It may be the club’s first year, but Malmsbury is well-represented with four players on the Bendigo team at the 2021 Under 16 State Winter Championships in Sale. For three of the four Malmsbury players, this weekend marks their first-ever baseball tournament, and they have thoroughly enjoyed their experience so far.
Royce Sharp, Tayte Cottingham, and Jack Hooper are loving their first season of baseball and the chance to represent their club on the Bendigo U16 squad.
“We have done relatively good for most of us having our first seasons and tournaments. We have an environment where everyone is encouraging,” Tayte said. “My favourite thing about Bendigo Baseball is when you’re competing against another side, you’ve still got that encouragement.”
“Everyone supports each other as we just want to hit the ball and try to get some runs,” Royce added.
“It’s nice to have a weekend of fun baseball where everyone knows each other,” Jack said. “I hope to hit the ball and get a few strikeouts when I pitch.”
Fellow Malmsbury player Ryan Kinkade shares the sentiment and is excited to be back at the State Winter Championships, two years after he hit a grand slam in his first at-bat at his first tournament during the 2019 U12 event in Werribee.
"It's a lot faster, and the best part is seeing kids I haven't seen in two years," Ryan said. "We have great team spirit as we laugh and have fun together."
Malmsbury Club President Jenny Ganim says it’s a massive achievement to have players selected in the Bendigo rep side.
“We’ve been extremely proud of all our juniors this season. Our junior coach Jamie Kinkade has worked really hard with them all, which has proven in their development throughout the season,” Ganim said. “The State Champs is a terrific learning experience for the boys and we hope it helps fast track what Jamie is trying to achieve.”
“We hope it won’t be too long until these lads are the strength of our senior sides. The Bendigo League have been a great support to us in our first season with them. We look forward to the future and endeavour to grow to compete with the established clubs at the highest level.”
Bendigo Head Coach Terry Smith says getting Malmsbury involved opens up Bendigo baseball to more growth which will strengthen both juniors and seniors. Overall, they are just thrilled to be back at the State Winter Championships with new players after working hard to boost their junior numbers and get teams together.
“This is sort of an historic event for us because we got to the stage where we didn’t have nearly any juniors at all, so over the last couple of years we have been able to build it back to a level where we had four divisions this year,” Smith said. “We are happy to have strong enough junior numbers to be back in the competition.”
The Malmsbury players aren’t the only ones who are taking part in their first tournament. Overall, 8 out of 15 players on the Bendigo team are participating in their first-ever tournament. Despite interrupted training, they managed to come together for a great weekend of baseball, with both new and returning players making valuable contributions.
“We had a 2-1 game with Latrobe Valley below it blew out in the last innings to be 7-2,” Smith said. “I thought that was a good result as we were competitive for most of the game. Geelong is an excellent side but, in that game, we managed to score five runs against them and that was due to our players applying themselves in tough situations. We concentrated and competed for the whole game to put ourselves in the position to get those runs.”
Smith says their discipline at the plate allowed Bendigo to work the count and load the bases, which is all they want to keep doing.
“I couldn’t be prouder of them because they applied themselves to everything I asked them to do and they took some very good at-bats against a very good pitcher and managed to get on base and score some runs. Its significant to come away with a bit of pride intact and the knowledge we were at least competitive.”
“The standard of competition has been very pleasing and it’s great to be welcomed back by the other teams. We have been very impressed by the sense of respect and fair play that we have experienced with all the teams we have played.”
Bendigo has achieved their goal of playing in a final, finishing fourth to face third-place Latrobe Valley.