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’.