started with a tight game between Queensland and Victoria, and with a four-run fourth inning from the Victorians, they took the matchup 7-3 in seven frames.

Western Australia posted another dominant victory in the second and final game on Saturday for the women, scoring nine in the first, five in the second, two in the third, and four in the fourth to win 20-5 in just five innings.

The 2016 National Open Women’s Championship will come to a close Sunday afternoon, with both the bronze and gold-medal matchups underway at Narrabundah Ballpark, home to the Australian Baseball League’s second-place Canberra Cavalry.

Queensland and Western Australia will square off in the first game of the day for the women, looking for a third-place finish, and New South Wales takes on Victoria at midday in the biggest game of the tournament.

Over the last 16 years, Victoria has won 10 open women’s championships and dominated the circuit, with New South Wales claiming four of the remaining titles, including the two most recent gold medals. The two very competitive teams will ensure an exciting finish after eight days of games in Canberra.

In the 2016 National Open Women’s Championship, held at Narrabundah Ballpark, home to the Australian Baseball League’s second-place Canberra Cavalry, two games were played on Saturday.

The day started with a tight game between Queensland and Victoria, and with a four-run fourth inning from the Victorians, they took the matchup 7-3 in seven frames.

The seventh day of tournament play at the 2016 National Youth Championships presented by Rawlings had 5 games underway at Blue Sox Stadium on Saturday, home to the Australian Baseball League’s Sydney Blue Sox.

Queensland took on New South Wales in the first matchup of the day for the U18s, the squad from the sunshine state taking an early lead and finishing the game 8-4 in seven innings.

Victoria Blue squared off against the Queenslanders in the second game on Saturday and after scoring two in the top of the first, QLD answered back with one in the bottom, but VIC added an insurance run in the sixth and took the game 3-1 in seven frames.

New South Wales Country hosted New South Wales in the third game of the day, and the home team held its in-state rivals to just one hit, Country taking the affair 2-0 in seven innings.

The fourth matchup for the U18s on Saturday saw Australian Capital Territory host South Australia. In the back-and-forth affair, ACT walked off 5-4 in nine innings.

Western Australia took on Victoria White in the afternoon, and the team from WA scored four in the first and three in the second before the Victorians tied up the game at seven. WA added four in the top of the ninth to secure the 11-7 win.

The final contest of the day for the U18 teams saw New South Wales host Victoria Blue, taking down VIC 4-0 on home turf.

Five games were played among the U16 squads, with Australian Capital Territory playing host to Queensland in the first matchup of the day and seeing the team from the sunshine state come out on top 9-7 in the back-and-forth affair after scoring two in the seventh frame.

South Australia hosted Western Australia in the second contest on Saturday for the U16s and with four runs in the first, one in the fourth and a five-run fifth inning, SA walked off WA 10-0 in just five frames.

Victoria White squared off against Western Australia in the third game of the day and after a seven-run first inning, WA took the game 11-2 in seven frames.

South Australia matched up against Victoria Blue in the afternoon, and after six tight innings VIC scored seven runs in the seventh to end it.

New South Wales hosted New South Wales Country in the final game for the U16s on Saturday and with a three-run fifth frame, NSW finished the game on top 5-1 in seven innings.

Queensland took on New South Wales in the first matchup of the day for the U18s, the squad from the sunshine state taking an early lead and finishing the game 8-4 in seven innings.

New South Wales Country hosted New South Wales in the third game of the day, and the home team held its in-state rivals to just one hit, Country taking the affair 2-0 in seven innings.

The fourth matchup for the U18s on Saturday saw Australian Capital Territory host South Australia. In the back-and-forth affair, ACT walked off 5-4 in nine innings.

The final contest of the day for the U18 teams saw New South Wales host Victoria Blue, taking down VIC 4-0 on home turf.

Victoria White squared off against Western Australia in the third game of the day and after a seven-run first inning, WA took the game 11-2 in seven frames.

South Australia matched up against Victoria Blue in the afternoon, and after six tight innings VIC scored seven runs in the seventh to end it.

New South Wales hosted New South Wales Country in the final game for the U16s on Saturday and with a three-run fifth frame, NSW finished the game on top 5-1 in seven innings.

In the 2016 National Open Women’s Championship, held at Narrabundah Ballpark, home to the Australian Baseball League’s second-place Canberra Cavalry, three games were played on Friday.

The day started with a dominant win and a no-hitter from Western Australia over their host Australian Capital Territory, scoring 12 in the first, 10 in the second inning and nine in the third to win 31-0 in just three frames in the shutout.

Victoria hosted New South Wales in the second women’s matchup on Friday, and both teams battled to a 25-21 victory for VIC in seven innings behind a 13-run fifth frame from the home squad.

Western Australia took on Queensland in the third and final matchup in the open women’s tournament on the sixth day of play, and with a six-run opening frame and a five-run fourth, the squad from the sunshine state took down the visitors 13-3 in six innings.

In the 2016 National Open Women’s Championship, held at Narrabundah Ballpark, home to the Australian Baseball League’s second-place Canberra Cavalry, three games were played on Friday.

Victoria hosted New South Wales in the second women’s matchup on Friday, and both teams battled to a 25-21 victory for VIC in seven innings behind a 13-run fifth frame from the home squad.

The National Youth Championships at Blue Sox Stadium came to a holt yesterday after a mini tornado swept across Sydney closing grounds and forcing teams indoors. However, after some hard work from Blacktown Venue Management and Baseball NSW, BISP was ready for play by 3.30pm.

In the U16 tournament, just one game was played with New South Wales Country taking on Victoria Blue and falling 6-2 to the squad from out of state in seven innings.

Queensland hosted New South Wales Country in the first matchup of the day for the U18s, and a three-run fourth sparked the visitors to a 4-1 win in their home state in nine innings.

The second contest of the day for the U18 teams saw Victoria Blue take on Victoria White, with the Blue squad taking down its in-state rival 13-1.

In the U16 tournament, just one game was played with New South Wales Country taking on Victoria Blue and falling 6-2 to the squad from out of state in seven innings.

Queensland hosted New South Wales Country in the first matchup of the day for the U18s, and a three-run fourth sparked the visitors to a 4-1 win in their home state in nine innings.

The second contest of the day for the U18 teams saw Victoria Blue take on Victoria White, with the Blue squad taking down its in-state rival 13-1.

The 2016 National Youth Women’s Championship came to a close on Friday after six days of play, with the gold and bronze-medal games both played at Narrabundah Ballpark, home of the Australian Baseball League’s Canberra Cavalry.

The top-of-the-tier hardware will head back to Western Australia, after the squad walked off to win the gold-medal matchup 5-4 over the silver finishers from Queensland. New South Wales and New South Wales Country battled it out for the bronze, with NSW finishing ahead of their in-state rivals and taking them down 13-3, marking the first time in four years that the Sydney siders haven’t won the tournament.

WA hosted the team from the sunshine state and after getting out to an early two-run lead in the third frame, QLD fought back for two in the top of the fourth. The host squad immediately answered in the bottom half with two more, but the Queenslanders tied it up again in the seventh inning.

With two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, second baseman Mikayla Hyde singled in the winning run with a drive to left field, finishing the game and ensuring a happy flight back to Perth. WA first baseman Caitlin Gordon led both teams’ offence with two hits and two runs driven in on the day.

In the bronze-medal contest, NSW held its foe to just three hits, the home team also committing five errors in the six-inning game. Both squads kept the affair tight until NSW put up an eight-run sixth frame to finish it and capture the third spot in the standings.

The two games on Friday finished the National Youth Women’s Championship at the home of the second-place Cavalry in ACT

In the National Youth Women’s Championship, Thursday was the final day of play before the finals on Friday, with the gold-medal matchup in the queue. Four games were played among the youth women, all taking place at the home of the Cavalry.

In the first contest of the day, New South Wales hosted New South Wales Country, and with a five-run third inning, the home team took down its visitors 10-2 in six frames.

The morning’s second affair saw Western Australia square off against Queensland, and the team from the sunshine state scored in each of the four innings of the game, highlighted by a six-run first, and finished on top 14-10 over WA.

In the third game of the day among the youth women’s squads, New South Wales Country took down Victoria in dominant fashion, winning 22-1 over the team that hosted them.

Thursday’s fourth and final youth women’s game had Queensland hosting New South Wales, and despite a five-run second frame the home team, NWS won the matchup 8-5 in seven innings.

In the National Women’s Championship round, Thursday saw four games, the day starting with Western Australia at home to Victoria, finishing in five innings after a 10-run second inning led VIC to a 12-1 win over WA.

The second affair of the day saw Queensland host Australian Capital Territory and with an eight-run third frame the squad from the sunshine state took down ACT 15-5 in six innings.

Australian Capital Territory took on New South Wales in the third matchup on Thursday and after taking a two-run game into the fifth inning, NSW broke out for 13 more runs to win the game 15-0 in seven innings.

The final game in the open women’s championship had Victoria square off against Queensland, and after scoring 12 runs in the opening frame of the matchup and adding six in the second, VIC took down QLD 18-6 to win it.

In the first contest of the day, New South Wales hosted New South Wales Country, and with a five-run third inning, the home team took down its visitors 10-2 in six frames.

In the third game of the day among the youth women’s squads, New South Wales Country took down Victoria in dominant fashion, winning 22-1 over the team that hosted them.

Thursday’s fourth and final youth women’s game had Queensland hosting New South Wales, and despite a five-run second frame the home team, NWS won the matchup 8-5 in seven innings.

The second affair of the day saw Queensland host Australian Capital Territory and with an eight-run third frame the squad from the sunshine state took down ACT 15-5 in six innings.

In the fifth day of round-robin play at the 2016 National Youth Championships presented by Rawlings, Thursday saw a total of 8 matchups scheduled at Blue Sox Stadium however due to extreme weather only 4 games were played.

The U16s got started with a contest between New South Wales and Victoria White, with all of NSW’s three runs coming in the fourth inning, but not being enough to stave off VICW, who won 4-3 in seven frames.

South Australia hosted Queensland in the second U16 affair on Thursday, going all seven innings with SA coming out on top 4-2 in the end.

In the third and final U16 game of the day, Western Australia took on Australian Capital Territory and with a five-run second inning, the squad from WA took the matchup 7-2 in regulation frames.

The U18 National Youth Championships saw just one game played on Thursday, with Western Australia playing host to New South Wales. The home team couldn’t overcome a seven-run opening frame from NSW, eventually dropping the matchup 11-8 in nine innings.

South Australia hosted Queensland in the second U16 affair on Thursday, going all seven innings with SA coming out on top 4-2 in the end.

All the action from Day 4 at the home of the Cavalry from the Youth Women's and Women's Nationals.

In the National Youth Women’s Championship, Queensland matched up against Victoria in the first game of Wednesday. The team from the sunshine state took an early lead and finished 9-6 in five innings.

Western Australia hosted New South Wales in the second youth women’s matchup of the day and scored in each of the four innings they headed to the plate, scoring five in the first, four in the second, three in the third and four in the fourth to win 16-4.

Queensland took on New South Wales Country in the third youth women’s contest on Wednesday afternoon. QLD took an early lead and held on through four innings to win 12-4.

The fourth and final game of the day for the youth women saw a battle between Victoria and Western Australia. After WA scored 12 runs in the bottom of the opening frame, VIC fought back with 12 runs in the top of the second, but WA came out on top 16-12 in just three innings.

In the National Women’s Championship, Western Australia and New South Wales needed extra innings to decide the first game of the day, with WA scoring four in the added frame and NSW walking off with seven in extras to take the matchup 11-8.

New South Wales hosted Queensland in the second matchup on Wednesday for the women and with a seven-run second inning, the host team took the game 13-2.

Australian Capital Territory played Victoria in the third women’s game and with an eight-run fourth inning for the Victorians, they came out on top 13-8 to win it.

Queensland took on New South Wales Country in the third youth women’s contest on Wednesday afternoon. QLD took an early lead and held on through four innings to win 12-4.

New South Wales hosted Queensland in the second matchup on Wednesday for the women and with a seven-run second inning, the host team took the game 13-2.

Australian Capital Territory played Victoria in the third women’s game and with an eight-run fourth inning for the Victorians, they came out on top 13-8 to win it.