U16 - 7th
place playoff
Australian Capital
Territory 8-4 New South Wales Country
The Australian Capital Territory have been unlucky not to
record a win so far at the tournament, however they finally broke through to
claim an 8-4 win over NSW Country and finish seventh in the U16 National Youth
Championships. Grant Craft had a strong
start on the mound for ACT, giving up only two earned runs and striking out six
in five innings of work. Tom Pellow and Bailey Curtis both had two RBI each at
the top of the lineup, while Jack Mitchell picked up an RBI from his sole hit. Sam
McLean went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple for NSW Country as he capped off
a fine tournament. Bailey Van Leeuwen picked up two hits and an RBI for NSW
Country.
U18 – 7th
place playoff
Queensland 5-4
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT took an early lead in the 7th place
playoff against Queensland, but in the end it was Queensland who scored late
and claimed a 5-4 victory. Matt Roberts only gave up one earned run in his five-inning
start for Queensland, and his bats backed him up. James Franco again proved his
quality in this tournament, with another two hits and two RBI. Dermot Fritsch picked
up two more hits, while Josh Bedggood had a hit and an RBI. Rylie Goodwin only
gave up three earned runs in a six inning start, while Mitch Edwards and Jordan
Kelly had two hits each.
U16 – 5th
place playoff
Queensland 3-2
Victoria White
Riki Ward was the hero for Queensland in the 5th
place playoff game, lacing a walk-off RBI triple in the bottom of the final
frame to defeat Victoria 3-2. Victoria
White tied up the ballgame in the top of the seventh thanks to two RBI from
Chris Nielsen, however Riki Ward came up big, scoring Kai-Noa Wynyard from
first to snatch fifth place from Victoria. River Stevens Dobby struck out five
and only gave up two earned runs in his start for Vic White, with Damon Hill
and Keenan Spence both picking up doubles. Max Watson was lights out for
Queensland, tossing six scoreless innings, striking out three. Josh Nieass
claimed an early RBI, but pitching and defence reigned supreme all game as it
came down to a thrilling final frame.
U18 – 5th
place playoff
Victoria White vs.
Victoria Blue
Victoria Blue scored consistently early and never looked
back, defeating Victoria White 6-1 to finish fifth in the U18 division at the
National Youth Championships. Jackson Boyd continued his strong tournament,
only giving up the one run in his 5.1 innings on the mound for Vic Blue. Jack
Dunn went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in the middle of the Vic Blue
lineup, while Jamie Young collected three hits on the day. Vic White kept the
Vic Blue bats at bay until the eighth, where Vic Blue put the result beyond
doubt with three insurance runs. Sam Drummond and Brock Wells had two hits each
for Vic White, with Jarrod Belbin picking up the lone RBI.
U16 – Bronze Medal
game
New South Wales 11-1
South Australia
New South Wales scored five early runs and never looked
back, defeating South Australia 11-1 and in turn, claiming a bronze medal in
the U16 National Youth Championships. Joe Gluyas, Blake Farr and Callum Park
had a hit each for South Australia, with Farr driving in SA’s lone run of the
ballgame. Ky Jackson was one of NSW’s best, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and
three RBI, while Ethan Stacy chimed in with two RBI of his how. Liam McCallum
only gave up one earned run in his 4.1 innings of work for NSW.
U18 – Bronze Medal
game
South Australia 15-1
New South Wales Country
South Australia piled on the runs early and never looked
back against New South Wales Country, claiming a bronze medal in the U18
division at the National Youth Championship. Curtis Mead had a great day at the
plate, going 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI, while Griffin Weber chipped
in with two hits and two RBI for himself. On the mound, Cooper Marsh was
immense for SA, striking out three and only giving up one run in six stellar
innings. Every SA player in the starting lineup had either a hit or an RBI in a
complete team performance. Hits were shared for NSW Country, with Rixon and
Josh Wingrove as well as Jacob Amos and Mitch Ellison picking up one each.
U16 – Gold Medal game
Victoria Blue 5-1
Western Australia
Blake Townsend had his best start of the tournament and was
backed up by some timely offense as Victoria Blue claimed their second U16
National Championship in three years after a hard fought 5-1 victory against
Western Australia.
Blake Townsend threw a complete game on the mound for
Victoria, striking out four and only giving up one earned run in his seven
innings.
Victoria Blue’s Manager Marshall Skinner praised Townsend’s
ability to bounce back following a tough start to the tournament.
“Blake was sensational today,”
“He had a rough start to the tournament that he was
disappointed with, but today’s performance was fantastic.”
Chris Burke began the scoring for Victoria Blue, as he
punched a 2RBI single down the first base lane in the third to begin the
match-turning inning for Victoria. Fraser Smith, Reece Longstaff and Zak
Skinner all added to the score with an RBI each in the third inning.
Nick Riley had two hits for Western Australia, while pinch
hitter Mitch Scofield driving in the lone RBI after a sac-fly in the final
frame. However WA’s rally was squashed as Matt Martin grounded out to end the
ballgame and send Victoria Blue into celebration mode.
Victoria Blue’s Ben Fierenzi was named the MVP and Gold
Glove for best fielder of the U16 National Youth Championship, after hitting an
astonishing .565 for the tournament, claiming 13 hits and 4 RBI from his eight
games. Dante Caruso picked up the hitting award for Vic Blue following an
astounding tournament, finishing with a batting average of .684 and 12 RBI in
nine games.
U18 – Gold Medal game
Western Australia 4-3
New South Wales
In one of the most dramatic and emotion filled matches at
the National Youth Championships ever, Western Australia claimed the Gold Medal
following a tense 4-3 victory over New South Wales at Blacktown International
Sportspark.
Both Western Australia and New South Wales struck early,
before an unforgettable pitchers dual developed between NSW’s Kyle Glogoski and
WA’s Frazer Brice. Glogoski only gave up three runs in his six innings of work,
striking out five, while on the other side of the coin, Frazer Brice only gave
up three runs in 7.2 innings. Both pitchers toiled away and kept the drama high
as a worthy gold medal game developed.
WA Manager Mark Pettit sung Brice’s praises post-game.
“Frazer shown throughout the tournament that he has poise
beyond his years.” Pettit said.
“He’s only a first year guy, and he just doesn’t give in
when he’s out there. Pitching is all about getting the job done and Frazer
certainly got it done tonight.”
Brice’s status continued to grow post-game, as he was named
pitcher of the tournament.
Jake Taylor and Jess Williams had three hits each for WA,
while Jett Wright had two RBIs. New South Wales fought hard, with Ismail Adra
picking up two hits, and Luis Gonzalez knocking in two of NSW’s three runs in
the ballgame.
The victory for Western Australia was particularly emotional
given the recent passing of Western Australian baseball legend Greg Jelks.
Members of both the WA U16 and U18 coaching staff were great friends with
Jelks, and WA Manager Mark Pettit spoke candidly about the impact of the sudden
passing on the team.
“The past two weeks have been such an emotional
rollercoaster for not just us but baseball in Australia,” Pettit said.
“I’m not sure there’s a group of young men on the face of
the earth that could’ve got through what they did over the past 10 days and I
couldn’t be prouder.”
WA’s Dawson Summers picked up the fielding award to cap off
an incredible tournament for the second baseman.