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,” Skinner said.
“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.