News

The 2025 Australian Youth Championship has come to a close.

Here are all your stat leaders from each age bracket.

More Reading: 2025 Australian Youth National Championship Award Winners

UNDER 18

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Gold: New South Wales
Silver: Western Australia
Bronze: South Australia
4. Victoria
5. Queensland
6. A.C.T
7. New South Wales Country

Golden Glove: Lincoln Gruppelaar (NSW)
Golden Arm: Riley Puckett (NSW)
Golden Bat: Lachlan Vella (NSW)
MVP: Matt Trainor (NSW)

TEAM RECORDS

STATS

UNDER 16

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Gold: South Australia
Silver: Victoria
Bronze: Western Australia
4. New South Wales
5. Queensland
6. New South Wales Country
7. Roos

Golden Glove: Cooper Bishop-Worn (VIC)
Golden Arm: Will Bonham (NSW)
Golden Bat: Cooper Busch (VIC)
MVP: Ollie Hayes (SA)

TEAM RECORDS

STATS

For the first time in 10 years, New South Wales have claimed Gold on a dramatic final day of the Australian Youth Championships. Read about how the day unfolded below, including recaps, highlights and player quotes from both finals games.

Watch the replay on Baseball+.

First, here’s yesterday’s recap of how today came to be.

MASTER AYC HUB: baseball.com.au/ayc2025

PAST U18 RESULTS: U18 Australian Baseball Championships Hub 

BROADCAST: Baseball+ (plus.baseball.com.au)

TODAY’S SCHEDULE AND RESULT

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For live scoring, search ‘2025 Australian U18 Youth Championship’ in the GameChanger App to follow along. You can also find the link here.

Preliminary Final: Western Australia 3 def South Australia 0

Gold Medal: New South Wales 7 def Western Australia 0

Consolations – Because of weather, only one consolation will be played.

ACT 15 def Victoria 5

RECAPS

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GOLD MEDAL GAME RECAP: NEW SOUTH WALES WIN GOLD AFTER SHUTTING OUT WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

A shutout. A homer. A one-hitter. A fire alarm delay. A stadium evacuation. A gold medal.

New South Wales wrapped up their 2025 Under 18 Championship campaign in golden colours after defeating Western Australia 7-0.

Ethan Bickel, Damien Wilson and Ashton Kennedy combined to one-hit a potent Western Australia offense.

New South Wales built up an early 5-0 lead, and put a ribbon on it late with a Lachlan Vella homer.

It was Vella’s fourth big fly of the event.

The game also endured a peculiar fire alarm delay for almost an hour in the middle of an at-bat in the fourth inning.

“I knew the offence we had was on fire. Our field was outstanding all tournament, barely any errors, so it was great to pitch behind them,” said Bickel after the game. “I stuck to my routine, it has been going well all week. There were a lot of nerves but I tried to stay as calm as possible to get the job done for the boys.”

The bats came out of the gates hot for New South Wales, building a nice buffer.

Kobe Cusbert and Tahlan Cavill each had an RBI single in the bottom of the first, pairing nicely with Josh Nati’s sacrifice fly. 3-0.

Matt Trainor cashed in a fourth run in the second and later scored on a wild pitch. 5-0.

Meanwhile, Ethan Bickel was humming along nicely on the bump. He allowed no runs, with one hit and one walk, with five strike outs in the first 3.1 innings. He was removed after the fire delay.

“I knew the offence we had was on fire. Our field was outstanding all tournament, barely any errors, so it was great to pitch behind them,” said Bickel after the game. “I stuck to my routine, it has been going well all week. There were a lot of nerves but I tried to stay as calm as possible to get the job done for the boys.”

Damien Wilson took over from there, tossing 2.2 innings with no hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

Ashton Kennedy sealed the final three outs with a perfect seventh, featuring two strikeouts.

Matt Trainor went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. He was named the tournament’s MVP.

Tahlan Cavill also had two hits.

New South Wales win their first U18 title in 10 years.

Head coach Phil Hemmer praised the camaraderie after the game.

“We focused on building the core, building the group [before the tournament].”

“We wanted to be good young men, good blokes and good teammates. From the start we wanted to come together as a team. And I think it proved dividends. We were great off the field, great on the field, we were a good group to be around and that’s the principle we tried to build around.”

“Guys were able to be themselves. We encouraged that and it worked out,” he said. “That’s 20 mates right there. They win together. They lost together. They pulled tarps together. They cooked together. It was just a team.

“It didn’t necessarily mean be the best team on the field, but we wanted to be just the best team. We wanted to be the best bunch of blokes, look after each other, and respect where we are. We did that in leaps and bounds. I’m very proud of the boys.”

Hits: Matt Trainor (2), Tahlan Cavill (2), Lachlan Vella, Kobe Cusbert, Christian Lane, Frank Clarke.

PRELIMINARY FINAL: NEAR PERFECT GAME SENDS WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO GOLD MEDAL FINAL

A perfect game attempt was foiled with one out in the bottom of the last as Western Australia defeated South Australia 3-0 to advance to the Gold Medal Final at noon.

Logan Truscutt was sublime in his start. 12 up, 12 down. No walks, no hits, no runs. He struck out two.

Brady Manning followed and retired the first seven batters he faced before James McFarlane singled. Manning finished with a sensational line of 3.0 innings with one hit, no runs and five strikeouts.

“We had good rest, good sleep and good tunes on the bus ride to the ballpark,” said Truscott after the game. “I was out there throwing strikes, I didn’t realise it was a perfect game until the fifth inning.”

Western Australia did all their scoring in the bottom of the third. Tyson Edwards and Lenny Golding each had RBI singles. Riley Oliphant had a sacrifice fly.

Credit to South Australian pitching, they were solid too. Mitch Evans allowed three runs off four hits in his 3.1 innings start. Sam Galpin, Haru Riley and Zac Tibbits then combined to allow no hits over the following 3.2 innings.

Western Australia will now play New South Wales at 12:00PM. Watch on Baseball+.

Hits Western Australia: Lenny Golding, Ben Nesbit, Judd MacNeil, Tyson Edwards
Hits South Australia: James McFarlane

CONSOLATION GAME: ACT 15 def VICTORIA 5

ACT won their fourth game of the tournament, dispatching Victoria for as second time in the week.

The game was tied in the fourth until Eli Tanouye & Bailey Richards singled in three runs.

They pulled away with a six run fourth inning, tallying five hits. Dominic Hamilton and a 2-RBI single, Tanouye had a sacrifice fly, Ryan Padovan cashed in a pair with a single and Ben Sawyer drove in a score.

Cayden Nash led ACT with two hits. Richards, Padovan, Ethan Clugstan and Hamilton all had two runs batted in.

Sam Walk and Sam Land both had two hits for Vic U18. Ryley Shanks led Victoria with 2RBI, going 1-for-2.

FINAL TOURNAMENT STANDINGS

1. New South Wales
2. Western Australia
3. South Australia
4. Victoria
5. Queensland
6. Australian Capital Territory
7. New South Wales Country

HOW FINALS WORK

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Monday 13 January will be the first days of finals.

The following teams have qualified in this order:

1. Western Australia
2. New South Wales
3. Victoria
4. South Australia

Here’s how the finals work:

– The winner of  1v4 (Western Australia vs South Australia) will play the winner of 2v3 (New South Wales vs Victoria) in the Qualifying Final. The loser will meet in the elimination final.

– The winner of the Qualifying Final advances to the Gold Medal Game. The loser goes to the Preliminary Final.

– The winner of the Elimination Final will advance to the Preliminary Final as well.

– The Gold Medal will be contested between the winner of the Qualifying Final & the Preliminary Final

– Roos, New South Wales Country & Queensland will play in the consolation round

The schedule for the remainder of the finals will be confirmed after Saturday.

 

 

WEATHER UPDATE: Tomorrow’s Gold Medal and Preliminary Final Games have been moved forward  

South Australia survive and advance & New South Wales punched their ticket to the Gold Medal Game at the Australian Youth Championships on a hot day in Blacktown.

We also had some key performances in the consolation games.

Congratulations to our 2025 Australian Youth Championship Award Winners.

Under 16 Hub: Click here
Under 18 Hub: Click here

AYC Hub: www.baseball.com.au/ayc2025

Under 18

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TOURNAMENT MVP – MATT TRAINOR (NSW): Trainor had a great tournament on both sides of the plate. He hit .500 with 8RBI and 6BB. He delivered clutch hits throughout the week. He pitched 4.0 innings of scoreless ball throughout the week.

GOLDEN BAT – LACHLAN VELLA (NSW): Vella went beast mode. He had 12 hits. Four of those were homers. He also had 15 RBI. He led the tournament in all of those categories.

GOLDEN ARM – RILEY PUCKETT (NSW): A tournament we’ll be talking about for a long time. He threw a shutout in both of his starts. Outing 1: 6.0 innings with 2 hits, 0 walks and 7 SO in a 1-0 complete game effort over Queensland in the minor rounds. In the Preliminary Final, he threw 6.0 shutout, striking out seven, allowing four hits and one walk. In total: 12.0 IP, 5H, 14SO, 1BB and no earned runs.

GOLDEN GLOVE – LINCOLN GRUPPELAAR (NSW): Lincoln was a vacuum at shortstop. He played regular innings in the middle of the field and didn’t make an error. A perfect fielding percentage in a Gold Medal Effort.

GOLD MEDAL NEW SOUTH WALES

SILVER MEDAL WESTERN AUSTRALIA

BRONZE MEDAL SOUTH AUSTRALIA 

Under 16

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TOURNAMENT MVP: Ollie Hayes (South Australia): Hayes had a big tournament in all three phases of the game. He hit .435 for South Australia and led the team in RBI, delivering clutch hits throughout the tournament. In the field, he made just one error while playing mostly shortstop and helped turn two double plays. He also pitched 9.0 innings (second on the team) allowing four runs and was used in big spots. South Australia won the national title.

GOLDEN ARM: Will Bonham (New South Wales): Bonham threw 9.1 innings across four games in the tournament. He led qualified pitchers with in ERA (0.75) and strikeouts (17), often used in high leverage situations.

GOLDEN BAT: COOPER BUSCH (Victoria): A dominating tournament at the plate, going 14-for-27 (.529) with five extra base hits and 10 runs batted in. Busch helped pace a lethal Victorian offence.

GOLDEN GLOVE: COOPER BISHOP WORN (Victoria): Excellent on the diamond both as a pitcher and infielder, making just one error in the game and amassing 12 assists.

Gold Medal: South Australia

Silver Medal: Victoria

Bronze Medal: Western Australia

New South Wales have won the 2025 Australian Youth Championships.

Here you will find the schedule, results, standings important links and information on each of the teams.

For the master AYC Hub, head to baseball.com.au/ayc2025

South Australia has won the 2025 Under 16 Australian Youth Baseball Championship. It’s their first Under 16 title since 2016.

They defeated Victoria 6-3 in the gold medal game, riding great pitching, clutch hitting and some huge defensive moments.

They finish the tournament as the only undefeated team at 9-0.

Read about how they got there right here.

Here you will find recaps and mini-match highlights for each medal game today.

For the master AYC Hub and yesterday’s stories, head to baseball.com.au/ayc2025.

For past U16 Results: Visit the U16 HUB

For live scoring, head to GameChanger and search ‘2025 Australian U16 Youth Championship’ in the GameChanger App to follow along. You can grab the link directly here.

Watch the games on Baseball+ (download in App Store) or on plus.baseball.com.au 

SCHEDULE / RESULTS

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Preliminary Final – Victoria 12 def Western Australia 4. Highlights and recap below.

Gold Medal – South Australia 6 def Victoria 3

Consolation Games
– NSW 10 def Roos 4
– QLD 9 def NSW Country 3

RECAPS / STORIES

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The day’s format worked like this:
11:30AM – Preliminary Final, winner through to Gold Medal
2:00PM – Gold Medal Game, watch the replay on Baseball+

PRELIM FINAL: Victoria ride Bishop-Worn pitching, dominant batting into Gold Medal Game

Cooper Bishop-Worn was outstanding on the hill, while the Victorian bats continued to thrill, in a dominating 12-4 win over Western Australia in the Preliminary Final.

It’s a quick turnaround. They’ll now play for gold against South Australia at 2:10PM AEDT on Baseball+. Victoria are looking to win their first U16 National Championship since 2017.

Cooper Bishop-Worn dazzled in his start. He threw 5.2 innings, allowing just three hits & one run with eight strikeouts.

“I stayed with my routine and treated this as any other game,” said Bishop-Worn after the game. “It was a good outing.”

The bats built him a mighty lead. 11-0, in fact.

Cooper Busch started the scoring in the second with a 2-RBI double. Euan Clarkin punctuated a six-run third with a 2-RBI double of his own.

Clarkin starred with the bat, going 3-for-5 with 2RBI. Bush and Brody Trevean each drove in a pair. Ethan Kint went 1-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBI.

Overall, Victoria tallied 10 hits and drew eight walks. They built up an 11-0 lead before Western Australia tacked on late runs including three in the last.

Victoria outscored opponents 30-6 in their last two elimination games, an incredible effort to reach the Gold Medal Game.

Can they carry the momentum into the Gold Medal game in thirty minutes? One way to find out.

Western Australia will win Bronze.

GOLD MEDAL GAME RECAP: South Australia win 2025 Australian Youth Championship Gold 

South Australia has won the 2025 Under 16 National Championship.

They jumped in front early and stayed in command throughout, riding great pitching, highlight reel defense and clutch hitting.

Kyan Tafui steady the ship for the South Aussies on the mound. He threw 6.0 innings, allowing just six hits and three earned runs (below).

What makes his performance more special is his opponent. Victoria averaged over 11 runs per game in the tournament and were hitting .410 as a team. He kept them in check.

South Australia jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first when tournament MVP Ollie Hayes slashed home a pair of runs on a double.

They added another in the second to lead 3-0.

Victoria moved within a run in the third on a sacrifice fly and a Cooper Busch RBI single.

South Australia responded instantly with back-to-back RBI singles to Luke Kennedy and Ollie Fielder.

The teams traded runs in the sixth an RBI to Victoria’s Langworthy and South Australia’s Couzner.

There were some incredible defensive highlights in this game, including a diving effort from Couzner in right field to save runs in the sixth.

Luke Kennedy earned the save for South Australia.

South Australia hits: Harry Taintey, Tommy bird, Ollie Hayes, Luke Kennedy, Ollie Fielder (2), Owen Couzner

Victoria hits: Oscar Shimakura, Cooper Busch, Mitch Langworthy, Brodie Trepan, Johnathon Park

Consolation Game: New South Wales 10 def Roos 4

Will Bonham dazzled on the mound and New South Wales exploded for seven runs in the third inning in a consolation win at Knights Field.

Will Bonham allowed no earned runs off two hits and eight strikes out in 2.2 innings of fine work.

Trystan Crynes, Will Hooper, Draven Fatu, Ryan Reekie, Hamish Kelly and Noah Nash all had runs batted in during the inning.

Kelly and Fatu led the team with two RBI.

New South Wales finish fourth in the tournament because they qualified for finals. On a count back for the group stage, the Roos finish 7th.

FINALS FORMAT

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Saturday 11 January was the first days of finals.

The following teams have qualified in this order:

1. South Australia
2. Victoria
3. Western Australia
4. New South Wales

Here’s how the finals work:

– The winner of  1v4 (South Australia v New South Wales) will play the winner of 2v3 (Victoria v Western Australia) in the Qualifying Final. The loser will meet in the elimination final.

– The winner of the Qualifying Final (SA vs WA) advances to the Gold Medal Game. The loser goes to the Preliminary Final.

– The winner of the Elimination Final (VIC) will advance to the Preliminary Final as well.

– The Gold Medal will be contested between the winner of the Qualifying Final (SA) & the Preliminary Final

– Roos, New South Wales Country & Queensland will play in the consolation round

The schedule for the remainder of the finals will be confirmed after Saturday.

It’s the first day of Finals at the Under 18 Championships.
Please note, games have been moved from Blacktown due to weather.

All finals games will be held at Gilchrist Orioles, home of Macarthur Orioles.

All consolation games will be at Knights Field, home of the Castle Hill Knights today.

Here you will find recaps, standings and game time changes.

For the master AYC Hub, head to baseball.com.au/ayc2025. Games are scored on Gamechanger. Search ‘2025 Australian U18 Youth Championship’ in the GameChanger App to follow along. You can also find the link here.

For past U18 Results, visit the U18 Hub here. 

DAY 5 – JANUARY 13 – RESULTS / SCHEDULE

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Consolation Games
– Queensland 15 def New South Wales Country 9
– ACT 6 def Queensland 2

1 vs 4 Final: Western Australia 9 def South Australia 7

2 vs 3 Final: New South Wales 11 def Victoria 8

The consolation games will be played at Knights Field, home of Castle Hill Knights. Directions to Knights Field can be found here: www.castlehillbaseball.com.au/ground-locations/

The Finals Games will be played at Gilchrist Oval, home of the Macarthur Oval.

Tomorrow’s schedule:

RECAPS

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1 vs 4 Final: Western Australia 9 def South Australia 7 

Western Australia will medal at the Under 18 Youth Championships after defeating South Australia 9-7 in the first final at MacArthur Orioles Baseball Club.

Ben Nesbit (below) led the effort by going 2-for-2 with 3RBI. Lenny Golding and Caleb Scorer also had two hits.

It was a bit of a wild one, with South Australia outhitting WA 9-7.

Teams traded early runs. Western Australia led 2-0 and 5-2 and South Australia kept responding.

But WA held their nerves, breaking a 5-5 tie by scoring four runs in the bottom of the third. Scorer, Golding, Eita Samukawa and Ben Nesbit each had RBI in the decisive inning.

Lenny Golding scored three runs himself.

Deakin Filko, Henry Wise and James McFarlane each had two hits for South Australia. Wiese and Bailen Thomas each drove in a pair.

South Australia pegged two back in the fifth before the game was called for time.

Western Australia advance to the Qualifying Final tomorrow against either Victoria or New South Wales. Win that? Straight to the Gold. Lose? Off to the Preliminary Final.

South Australia will play in the Elimination Final tomorrow.

Key Performers:
– Deakin Filko (SA): 2-for-3, 1 RBI
– Henry Wiese (SA): 2-for-3, 2 RBI
– Lenny Golding (WA): 2-for-2 with 3R, 1 RBI, 1BB
– Ben Nesbit (WA): 2-for-2 with 3RBI

1 vs 4 Final: New South Wales 11 def Victoria 8

Lachlan Vella (below) drove in five runs on two hits to help New South Wales power past Victoria in a slugfest at MacArthur.

New South Wales built up a 4-1 lead before Victoria pegged two back in the third. Will Kent put a ball in play that helped cash in two runs to push the score to 4-3.

New South Wales then exploded for seven runs in the third off of three hits.

Frank Clarke and Mason Malkoun had RBI singles, before Lachlan Vella hit a three run homer. It is his second big fly of the tournament.

Will Hardy had three hits and 2RBI for Victoria. Will Kent had three runs batted in off a hit.

New South Wales will play Western Australia in the Qualifying Final. The winner of that game progresses directly to Gold. The loser goes to the Preliminary Final.

Victoria will meet South Australia in the Elimination Final. The winner advances to the Preliminary Final. The loser? Tournament over.

Key Performers:
– Lachlan Vella (NSW): 2-for-4 with 5RBI
– Frank Clarke (NSW): 2-for-3 with 2RBI
– Will Hardy (VIC): 3-for-4 with 2RBI
– Will Kent (VIC): 1-for-3 with 3RBI

UNDER 18 FINALS BRACKET

Final Game 1: Western Australia vs South Australia

Final Game 2: New South Wales vs Victoria

Elimination Final: South Australia vs Victoria
Qualifying Final: Western Australia vs New South Wales

Preliminary Final: Winner of Elimination Final vs Loser of Qualifying Final

Gold Medal: Winner of Qualifying Final vs Winner of Preliminary Final

Consolation Standings:

1. ACT 1-0
2. Queensland 1-1
3. New South Wales County 0-2

HOW FINALS WORK

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Monday 13 January will be the first days of finals.

The following teams have qualified in this order:

1. Western Australia
2. New South Wales
3. Victoria
4. South Australia

Here’s how the finals work:

– The winner of  1v4 (Western Australia vs South Australia) will play the winner of 2v3 (New South Wales vs Victoria) in the Qualifying Final. The loser will meet in the elimination final.

– The winner of the Qualifying Final advances to the Gold Medal Game. The loser goes to the Preliminary Final.

– The winner of the Elimination Final will advance to the Preliminary Final as well.

– The Gold Medal will be contested between the winner of the Qualifying Final & the Preliminary Final

– Roos, New South Wales Country & Queensland will play in the consolation round

The schedule for the remainder of the finals will be confirmed after Saturday.

It’s the final day of the Under 16 Championships with just the Gold Medal to play.

We’re through Group Stage of the Under 18s.

For full tournament information visit www.baseball.com.au/ayc2025.

Here are the leaders.

Under 16

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Tournament Hub: U16 Australian Baseball Championships Hub | Previews, Schedule, Information, Links, Results

Under 18

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Tournament Hub: U18 Australian Baseball Championships Hub | Previews, Schedule, Information, Links, Results

Final Group Stage Standings

Pitching

HITTING

 

 

 

South Australia have won the 2025 Australian Youth Championships.

From January 7-13, the best Australian players aged Under 16 will face off against each other to answer one simple question: Which state is best at baseball?

Here you will find the schedule, results, standings important links and information on each of the teams.

For the master AYC Hub, head to baseball.com.au/ayc2025

Grand Final Day is set for the Under 16 National Championships.

Victoria had a huge 18-2 over New South Wales in the Elimination Final.

South Australia booked their ticket in the big dance after a thrilling walk-off win over Western Australia in a game that saw teams trade epic comebacks.

Unfortunately, the heavens opened and showers called off the two consolation games.
Here you will find recaps, standings and schedules for tomorrow.

For the master AYC Hub and yesterday’s stories, head to baseball.com.au/ayc2025.

For past U16 Results: Visit the U16 HUB

For live scoring, head to GameChanger and search ‘2025 Australian U16 Youth Championship’ in the GameChanger App to follow along. You can grab the link directly here.

SCHEDULE / RESULTS

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Elimination Final: Victoria 18 def New South Wales 2
Qualifying Final: South Australia 8 def Western Australia 7

Consolation Games – CALLED OFF DUE TO RAIN
Queensland vs New South Wales Country
Diamond 3: Queensland vs Roos

The schedule for Day 7, Gold Medal Day, will be announced at the end of the day.

Preliminary Final: Western Australia vs Victoria
Gold Medal: Winner of Preliminary Final vs South Australia

RECAPS / STORIES

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VICTORIA 18 def NEW SOUTH WALES 2 – Victoria dominate all three phases of the game to advance to Preliminary Final, guarantee medal

It was about as an impressive display as you can have for Victoria during the Under 16 Elimination Final. They dominated all three phases in an 18-2 win to advance to tomorrow morning’s Preliminary Final and assure themselves a medal.

With the bat, the Victorians smashed 15 hits and scored 18 runs. They batted around the line-up three times in a five inning game.

Eight different players had an RBI. Euan Clarkin and Johnathan Park had four runs batted in. Oscar Shimakura even had an inside the park homer.

On the mound, Ethan Nakamura was steady. He threw 5.0 innings, allowing five hits and just two earned runs.

Defensively, Victoria turned two double plays and picked off a runner on the base paths.

“The bats were going. Everyone was swinging. Everyone was swinging hard. There were line drives and everything,” said Mitch Langworthy after the game. “Everyone is feeling great. Everyone just wants to keep going and win the next one.”

Victoria will advance to play the loser of Western Australia & South Australia in Monday’s Preliminary Final. If they want gold, they’ll have to win two games tomorrow.

Some gaudy offensive stat lines include:
– Mitch Langworthy: 3-for-3 with 2RBI, 1BB
– Euan Clarkin: 2-for-4, with 4RBI, 1BB
– Oscar Shimakura: 1-for-2, inside the park homer, 3RBI, 2BB
– Johnathan Park: 2-for-3 with 4BI

Unbelievable performance.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 8 def WESTERN AUSTRALIA 7 – WA & SA trade comebacks; South Australia walks off to advance to Gold Medal Game

South Australia and Western Australia played out one of the most exciting finishes in the Under 16 National Championships Qualifying Final.

With a spot in the Gold Medal Game on the line, both teams left it all out on the field.

In what would be the sixth and final inning, Western Australia were trailing 6-3.

Then the rally started.

Quinn Fatai had an RBI to make it 6-4 on a fielder’s choice.

With two outs, Zai Gordon cut the lead to one with an RBI triple. Taylor Cook doubled home the tying run. Monty Smith put Western Australia in front with an RBI double.

7-6 Western Australia.

With two outs on the board, South Australia delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the last. Archie Carman was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then, Taj Williams drew a walk to tie the game.

Enter Gus Hennessy.

The South Aussie slugger drove a ball to left field to cash in the winning run.

That’s the ballgame. South Australia to Monday’s Gold Medal Game.

Western Australia are far from done. They’ll play Victoria in the Preliminary Final tomorrow morning. South Australia will play the winner.

Key Performers:
– Tommy Bird (SA): 2-for-4 with 1RBI
– Ollie Hayes (SA): 2-for-3 with 2RBI + 4.0IP with 4ER
– Gus Hennessy (SA): 1-for-3 2RBI
– Zai Gordon (WA): 1.2IP with 4SO, 0ER
– Big WA team effort. Eight different players had hits.
– RBI: Quinn Fatai, Zai Gordon, Taylor Cook, Monty Smith, Arata Samakawa

FINALS FORMAT

---

Saturday 11 January was the first days of finals.

The following teams have qualified in this order:

1. South Australia
2. Victoria
3. Western Australia
4. New South Wales

Here’s how the finals work:

– The winner of  1v4 (South Australia v New South Wales) will play the winner of 2v3 (Victoria v Western Australia) in the Qualifying Final. The loser will meet in the elimination final.

– The winner of the Qualifying Final (SA vs WA) advances to the Gold Medal Game. The loser goes to the Preliminary Final.

– The winner of the Elimination Final (VIC) will advance to the Preliminary Final as well.

– The Gold Medal will be contested between the winner of the Qualifying Final (SA) & the Preliminary Final

– Roos, New South Wales Country & Queensland will play in the consolation round

The schedule for the remainder of the finals will be confirmed after Saturday.

An unbelievable day at the Australian Youth Championships.

Drama was at an all time high as South Australia secured their finals spot by winning a game that was played on two different diamonds 51km apart from each other.

The day started with the following scenario: South Australia & Queensland fighting for the last finals spot.

Read about it below.

Here you will find recaps, standings and game time changes.

For the master AYC Hub, head to baseball.com.au/ayc2025. Games are scored on Gamechanger. Search ‘2025 Australian U18 Youth Championship’ in the GameChanger App to follow along. You can also find the link here.

For past U18 Results, visit the U18 Hub here. 

DAY 4 – JANUARY 12 – RESULTS / SCHEDULE

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Queensland 9 def New South Wales Country 1
WA 9 def Queensland 0*
South Australia 8 def New South Wales 3
ACT 9 def VIC 1

*Win on Forfeit (WOF), scroll down for explanation

Final Group Stage Standings

^clinched spot in Finals
(remaining games)

1. Western Australia 6-0^
2. New South Wales 4-2^
3. Victoria 3-3^
4. South Australia 3-3^
—
5. Queensland 2-4
6. ACT 2-24
7. New South Wales Country 1-5

Tomorrow’s schedule:

The consolation games will be played at Knights Field, home of Castle Hill Knights. Directions to Knights Field can be found here: www.castlehillbaseball.com.au/ground-locations/

The Finals Games will be played at Gilchrist Oval, home of the Macarthur Oval.

RECAPS

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QUEENSLAND 9 def NEW SOUTH WALES COUNTRY 1 – Queensland keep finals hopes alive thanks to late run surge

Queensland scored seven runs in the sixth inning to pull away in an otherwise tight contact. They needed to win to keep their finals hopes alive.

Doubles from Alex Duncalfe and Lachlan Reed headlined the big inning.

New South Wales scored first on a fielder’s choice.

But from there, Queensland starter Thomas Calvert (above) was money. He threw 4.0 innings allowing just two hits, one unearned run and a walk to go with his four strikeouts.

Jack Huawai tied the game in the third on a sacrifice fly. Huawei singled in a go-ahead run in the fifth. He went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI.

Key Performers:
– Wes Wilford: 2-for-4
– Lachlan Reed: 2-for-3 with an RBI
– Tom Calvert: 4.0IP with 0ER, 2H, 1BB, 4SO

WESTERN AUSTRALIA 9 def QUEENSLAND 0  (WOF)

Western Australia have Won on Forfeit (WOF).

Referencing tournament technical norm 34.2.3.1:

“In accordance with Pitch Smart Guidelines, players are ineligible to pitch more than one outing per day, including shorts.”

The penalty for this infringement is referenced in rule 43.2:

“When an offending team in breach of the pitching rules has won the game, then that team loses the game on a forfeit.”

SOUTH AUSTRALIA 8 def  NEW SOUTH WALES 3: South Australia win dramatic game played over 5.5 hours, in two different fields across Sydney, to clinch finals spot

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Wow. South Australia U18 has just advanced to the finals in the most extraordinary of circumstances – claiming a must win game played on two different diamonds located 51km apart from each other.

Entering a scheduled 2:00PM game, South Australia needed to beat New South Wales (4-1) to secure a spot in the top three.

The first pitch was delivered at 2:05PM at Blacktown under sunny skies.

Things started off wonderfully for the South Australians. Mitch Evans threw 3.0 innings, allowing two hits, one walk and crucially – no runs.

It allowed South Australian to explode a five run fifth inning. They scored three runs off bases loaded walks before Deakin Filko & Bailen Thomas fired off RBI singles.

Then? The heavens opened up. The game was put into delay at about 3:20PM and would resume at Chifley Sports Reserve, a field about an hours drive away.

The game reconvened at 6:30PM.

Things got tight. New South Wales scored three runs, powered by a Lachlan Vella homer, in the top of the sixth inning to draw within two.

But South Australia held their nerve, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth to come home with the win.

In the end it was a big team effort for South Australia to clinch a finals spot. Seven different players had an RBI, led by Will Couzner with two.

They used three pitchers (Evans, South, Green and Filko).

Lachlan Vella had three hits and a homer for NSW. Frank Clarke also had two hits.

Because ACT ending up beating Victoria, this game meant everything for South Australia

ACT 9 def VICTORIA 1 – ACT no-hit Victoria to win second game

Australian Capital Territory secured their second win of the tournament in no-hit fashion over five-innings to conclude group stage.

They drew a bunch of walks in the first and second inning to lead 5-0. They pulled away with four late runs before the game was called because of time.

Notably, Nate Quigg (2.2 innings), Bailey Richards (1.1 innings) and William Yeomans (1.0 innings) threw combined no hitter, allowing just one unearned run.

The Final Standings are now set.

HOW FINALS WORK

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Monday 13 January will be the first days of finals.

The following teams have qualified in this order:

1. Western Australia
2. New South Wales
3. Victoria
4. South Australia

Here’s how the finals work:

– The winner of  1v4 (Western Australia vs TBD) will play the winner of 2v3 (New South Wales vs Victoria) in the Qualifying Final. The loser will meet in the elimination final.

– The winner of the Qualifying Final advances to the Gold Medal Game. The loser goes to the Preliminary Final.

– The winner of the Elimination Final will advance to the Preliminary Final as well.

– The Gold Medal will be contested between the winner of the Qualifying Final & the Preliminary Final

– Roos, New South Wales Country & Queensland will play in the consolation round

The schedule for the remainder of the finals will be confirmed after Saturday.