For Victorian lads Ciaran Palmer, Josh Meyer and Jordy Barnett, the month of July 2016 will be one of the busiest in their teenage lives.
All three young men represented the Southern Mariners, the victorious charter in the 2016 Senior League Championship, booking their ticket to the Philippines later this month. Compounding that will the trio are selected in the 2016 MLB Australian Academy Program (MLBAAP), which puts them to the test against some of the best young baseballers the country has to offer.
Palmer represents the Berwick Cougars Baseball Club in Victoria, and is enjoying his time at the MLBAAP.
“It’s a lot of fun, but really tiring,” Palmer said.
“I’m making a lot of new friends, and getting work in every day which is great.”
The Southern Mariners qualified for the 2016 Senior League Asia-Pacific Championship after going through the Australian Senior League Championship undefeated, culminating in a 6-1 victory over Hills.
Barnett, a representative of the Mornington Pirates Baseball Club remembers that victory fondly.
"It was an absolutely awesome experience,” Barnett said.
“We all knew each other from previous teams, we’re all great mates and as a team we performed really well.”
Given the Senior League Asia-Pacific Championship begins on the 11th of July, the trio’s time at the MLBAAP will be cut short, but even though they’re only spending a week on the Gold Coast, Sandringham’s Meyer believes the time spent with the academy group is invaluable.
“It’s great to be playing the game with a group of such highly skilled guys,” Meyer said.
“The standard here (MLBAAP) is like nothing I’ve played with before, so it’s great to get this kind of experience.”
The next step in the journey for these young men takes them to Clark, in the Philippines, where they’ll face teams from Guam, CNMI, Indonesia and The Philippines, with a trip to the Senior League World Series in Maine, USA at stake.
Ciaran Palmer is looking forward to seeing how different baseball is in The Philippines.
"I’m quite excited to see how the guys in The Philippines play the game,” Palmer said.
“It’ll be interesting to see how they play the game and compare that to how we play, also it’s another great chance to travel and play baseball.”
All three men spoke highly of Southern Mariners Head Coach Jack Larner, who has had his ups and downs this year.
“Jack has really been through a lot,” Barnett said.
“He gives everything for us and we really want to do him proud in The Philippines.”
Keep up with the Mariners’ progress and their quest for the Senior League World Series here.