The Emeralds have played three warm-up games in Osaka, Japan prior to the 2014 Women’s World Cup in Miyazaki.
Their second warm-up game was against Japanese Professional League Team All-Stars, including players from Shae Lillywhite’s previous team South Dione. The team out hit and out pitched their opponent, but was unable to put the runs on the board narrowly losing the game 1-0. Great pitching was seen from Melinda Latimer, Georgia Blair, Amy Collins and Jacinda Barclay and hitting from Shae Lillywhite, Katie Gaynor and Rachael Higgins.
Last night the Emeralds took on the Kansai All-Stars, where great baseball was played for 7 innings. After scoring one run in the first, the Emeralds were able to hold Kansai scoreless for 5 innings. The Emeralds scored consistently, but a 6 run inning by Kansai in the 7th saw the Emeralds lose 6-7.
Today is a practice day, and the players will work with Japanese baseball students on their English skills. The Emeralds will play their last practice game tomorrow against the Riseisha College of Medicine and Sport at 11:30 am (12:30 pm AEST).
The Emeralds Cultural Visit with the Riseisha College of Medicine and Sport has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation.
For more updates visit emeralds.baseball.com.au or follow the team on Facebook or Twitter.
Article by: Elizabeth Cage, MLB International
The Kansas City Royals have announced that Liam Hendriks, a West Australian and member of the Australian Baseball League’s Perth Heat, will make his debut for their club in their Wednesday night game hosting Liam’s old team the Minnesota Twins (10:00 am AET Thursday). The game will pit the American League Central leading Royals against the last place Twins. Hendriks gets the start against the Twins Phil Hughes who is 14 - 8 with a 3.65 ERA.
Hendriks began the 2014 season with the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A club, with several short stints with the Major League club, before being traded to Kansas City in July. He has a 12-2 record at Triple-A this year with a 2.45 ERA, with 126 strikeouts to only 13 walks in 143 innings; he is hoping to bring that form to Kaufmann Stadium tonight. In three MLB starts this season he is 1-0 with a 6.08 ERA.
Liam joins fellow Australian, Grant Balfour (Tampa Bay Rays, Sydney) in the Major Leagues. Three non-Australian alumni of the Australian Baseball League are also in the Major Leagues: Brandon Barnes (Sydney Blue Sox, Colorado Rockies), Didi Gregorious (Arizona Diamondbacks, Canberra Cavalry) and Kevin Kiermaier (Canberra Cavalry, Tampa Bay Rays). As the 2014 season got under way some 65 Australians and New Zealanders under contract with Major League clubs and other professional teams.
The Pitch is a weekly news review of Australian’s in the Majors, Minors, College and other Professional Leagues compiled by Major League Baseball International (Australia).If you would like to subscribe directly to receive the pitch email majorleaguebaseball@bigpond.com
Current statistics of all active Australian and New Zealander players are attached.
AUSTRALIANS IN THE MAJORS
Week in Review
Here is the latest on the Australians participating in Major League Baseball. Note: hyperlinks in this section lead to MLB.com pages wrapping up these particular games, in-text hyperlinks are to video clips of those plays.
Grant Balfour (Glenwood NSW) is 1-5 with a 5.29 ERA in 51 appearances, 49.1 innings, for the Tampa Bay Rays this season. He has recorded 11 saves from 14 opportunities while allowing 29 runs, all earned, on 41 hits, two homeruns, and 38 walks while striking out 44.
The Rays are 63 - 73 (.488) in 4th place in the American League East, 7.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
·17 August – Grant pitched one inning allowing one hit and striking out one in the Rays 4-2 loss to the visiting Yankees. He came on in the 9th with the final score in place and faced four batters: Martin Prado singled to short, deflected by Grant; Brett Gardner was out on a sacrifice bunt to Grant, Prado advanced to 2nd; Derek Jeter grounded out to short, Prado advanced to 3rd; and Jacoby Ellsbury was called out on strikes.
·19 August – Grant copped the loss allowing three earned runs on three walks and a hit without recording an out in the Rays 8-6 11-inning loss to visiting Detroit. The less said of this appearance, the better.
·23 August – Grant pitched 1.2 innings allowing one hit in the Rays 5-4 10-inning loss at Toronto. He came on in the bottom of the 7th with a runner on second and one out recorded. He faced two batters: Danny Valencia grounded out to short and Munenori Kawasaki grounded out to short to end the inning. In the 8th he faced three batters: Jose Reyes grounded out; Melky Cabrera singled to left and Jose Bautista grounded into a double play to end the inning.
AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE IMPORTS IN THE MAJORS
Brandon Barnes (Sydney Blue Sox) is batting .253 for the Colorado Rockies with 22 RBI, 13 doubles, four triples and seven homeruns in 241 at bats over 110 games while playing right field. Over his last ten games, dating to 10 August, he’s batting .259 with seven hits and three RBI, with two home runs, in 27 at-bats. He’s made several video highlights which can be viewed here. The Rockies are 51 - 77 (.398), in fifth place in the National League West and 17 games behind the Dodgers.
Didi Gregorious (Canberra Cavalry) is batting .213 for the Arizona Diamondbacks with 20 RBI, three doubles, four triples and six homeruns in 178 at bats over 53 games while playing short stop. Over his last ten games, dating to 13 August, he’s batting .079 with two runs on three hits, two of them homeruns, with five RBI, in 38 at-bats. He’s made several video highlights which can be viewed here. The Diamondbacks are 55 - 75 (.423) in fourth place in the NL West 18.5 games behind Los Angeles.
Kevin Kiermaier (Canberra Cavalry) is batting .270 for the Tampa Bay Rays with 29 RBI, 12 doubles, six triples and nine home runs in 248 at bats over 80 games playing right field for the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s scored 30 runs on 67 hits and has stolen five bases. Over his last ten games, dating to 13 Aug, he’s batting .207 with two runs on six hits with one RBI over 29 at bats. He’s made several video highlights which can be viewed here. The Rays are 63 - 73 (.488) in 4th place in the American League East, 7.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
AUSTRALIAN ESPN BROADCAST SCHEDULE (All times AEST)
TRIPLE-A LEAGUES:
SINGLE-A LEAGUES:
SINGLE-A LEAGUES:
INDEPENDENT LEAGUES:
PITCHERS HEIN ROBB AND JOSH SPENCE BRING INTERNATIONAL FLAVOUR TO THUNDERBOLTS
Steve Millar, Sun-Times Media – 17 August
EUROPEAN LEAGUES:
WATCH AN ESPN NEWS STORY ON AUSTRALIA’S FIRST EVER WIN AT THE LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES HERE.
The Emeralds first warm-up game against the Riseisha College of Medicine and Sport was called off in the 7th inning today due to rain.
The Emeralds are playing four warm-up games in Osaka before travelling to Miyazaki for the 2014 Women’s World Cup. The Emeralds Cultural Visit with the Riseisha College of Medicine and Sport is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation.
Before the rain hit Riseisha secured an early two run lead, however the Emeralds didn't stay down for long putting two runs on the board in the top of the third off hits from Christina Kreppold and Katie Gaynor.
Starting pitcher Brittany Hepburn really took control of her pitching in the 3rd inning, and was able to keep Riseisha scoreless through to the fourth before being replaced by Lauren McGrath.
Australia added another run to the scoreline in the top of the 5th off a hit to left field from Shae Lillywhite. Riseisha fought back putting two more runs on the board before the game was called off due to heavy rain.
The Emeralds will play another practice game tomorrow against Japanese professional team South Dione at 1:30 pm (2:30 pm AEST).
For more updates visit emeralds.baseball.com.au or follow the team on Facebook or Twitter.
#EpicEmeralds #Emeralds2014
The inaugural Nichi-Go Cup will take place
at the Palm Meadows Baseball Field on the Gold Coast this week, August 27-29th.
Japan Little Senior Baseball Association
(JLSBA), a 562 team Japanese baseball organization, is sending two all-star teams to
play against two Australian teams. The Japan West All-Stars, the Japan East
All-Stars, the Queensland All-Stars and the East Coast All-Stars will play eight
games in a round robin style tournament.
The Baseball Down Under program aims to
bring elite teams from Asia and North America to play tournaments against Australia’s
future stars. It provides an opportunity for Australian baseball players to
experience and learn from other varied baseball cultures.
All games are open to the public and we
welcome spectators.
For live scoring, stats, results and
rosters visit the Baseball Down Under page on baseball.com.au or follow us on
Facebook or Twitter.
The Australian National Women’s Baseball team, the Emeralds, have arrived in Osaka, Japan prior to the 2014 ENEOS Women’s World Cup in Miyazaki.
Before the Emerald’s begin their fight for gold at the World Cup they will undertake a cultural exchange with the Riseisha College of Medicine and Sport in Osaka. The visit will include friendly games against the University team, school visits, cultural activities, plus the exchange of coaching techniques and ideas between coaches.
While in Osaka the Emeralds will also take on Shae Lilywhite’s former Japanese Professional League Team, South Dione. Lillywhite was the first international player to sign with the Japanese Women’s Baseball league in June of last year.
The Emeralds Cultural Visit with the Riseisha College of Medicine and Sport has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australia-Japan Foundation.
Warm-Up Games
| 25 August, 2014 | Australia vs. Riseisha | 1:30pm |
| 26 August, 2014 | Australia vs. South Dione | 1:30pm |
| 27 August, 2014 | Australia vs. Kansai | 6:00pm |
| 28 August, 2014 | Australia vs. Riseisha | 11:30am |
To follow the progress of the Emeralds in their warm-up games and at the World Cup visit emeralds.baseball.com.au or follow the team on Facebook and Twitter.
#EpicEmeralds #Emeralds2014
The main changes to be aware of are explained below. If anyone has any questions regarding these changes, please speak to your clubs Junior Coordinator or President as they have been provided more detail regarding these changes.
The Little League (Under 12) and Junior League (Under 14) divisions are based on charters. In Australia a charter is formed by grouping clubs in close proximity to one another to participate in a charter league competition. Each Charter League will be limited to a maximum of 10 Little League Major teams.
The Junior League Charter is based on the Little League Major Charter.
An example of a charter is below (please note this is only an example).
| CLUBS | NUMBER OF U12 TEAMS |
CHARTER | ||
 BONBEACH |
2 TEAMS
|
SOUTHERN MARINERS ALL STAR TEAM PARTICIPATES AT |
||
MOORABBIN |
|
|||
 SANDRINGHAM |
 3 TEAMS |
|||
|
|
|||
= 10 TEAMS |
SOUTHERN MARINERS
1 TEAM
4 TEAMS
Within this charter league, a minimum regular season competition must be played. Each league competition must provide for not less than twelve (12) games per team per regular season exclusive of finals.
Charter competitions in essence resemble the domestic competition that teams participated in on a Friday evening or Saturday Morning. These charter league competitions will replace the domestic competitions in the 2014/2015 season.
Clubs that have not participated in a domestic competition (not a Sunday competition) in the past, are now required to participate in a charter competition to be played on a Friday evening or Saturday morning for both the Little League and Junior League divisions.
For the 2014/2015 season, a Sunday morning competition will also be conducted that these players are eligible to participate in. This Sunday morning competition will resemble how the Sunday morning competition has been conducted in previous years, which is based on clubs entering a competition that involves all Melbourne Metropolitan (including Geelong and Ballarat) clubs.
If a player was just to play in a Sunday morning competition, the said player would not be eligible for selection in the Charter All Star Team. To be eligible a player must play a minimum of 60% of games played in the charter league regular season. (i.e. 12 games regular season = 7 games)
AGE MATRIX
Little League International currently has its age group cut-off as 1 May (not 31 December as per Baseball Victoria competitions).
Little League International recently voted to change its age cut-off period to 31 December, however this will take effect in 2018 (2017/18 season for Baseball Victoria).
All Australian Little League Championships will be run with the current Little League age brackets for all tournaments until it is changed internationally in 2018 (2017/18 in Australia).
Players need to participate in a regular season charter competition. Under our current age groups (U12 and U14), players that turn 13 after 1 May are still eligible to participate in the Little League Championships, but are not eligible to participate in our local competition based on our age cut-off of 31 December.
Baseball Victoria has decided to provide players born between 1 May – 31 December 2002 the opportunity to choose which division they would prefer to participate in being Little League Major or the Junior League competitions.
The players born between the above dates that decide to play in the Little League Major competition will be provided dispensation to participate in this competition.
The players that choose to play Junior League will no longer be eligible to participate in the Little League Charter All Star team in the State Championships, however they are eligible to trial for the Junior League All Star team.
Please also note that a player can only participate in one All Star team per year.
Please also note, Little League International rules states that a league/competition cannot force a player eligible in more than one division into a particular division. This choice must be made by the player and their family.
An Age Matrix for each division can be found below:
Little League Major (U12) Age Matrix – LL Charter and LL Club Competition
To be eligible to participate in a Little League Major competition, a player must attain the age of 9 years before 1 May and will not attain the age of 13 before 1 May of the year in question to be eligible.
| Match month (top line) and box with year of birth. Age indicated at right. | ||||||||||||
|
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
AGE |
|
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
9 |
|
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
10 |
|
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
11 |
|
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
12 |
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
AGE
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2006
2006
2006
2006
9
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
10
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
11
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2003
2003
2003
2003
12
Little League Major (U12) Age Matrix – State LL Championships
To be eligible to participate in a Little League State Championships, a player must attain the age of 11 years before 1 May and will not attain the age of 13 before 1 May of the year in question to be eligible.
| Match month (top line) and box with year of birth. Age indicated at right. | ||||||||||||
|
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
AGE |
|
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
11 |
|
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
12 |
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
AGE
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
11
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2003
2003
2003
2003
12
Little League Minor (U12) Age Matrix
To be eligible to participate in a Little League Minor competition, a player must attain the age of 8 years before 1 May and will not attain the age of 13 before 1 May of the year in question to be eligible.
| Match month (top line) and box with year of birth. Age indicated at right. | ||||||||||||
|
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
AGE |
|
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2007 |
2007 |
2007 |
2007 |
8 |
|
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
2006 |
9 |
|
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
2005 |
10 |
|
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
2004 |
11 |
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
12 |
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
AGE
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2007
2007
2007
2007
8
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2006
2006
2006
2006
9
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
10
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
11
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2003
2003
2003
2003
12
Junior League (U14) Age Matrix
To be eligible to participate in a Junior League State Championships, a player must attain the age of 12 years before 1 May and will not attain the age of 15 before 1 May of the year in question to be eligible.
| Match month (top line) and box with year of birth. Age indicated at right. | ||||||||||||
|
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
AGE |
|
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
2003 |
12 |
|
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
2002 |
13 |
|
2000 |
2000 |
2000 |
2000 |
2000 |
2000 |
2000 |
2000 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
2001 |
14 |
May
June
July
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
AGE
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2003
2003
2003
2003
12
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2001
2002
2002
2002
2002
13
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2000
2001
2001
2001
2001
14
Please note: Players eligible to play Under 16 in the 2014/20015 season (born 1 May -31 December 2000), and participate in the under 16 competition, will still be eligible to participate in the Junior League State Championships.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. Why are we adopting Little League in Australia?
A. This concept provides many benefits for participants including:
1. increased participation in National Events;
2. community centred teams; and
3. early inclusion v early exclusion.
Q. Can a player play in two All Star Teams?
A. No. A player can only be selected in one All Star team.
Q. Can a player play in the Junior League Competition and still be eligible for Little League major All Star selection?
A. No. A player is not eligible if they participate in any Junior League Games.
Q. Do I need to speak to other clubs to form a charter?
A. No. Clubs just need to enter how many teams they will be entering into each division. The Little league Administrator will place all clubs into a charter based on team entries.
Q. How many games does a player have to play in the charter league regular season to be eligible for All Star Selection?
A. A player is required to play in 60% of the charter league regular season games.
Q. Does the minimum 12 games (per team) Charter League regular season include finals?
A. No. The regular season excludes finals.
Q. What happens to clubs who do not have Friday night competitions?
A. Clubs are now required to participate in a charter competition to be played on a Friday evening or Saturday morning for both the Little League and Junior League divisions. If a charter does not think that this is achievable, the Little League Administrator will work with the charter to find a suitable time to play the regular season.
Q. What about Sunday competitions?
A. There will continue to be a Sunday morning competition in 2014/2015. This will be called Little League Club Competition or Junior League Club Competition.
The structure of the competition will resemble how Sunday morning competitions have been conducted in previous years.
Q. What about females in junior baseball?
A. Little League is an inclusive program, females and males can play in the same competition and All Stars teams. An all female team can participate in a charter league competition.
Leigh Godfrey is an outfielder for both the Australian Softball and Baseball teams. She started playing softball when she was eight years old, and starting playing baseball only three years ago.
Leigh is currently playing for Australia in the World Championships for Softball in the Netherlands. She will then travel to Japan where she will play for the Emeralds, the Women’s National Baseball team, at the 2014 IBAF Women’s World Cup. We had the opportunity to discuss both baseball and softball with Leigh before she left for the two championships.
Leigh explained the differences between softball and baseball, “the biggest difference is the diamond distance, and baseball uses a smaller ball and they pitch overarm instead of underarm".
“the transition between the two sports was difficult at first, but now that I am used to baseball it makes it easier. However the transition from baseball to softball is always harder, everything gets shorter and quicker”.
Her pre-game rituals include going “through her regular warm up routine, which for softball is about an hour before the game and two hours beforehand for baseball. In baseball we take a larger scale batting practice than for softball. During the game I just go out and have fun, generally if I am having fun I play well”.
Leigh is making her debut for Australia during the World Cup; she is excited and has high expectations for the team. “After being away with the team during the selection camp, I know our goal is to come home with a gold medal and make Australia proud. We have received generous funding this year, so we are looking to put together a good campaign and come out as winners”.
When asked what her future ambitions are her answer is simple, “my focus is to get through the next 7 weeks with the softball championships and then the Baseball World Cup. I will then reassess where I am at and reset my goals”.
Her advice for other female ball players is “have fun. I have had the opportunity to play both diamond sports and I hope I am not that last person to do that. I hope a number of girls will come through and play both and be able to make both national teams stronger. So overall have fun, enjoy what your are doing and train hard”
Australia is currently ranked second in their pool at the Softball Championships, and Leigh will play her first game of the Women’s World Cup on Septemeber 1st in Miyazaki, Japan. For all Emeralds updates visit emeralds.baseball.com.au or follow the team on Facebook or Twitter.
Job Title: Commercial Manager, Baseball in NSW and Sydney Blue Sox
Reports to: Baseball NSW CEO and ABL CEO
Compensation: Based on experience. Significant portion of pay will be incentive based.
Overview
Reporting to the Baseball NSW CEO, the Commercial Manager will manage all commercial interests of the club. This will include generating gate revenue through ticket sales, marketing, and brand building, to deliver an attractive product. The Commercial Manager will also be responsible for driving sponsorship sales, participating in future facility planning, and the coordination of networking and fundraising events.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is owned by Major League Baseball and Baseball Australia, and is the national league of Australia with franchises in all of its largest cities. Operating as a single entity the ABL is a unique, exciting, entrepreneurial work environment encouraging all employees to share ideas, get involved in their communities, act creatively, and to have fun.
Responsibilities:
•Manage all franchise revenue and expenses, including tickets sales, sponsorships, food/beverage, merchandising, stadium and other events
•Establish an annual business plan and develop additional revenue streams to support the franchise
•Develop and implement a rolling three-year sponsorship, marketing, and financial strategy
•Develop and implement sales strategies for season ticket sales and group ticket sales in conjunction with the targets of the ABL
•Build the organization by recruiting, training and motivating volunteers, part-time, seasonal and other staff and by integrating operations closely with the State Baseball Association
•Contribute to the long term venue plan
•Contribute to the overall success of the ABL through involvement and contribution to the ABL General Manager Network
•Performs related duties as required
Qualifications:
•Bachelor's Degree and 3 to 5 years relevant commercial experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience
•Strong sales instincts and skills, and demonstrated success in the areas of gaining and servicing sponsorships, ticket sales (memberships, groups, individual) and game day / event operations
•Excellent leadership, communication, customer service and motivational skills
•Proven organizational and time management skills
For consideration, please submit your resume and cover letter, which must include salary expectations and current salary, both broken into base and incentives, in confidence to careers@theabl.com.au