Photo by Lawrence Trevanion

The ACT Schoolboys rewritten the record books following a brilliant Silver medal finish at the recent National Championships held in Perth.

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Today marks the start of the men’s 2009-2010 A-Grade baseball grand final at Narrabundah Baseball Park.

This year’s grand final will see defending champions the Bandits take on last years runners-up the Ainslie Bears in a dramatic rematch.

The Ainslie Bears beat out the Weston Creek Indians in last weeks semi finals 6-5, 7-0 to secure their place in the grand final.

The Bears have had a solid season and have already shown they have the capacity to beat the Bandits securing two wins against them throughout the season.

The Bandits go into the grand final on the back of an extremely successful season with 25 wins to 5 losses.  They are defending a two year winning streak and are hoping to walk away with a third consecutive Esmonds Cup.

If previous games are anything to go by, then this is shaping up to be a close grand final. Each time these teams have met the games have been high scoring and close.

The B-grad grand final will be Indians v Bandits. This will put extra pressure on the pitchers for the Bandits should the games be close on sunday.

Game 1: Thursday 25 March, Narrabundah Baseball Park, 7:00pm

Game 2: Sunday 28 March, Narrabundah Baseball Park, 3:00pm

Game 3: (if needed) Sunday 28 March, Narrabundah Baseball Park, following game 2

The 2009-2010 ACT A-Grade season heats up with semi-final action beginning 7pm Thursday night (18/3) with game one of the best of three game series at Narrabundah Baseball Park.

This year’s semi-finals will see the Ainslie Bears take on the Weston Creek Indians in what is sure to be a closely fought series.

The Weston Creek Indians head into this year’s finals series looking to break their 19 year premiership drought in ACT baseballs premier category. Ainslie have fared slightly better over the past decade, claiming the Esmonds Cup in 2004.

The decider for this series could be the depth, with both the Bears and the Indians taking part in the B grade finals series.

Both teams posses a powerful offensive game with high scoring matches being a feature of the regular season, this could prove vital for both teams as the pitching ranks will be tested should game three be needed on Sunday afternoon.

The winner of the semi-finals will come up against a red-hot Bandits (25-5) side looking to clinch their third consecutive Esmonds Cup.

Game 1: Thursday 18 March, Narrabundah Baseball Park, 7:00pm

Game 2: Sunday 21 March, Narrabundah Baseball Park, 3:00pm

Game 3: (if needed) Sunday 21 March, Narrabundah Baseball Park, following game 2

Form Guide

The teams come into the semi-finals in mixed form. The Bears warmed up for Thursday night’s opener with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Tuggeranong Vikings thanks to solid pitching from Nolan Nicholson and John Noonan. The Indians on the other hand played their last game almost a week ago, going down to the minor-premier Bandits in a close one.

The Stats

Indians regular season 22-8

Ainslie Bears regular season 19-11

Head to head

2009 – 2010 Season, Ainslie 3-2

Indians 10 – 6
Bears 13 – 3
Indians 11 -2
Bears 11-1
Bears 9 – 8

Bears v Indians runs scored 2009 -2010

Bears 41
Indians 33

Canberra’s has won its bid to join Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth as a foundation team in the Australian Baseball League (ABL), due to begin, November 2010.

An audience of supporters including Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Andrew Barr, ACT Baseball Association (ACTBA) Commissioner, Theo Vassalakis, and a host of local players and bid supporters mobbed to Civic Square to see ABL Commissioner, Mark Peters, announce the news so many within the baseball community had been hoping to hear.

ACTBA Commissioner, Theo Vassalakis, says Canberra’s acceptance into the ABL is fantastic news with all the hard work by those within the baseball community paying off.

“I would like to thank everyone who got behind the ‘Let’s do it Canberra’ bid for their support and hard work.” Theo said. “I’d especially like to thank those within the baseball community who worked so tirelessly and never gave up their dream of competing on the national stage once again.”

Theo said acceptance into the ABL would promote the grassroots levels of the game and would inspire the junior ranks to emulate their senior counterparts.

“The region has produced many elite baseballers over the years, and now with Canberra now competing in a national competition the standard of our local talent can only improve.”

Canberra’s acceptance into the newly formed league comes off the back of record numbers of participants in the local competition, showing the growth and potential of the game in the region.

With Canberra’s bid to join the ABL successful, work will now begin to put in place the administrative staff charged with having the team ready for the November 2010 season opener.

“It wont be an easy task getting the team ready for the season opener, but the ABL and their partners have shown themselves to be of the highest quality so there is no doubt Canberra will be ready and competitive when the first pitch is thrown.” Theo said.

Amy Vickers, Kate Russell, Eliza Russell, Carly Jensen, Cathy Carroll and Claire Stephens have all been invited to try out for the NSW Country team

The first ever ACT Womens Baseball side has returned home from a rain soaked weekend in the Illawarra region with their heads held high after an encouraging effort in their first ever competitive tournament.

The weekend only served to prove the potential the region has in its womens ranks with six girls chosen for the NSW Country training squad as they prepare for the Australian National Championships, due to take place early in the new year.

In a field of four sides including Illawarra, Central Coast and Newcastle, the ACT Womens team were never disgraced against some of the strongest opposition the state of NSW has to offer.

The weekend started off with a 6-5 win against Newcastle on Saturday afternoon in what was an encouraging beginning to the campaign.

Game 2 was against the Central Coast side, a side that was clearly the strongest in the field. After a tough battle, Central Coast ran out eventual 9-8 winners with the girls unlucky on the day not to have their noses in front.

A defeat to eventual winners, Illawarra put the ACT side up against a rampaging Central Coast team who had been relegated to the 3v4 final due to a rule violation with the result going to the Central Coast team.

ACT Womens team Manager, Louise Russell, says that the teams overall results don’t show how encouraging the weekend really was.

“The rain washed out a few games which was a shame because the team certainly improved as the weekend progressed,” Russell said.

“I think we can go home with our heads held high as we competed at the same level as the other teams.

“Having six girls chosen to train for the NSW Country team is testament to how strong we are and how much stronger we can get.”

The six players chosen as part of the NSW Country Training Squad are:

Eliza Russell (Ainslie)
Kate Russell (Ainslie)
Amy Vickers (Ainslie)
Claire Stephens (Ainslie)
Carly Jenson (Rebels)
Cath Carroll (Indians)

ACT Baseball has undergone one of its busiest registration periods in history after signing up just over two hundred new players for the 2009-2010 season.

The increase in players has been experienced right across the board at both junior and senior levels. As an example, junior T-Ball looks set to double the sides from clubs around Canberra from last years competition.

Increasing numbers have also been felt at the senior level with Division 2 in C Grade also doubling in size from last years numbers.

The influx in new recruits for the upcoming season once again highlights the growth of the sport at grassroots levels.

The growth in participation comes as the ACT Baseball Association bids to join the newly formed Australian Baseball League, and has seen the ACT fielding their first ever women’s representative side.

ACT Baseball Association President, Theo Vassalakis, says that the increase in participation is clear evidence of the growth of the sport in the region and only serves to build the excitement in the baseball community for the upcoming season.

“This is fantastic news for the game in our region,” Vassalakis said.

“We have the ‘Let’s do it Canberra’ bid in full swing at the moment and I think some of the hype surrounding the bid can be attributed to the increase in numbers.”

“The future of the sport in our region really does look bright. If we are successful in our bid to join the ABL, we could be set for even more growth next year.”

With participation at all levels of the sport at almost record highs, the ACT Baseball Association has almost found itself not having enough diamonds on which its players can participate.

“We’ve had to spend a lot more time on the draw for all age groups this year. It’s a good problem to have.” Vassalakis said.

The Australian under 17 Schoolboys team has made a solid start to their 23 day tour of the United States by wining two of their first four games.

The tour kicked off with a 6-2 defeat against Linn Benton Community College, Oregon. With the first game taking place just one day after the team’s arrival in the United States, the challenge was always going to be a tough one.

With many of the players representing Australia for the first time, the score was not reflective of how tight the game really was, with Australia giving away five runs in an error laden fourth innings.

Game number two saw Australia come up against a very tough opponent in the form of the Kansas City Scouts, a team made up of players from Oregon and surrounding states with a few from Canada.

In a disappointing batting display the boys were convincingly beaten 10-1, however promise was shown by Josh Warner on the mound, throwing a terrific final two innings to end the game.

The third game of the tour saw the Australians come up against strong opposition, this time against an older All-Star team selected from the north-west region of Oregon.

The team was keen to get on the winning sheet and held out their more experienced opposition in a nine innings thriller 4-3.

Hook did a magnificent job in relief keeping the opposition scoreless whilst a more aggressive performance with the bat allowed the boys to savor a well earned victory.

With a win under their belts giving the team a bit more confidence, the Australian Schoolboys lined up against Lane Community College in the fourth game of the tour.

In a fantastic offensive display featuring Canberra’s own Caleb Albrecht, the boys took out the win 7-4, dominating with both bat and ball.

Overnight the boys lined up against Chemeketa Community College, before travelling to Portland then on to Los Angeles.

Team Australia ended their 2009 Baseball World Cup campaign on a high over the weekend; defeating Europe’s highest ranking team The Netherlands and securing their best-ever ranking in World Cup competition.

Entering the tournament ranked 11 in the World, the Aussies recorded upset victories over Japan (World #3), Chinese Taipei (#5), The Netherlands (#6), Mexico (#7) and Canada (#8); while pushing Cuba (#1) and the USA (#4) to narrow 1-run defeats to reinforce their position amongst the international sporting elite.

Team Australia were assured of matching their best-ever result when they qualified for the 5th/6th position play-off against the Netherlands.

In their final game of the gruelling 3-week tournament; played in multiple venues across Europe; Team Australia commenced proceedings with a one-run first innings with Canberra’s own Nick Kimpton scoring off a Luke Hughes right-field single.

The Dutch evened the scores with a run of their own in a 3-hit 3rd innings.

Australia regained the ascendancy in the 7th, scoring 2 runs when a Dutch fielding error turned a right-field single from James Beresford into a run-scoring triple, bringing Andrew Graham home from first base on the error. Kimpton then drove in Beresford with a ground ball to centre-field to put the Aussies in the lead 3-1.

Stefan Welch sealed the victory with a 3rd pitch home-run in the 8th.

The Aussies conceded just two more hits in the remaining innings, securing the final six outs for a 5th place World cup finish.