Baseball Victoria, Author at Baseball Victoria

Baseball Victoria is pleased to open VSBL Pennant Committee nominations for the next two years.

The Pennant Committee will liaise with Baseball Victoria on competition structures and playing conditions.

For the full terms of reference and any questions, please email competitions@baseballvictoria.com.au.

Click here to nominate by Tuesday 30 September.

There are some new faces on the Baseball Victoria team, and we would love to introduce you to them. Earlier this month, we shared an introduction to Scott McNaughton (General Manager, Operations), and this week, we chat to Micheal Nakamura, our new Head of Baseball Performance.

Micheal is a dual Olympian and former MLB and NPB pitcher who has coached Australian teams at the World Qualifier, MLB Showcase, and senior national level. He is leading our performance and development programs across all pathways – including juniors, women, and men.

Here’s a bit more about Micheal, his baseball history and his baseball goals.

What are the top highlights of your baseball career?
My baseball highlights are representing Australia in the 1996, 2000 Olympic Games and achieving my dream of playing in the MLB and NPB. College baseball was also a huge part of my journey. I met so many wonderful people and learned a lot about independence and resilience.

What are you most excited about in your role at Baseball Victoria?
I am so excited to be a part of Baseball Victoria where I can provide new opportunities and ideas to our members. I look forward to sharing my experiences and knowledge to all members.

What's the best baseball advice you've ever heard?
“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” So, to put this into perspective, I have never overly concerned myself with immediate accomplishments. I look to the future and how a situation influences the destination I'm aiming for. Road bumps and setbacks are a part of the process.

Favourite sporting moment?
I have a few, but two that really stand out to me were career-changing. The first was my Major League callup in 2003 with the Minnesota Twins and the second was when I played with the Fighters and we won the Japan series in 2006.

Major League team?
I was blessed to play 15 years of professional baseball. I was fortunate enough to wear both MLB and NPB uniforms: Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Hokkaido Fighters, Tokyo Giants and Saitama Lions.

What’s your ideal weekend look like?
My ideal weekend is a relatively early start to the day. A nice family breakfast followed with a round of golf or out fishing.

What are your favourite things to do outside of work?
My favourite things to do outside of baseball are fishing, golf and heading to the farm.

Baseball Victoria is excited to announce that HRplus has joined the BV Diamond Partnership Program at the Double level.

Established over 20 years ago, HRplus offers a full range of strategic and operational Human Resource Consulting (HR) support and employee relations advisory services to Australian organisations.

HRplus uses a practical, client-focused approach to ensure clients receive prompt and timely support from a team of highly experienced consultants.

“HRplus has been a fantastic resource for our office, and we welcome their trusted team to the BV Diamond Partnership Program,” BV CEO Chet Gray said. “We appreciate their support and highly recommend their expertise, particularly through the HRplus On-Demand Retainer Program.”

HRplus advisory services cover HR audits, recruitment, employment contracts, risk and compliance, awards and enterprise agreements, remuneration and benefits, Fair Work advice, performance management, complaints, staff terminations, staff training, workplace health and safety and much more.

“We provide HR support to many sporting codes and are delighted to be partnering with the Baseball Victoria team,” added Linda Norman, Partner at HRplus.

Visit www.hrplus.com.au to learn more.

There are some new faces on the Baseball Victoria team, and we would love to introduce you to them. First up, we have Scott McNaughton, our new General Manager, Operations. With 15+ years in sport leadership, most recently with NRL Victoria, Scott will oversee Baseball Victoria’s day-to-day operations, competition services, and club engagement functions.

Here’s a bit more about Scott and his baseball goals.

What inspired you to work in sport?

I was living overseas and had the opportunity to work in a school delivering a sports program - being able to play a part in someone's journey and experience inspired me make a career out of it and I've been lucky to work in a variety of sports across and within all areas of sport from development, pathways and operations so far.

What are you most excited about in your role at Baseball Victoria?

The opportunity - I'm learning fast that we've got a passionate, well-connected community and I'm looking forward to working with everyone to continue to develop and grow our clubs’ capacity, capability and the game in general.

Major League team?

Red Sox (I was lucky enough to get to the 100th anniversary of Fenway).

Favourite sporting moment?

I've been really lucky to be at some major sporting events; however, the moment that sticks in my memory is when I was young watching my dad play and eventually being able to play with him - I hope I can do the same with my son one day.

If you played baseball, what position would you play and why?

I come from a cricket playing background and tried (many would say unsuccessfully) to clear the fence, so I'd say a designated hitter.

What’s your ideal weekend look like?

Spending quality time with my young family.

Top goals for the next year of baseball?

I'm really excited to support the great team we have here at BV across all of our programs and initiatives - my goal is to meaningfully contribute to our broader goals and set ourselves up for more future success.

Best of luck to BV Performance Pathway athletes Jordan Ellis, Will Hardy, and Devin Leahy as they represent Team Australia at the 2025 WBSC U18 World Cup in Okinawa, Japan.

The tournament gets underway on Friday 5 September as Australia takes on Germany at 11:30am AEST. Follow along on the baseball.com.au U18 World Cup Hub.

The team was finalised after a week-long selection camp on the Gold Coast. Check out the Team Australia preview for our VIC representatives and read the full story HERE.

C – Jordan Ellis

From Geelong, Ellis built an impressive lead-in to the selection camp. He was on the radar after he played well with the U16 National Squad at a tournament in Atlanta in 2024. A lower back injury kept him out of the U18 National Championships, but hard work saw health return. He can play multiple positions and will be a key cog in the name of versatility.

INF – Will Hardy

Hardy has been a key part of the Baseball Victoria Performance Pathway program and plays for Newport in the summer and North Balwyn in the winter. Hardy was on the Melbourne Aces’ development list in the 2024-25 ABL season and brings versatility, being able to play all three infield spots.

OF – Devin Leahy

A short, quick, outfielder with strong bat-to-ball skills, Leahy celebrated VSBL grand final glory with Sunshine’s Premier League 1 side. He is also a 2024 U18 National Champion with Victoria and plays winter ball with Greenhills Montmorency. Leahy brings a different style of game play and energy to the national squad.

Baseball Victoria is proud to offer an exciting opportunity for the Victorian U18 Development Squad to travel to Taiwan to compete in the New Taipei City International U18 Baseball Invitational Tournament.

This incredible experience will provide our young athletes with the chance to develop their skills on the global stage, represent Victoria with pride, and immerse themselves in a unique cultural and sporting environment playing against teams from around Asia.

The U18 Development Squad will depart 12 December and return 21 December (indicative pricing $3800-$4500). This is a baseball performance program for Victorian players who try out but are not selected for the AYC U18 State Team. The U18 Development Squad will be selected as part of the current AYC tryout process.

Further details about the tournament, travel dates, and selection process will be announced shortly.

Baseball Victoria is now calling for expressions of interest for U18 Development Squad manager (head coach), assistant coach, and executive officer positions.

Please submit your interest HERE and send questions via email to Micheal Nakamura, Head of Baseball Performance: micheal.nakamura@baseballvictoria.com.au.

Baseball Victoria is pleased to share that registrations are now live for the 2025/26 VSBL season.

All new and returning players, coaches, umpires, scorers, volunteers, and committee members must register on GameDay.

We look forward to an awesome summer of baseball!

Here are a few helpful links as we get ready for opening round on the first weekend of October.

Baseball Victoria is excited to announce the Vic Dingoes and Vic Hornets who will represent at the 2025 Barclay Cup. This marks the fourth annual junior girls tournament, with teams from VIC, NSW, QLD, WA, and host SA heading to Adelaide Angels Baseball Club to play from 28 September to 4 October.

The Barclay Cup players are part of the BV Performance Pathway Youth Women’s Futures Development Program, with training throughout August and September under the leadership of Samantha Hamilton, Victorian Women's Head Coach and Australian Emeralds Assistant Coach. Coaches from the Baseball Victoria Coaching Panel are also playing an important role in guiding youth women’s players to greater confidence and success on and off the field.

“We are looking forward to another great year of Barclay Cup memories for our talented youth women’s baseballers,” BV CEO Chet Gray said. “Thank you to our BV Performance Pathway and Coaching Panel for their continued support and leadership, and best of luck to everyone in the lead-up to the tournament.”

Stay tuned to the Barclay Cup Facebook and Instagram for tournament updates.

Baseball Victoria is pleased to open registration for the 2025 BV Umpires Seminar on 20-21 September at Newport Baseball Club.

This is an exciting opportunity for beginner umpires and those looking to learn more about umpiring and advance their skills.

Building on the success of past BV Umpire Seminars, this year's event will provide introductory instruction and certification to new and developing umpires across the state.

Here's what to expect from the weekend of training:

Community level course for new umpires
On-field instruction for those progressing from Community to Association levels
On-field instruction for those progressing from the Association to the State level (cage work)
In-game live play
Off-field instruction regarding
- Physical and mental preparedness for games
- Pregame crew preparation
- Plate meeting
- In-game management
- Checking and signing of match sheets
- Post-game crew debrief
- Being social without fraternising

New rules revision and approved application

For those looking to start their umpiring and become Community level umpires, please attend on Saturday 20 September.

For those attending the Community course on Saturday and looking for additional training, please also attend on Sunday 21 September.

Experienced umpires are encouraged to attend both Saturday and Sunday.

The cost to attend is $15/day (morning tea and lunch provided).

There will also be a group dinner after training on Saturday evening for those looking to talk all things umpiring over a meal.

Please click HERE to register and email bvumpirecommunications@baseballvictoria.com.au with any questions.

Learn more about umpiring and explore accreditation options HERE.