Victorian representatives enjoyed a fantastic week at the 2022 Australian Youth Women’s Baseball Invitational in West Beach, Adelaide from 16-20 April.
14 Victorians were invited to attend the invitational, including Caitlin Hoy, Chelsea Nunn, Ebony Sutherland, Eden Neave, Emily Brennan, Erin Kent, Hayley Fielden, Isabella Lee-Young, Jessica Brown, Leah Antonacci, Lily McKenner. Macy Priamo, Nyah O’Brien, and Ruby Benne.
Victorians Leah Trebilcock and Andrew Fielden were part of the coaching staff which led players through testing, training, workshops and games as part of a camp and competition format for rising female prospects from around the country.
“Being part of the AYW coaching staff has been incredibly rewarding and humbling. I learnt so much about the game, and about coaching, from the talented staff around me, and got to invest in the next generation,” Leah Trebilcock said.
The invitational was modelled off Emeralds training camp, starting each day with specific skill workshops before modified game play in the afternoon to put what they learned into practice and succeed on the field.
Daily journaling sessions helped the girls and coaches document what they learned, and there were plenty of highlights throughout the week, including home runs by Nyah O'Brien, Erin Kent, and Jessica Brown. Fellow Victorian Caitlin Hoy won the No More Spirit of the Game award for the camp after displaying the best spirit and respect for the game.
Overall, the experience was incredibly valuable for players and coaches alike, giving all participants the chance to enhance their skills and become even better baseballers.
“Perhaps my favourite part of the experience was coaching alongside Narelle Gosstray. 10 years ago, I attended my first National Women's Championships, playing under Narelle as part of the Northern Territory team,” Leah explained. “Prior to that, I didn't even know there were more than a few girls playing baseball! Throughout the AYW Invitational, I had the opportunity to pass on many of the lessons that Narelle had taught me a decade ago - that was pretty special.”
The coaches are confident the future of women’s baseball is very bright across Australia and beyond.
“I hope that some of these girls get to achieve all their baseball dreams, whether that's making Victoria Blue, representing the Emeralds, or having the opportunity to play college baseball,” Leah said. “I would love to see more opportunities for youth girls to play high level baseball, such as charter and national tournaments. The talent is getting better year on year, and these girls are going to be unstoppable!”
Inspired by the invitational, the players are determined to keep improving and chasing their dream of representing Victoria or Australia.
Emily Brennan from Research Lower Plenty Baseball Club is excited for the future as she hopes to one day represent Victoria at women’s nationals and play in a World Series with the Emeralds.
“My highlight of the tournament was meeting all of the other girls as well as being given to opportunity to play baseball at a higher level of competition and be shown a pathway that I can continue to follow to become the best player I can be,” Emily said.
“My goal going into the tournament was to become more confident as a catcher which was evident as the competition progressed. I also aimed to be able to generate more power in my hitting and reading of different pitches which we worked on with the help of the amazing coaching staff and some of the Emeralds players.”
Macy Priamo also had an awesome week in Adelaide. As a dedicated player with Malvern and North Balwyn who is training hard to increase her strength and conditioning, Macy embraced every moment of the invitational, led by Emeralds Manager Jason Pospishil (Pops) and more of the country’s top coaches.
“I really enjoyed all the different stations that we did in the mornings and then being able to implement the things we had learnt into the games. As Pops described it, we were leaning new things to pass an exam which was the games,” Macy said.
“For the week with Pops and the coaches, I had a number of mini goals to improve in my understanding of the game. I definitely came a long way to achieving my goal of learning where to throw on certain plays, know what pitch the pitcher will throw based on the way the ball spins, and being able to adjust to different pitches like curve balls, fastballs and change ups.”
Looking ahead, Macy can’t wait to keep working hard on the field.
“In the future I would like to continue to play and coach our club ball, hopefully play in higher teams in the men's seniors, and continue to grow our new women's team at my club,” Macy said. “I want to keep training and improving and try out for the open Victoria women’s team, and I would love to play for the Emeralds.”