By Robert Novotny
Sunday December 11. Melbourne Ballpark. 2016 ABL Women’s All-Star Game. Bottom of the final inning. Bases loaded. Two outs. Score tied. The 26 & Older Emeralds threatening to overtake the 25 & Younger Emeralds, after trailing by six runs earlier in the game and one run at the start of the inning.
Jacinda Barclay, the most experienced of the younger Emeralds is on the mound. Shae Lillywhite the most experienced of the older Emeralds is at the plate. Barclay falls behind the patient Lillywhite 2-0, then home plate umpire Fiona Lambrick calls strike one on a slider. Barclay then misses for ball three.
3-1 count. With no room for a walk, next pitch has to be in the zone. Barclay opts for a controlled slider, trying to fool Lillywhite and get her to roll over the ball. But she doesn’t, and Lillywhite sends a hard line drive whistling past Barclay’s right ear, the pitcher’s glove hand a split second too late to snag the final out. Walk-off win. Oldies but goodies carry the day.
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The third ABL Women’s All-Star game in Melbourne Sunday represented another step forward for women in baseball in Australia. While a walk-off finish and a 7-6 score line denote an exciting game, the weekend will perhaps be best remembered for other developments. In 2016 the event expanded to cover two days, secured a major sponsor, featured more Boral Australian Emerald national squad players than ever before (19), made a concerted effort to highlight the next generation, and helped empower the first female to ever umpire in Australian professional baseball.
The game itself also had a new format with the greater influx of national players. While the previous two editions featured the Emeralds versus Victorian state players, in 2016 the teams were divided into players under and over age 26. The matchup of youth versus experience was definitely on the players’ minds.
16-year-old Jordan Richardson of New South Wales made her debut on the mound for Australia against Taipei at the World Cup in Korea earlier this year, but played right field in Melbourne Sunday. “[The older Emeralds] are the people who I look up to, it means a lot to be able to test myself against them,” said Richardson. With two hits, including two RBI’s in the younger Emeralds 5-run third inning, she seems to have passed the test.
Shae Lillywhite is the last remaining member of the inaugural women’s national team from 2001. Lillywhite was sixteen when she helped Australia win bronze while playing in Toronto’s Skydome. Sunday’s hero shared similar thoughts to Richardson, albeit from a very different career stage, “You never stop wanting to prove yourself. We still want it as much as we did at their age. There are some great kids in this program, and we want to teach them how to go about their business, what it means to represent Australia.” Certainly Lillywhite’s walk-off performance lived up to those sentiments.
Off her break-out international debut on the mound beating the USA at the recent World Cup, 18-year-old Abbey Kelly started for the younger Emeralds. Amy Collins started on the mound for the older Emeralds. Both pitchers were ultimately chased from the game in the 4th inning by strong hitting attacks. The younger Emeralds struck first with five runs in the top of the third, tacking a sixth run in the next frame. The older Emeralds grabbed five runs in the bottom of the fourth, before walking off with two more in the fifth and final frame. The game was played with a two-hour time limit since it was a curtain-raiser for the Aces v Cavalry ABL game to follow.
On hand in his role as Melbourne Aces manager, Southern Thunder men’s national head coach Jon Deeble noted that the women’s players presented really well on an ABL stage. “It’s really great for the Emeralds to have this opportunity. Weekends like this are key in creating good culture for a program.”
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While many volunteers and organisers contributed to making the weekend possible, Emeralds head coach Simone Wearne led the way in seeing the weekend in a bigger context and finding support to fund that vision. While she underscores how important it is for the existing Emeralds squad to have the rare chance to come together in one place, the notable step forward on the weekend was the incorporation of a junior girls’ clinic.
On Saturday morning at the Springvale club, approximately 40 local junior girls were present receiving instruction from the national team, while then sticking around for a free sausage sizzle and to watch the Emeralds train. “These young girls benefit a lot learning directly from the [national team] players, including the chance to see how they go about their training,” says Wearne, noting that the personal interaction also helps makes young dreams of playing for the Emeralds more real and more achievable.
As good as it all feels, the weekend was not meant to be a feel good event. Former Kansas City Royals player, national team star, and current Melbourne Aces general manager Justin Huber put it in perspective, “The mission of the ABL is to develop talent for our national program. So while the Emeralds players certainly deserve the opportunity and recognition in this professional setting, the result we are after is a stronger women’s program and everyone with the Aces is thrilled to support initiatives like this.”
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Of note and being covered separately, Fiona Lambrick umpired third base in the ABL feature game, becoming the first woman umpire in the history of professional baseball in Australia. Lambrick plated the women’s game and was joined by ABL umpires Takahito Matsuda and Michael Lyons. The game was supported and funded by Aussie Hearts, an international female baseball development program. A majority of Emeralds players and coaches attending in Melbourne this weekend had previously participated in the Hearts program.
For the Record, listed below are the starting line ups for the 2016 ABL Women’s All-Star Game, featuring the Boral Australian Emeralds:
25 & Younger Emeralds
1. Browyn Gell SS
2. Olivia Bannon 2B
3. Kaila Borgomastro 3B
4. Claire O’Sullivan 1B
5. Tammy McMillan CF
6. Abbey McLellan C
7. Abbey Kelly P
8. Jordan Richardson RF
9. Jacinda Barclay LF
Bench: Belinda Cannington
Asst. Coach: Siobhan Taylor
Head Coach: Lisa Norrie
26 & Older Emeralds
1. Shae Lillywhite 2B
2. Laura Neads SS
3. Tahnee Lovering C
4. Chelsea Forkin 3B
5. Kim McMillan 1B
6. Amanda Torrington LF
7. Leslie Anglin CF
8. Erin Fox RF
9. Amy Collins P
Bench: Sinead Flanigan
Asst. Coach: Reiko Abe
Asst. Coach: Risa Tanaka
Head Coach: Simone Wearne