News

BREAKING: Hills win 2024 Australian Little League Championships

A trip to the internationally renowned Little League World Series in the United States is on the line as the best Under 13 aged charter baseball teams land in Sydney for the 2024 Australian Little League Championships, proudly supported by the NSW Government.

Twelve Little League (U13) teams from across Australia will compete in the Division 1 Little League event. The winner will represent Australia at the Little League World Series in Williamsport in August 2024. A further twelve teams will compete in the Division 2 bracket.

The 2024 Australian Little League Championships is held over six days, from June 5-10, at Blacktown International Sports Park. The event is supported proudly by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

SCHEDULE + RESULTS + TOURNAMENT HUBS

• DIVISION 1 HUB – STANDINGS AND SCORES – Click Here
• DIVISION 2 – STANDINGS AND SCORES – Click here

Head to your respective Tournament Hub for results, tournament specific schedule and links to recaps.

BROADCAST AND SCORING LINKS

All Diamond 1 games will be broadcast on Baseball+, live, free & around the world. There is also an App available in the Google and Apple stores. Head to www.baseball.com.au/baseballplus for download information and instructions on how to cast to your TV.

You can follow Diamond 2-4 action on GameChanger. Download GameChanger from the App Store to follow (not GameChanger Classic). Search your team name and with ‘LL’ or ‘LLD2′ at the end. For example, “Adelaide Rays LLD1’ or ‘NT Buffaloes – LLD2’. Follow as a fan or family member.

GAMECHANGER LINKS: Division 1   |   Division II

ABOUT THE EVENT

Blacktown International Sports Park houses the newly renovated Blacktown Exercise, Sports and Technology Hub (BEST). The park contains some of the best facilities on offer in Australia and is home to sports like athletics, AFL, Cricket, Soccer, Softball and Baseball.

“We are excited to be hosting the Little League Championships for the next three years. It’s a great opportunity to showcase junior baseball at our preeminent venue, Blacktown International Sports Park,” says Baseball NSW CEO Mark Marino.

A trip to the Little League World Series would be a journey of a lifetime for one worthy Little League team. The kids on the winning team would swap their club colours for country colours, play in front of 10,000+ fans, gain a Major League experience, and play in front of millions of people on ESPN.

It’s also been a journey for the players just to get to this point.

All teams had to qualify through their state championships. With the last qualification tournament done and dusted, the field for the Little League Championships is set.

You can read more about each of the teams below.

The Australian Little League Championship is supported proudly by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.

MEET THE TEAMS – DIVISION 1

Here are the 12 teams who have qualified for the event, and how they got there, in Little League Division 1.

GROUP A

Hills Red (NSW): From the Hills Baseball Association, Hills Red dropped their first game at the Little League State Championships and never looked back. They won a few thrillers along the way, picking up a 9-8 win in the Semi Final to punch their ticket to nationals and a 14-8 hit fest in the Gold Medal Game.

Central Firebirds (WA): The Firebirds consist of South Perth, Willetton and Victoria Park Belmont. In the qualifier, they dropped the Gold Medal Game by just one run. It was their qualification clincher that was impressive – a complete 6-0 victory to punch their nationals ticket.

Brisbane North (QLD): Made up of clubs in the Brisbane North Baseball Association. This group of players rolled their way to victory. They won all five games in the qualifying tournament, outscoring opponents 68-19.

Melbourne Athletics (VIC): The Eastern Athletics Baseball Charter manages the growth and development of junior baseball in the Eastern Region of metropolitan Melbourne. The Athletics outscored opponents 41-7 in their undefeated run across four games at the Victorian state titles.

Cronulla Black (NSW): It was a challenge, but Cronulla Black qualified by winning a thrilling bronze medal game 2-0 over Macarthur. They went 3-0 in the group stage. No team scored more and allowed less in the NSW state titles.

Adelaide Marlins (SA): Made up of Adelaide’s Eastern clubs, the Marlins pivotal 3-2 victory over the Seahawks on Day 1 of the State Championships was the difference maker in advancing the side to nationals.

GROUP B

Brisbane South West (QLD): Queensland’s silver medalists won a 9-6 game over Gold Coast in the semi-final to advance to the nationals.

Canberra Rangers (ACT): A side made up of the top kids 13U in The Australian Capital Territory.

Ryde Red (NSW): Ryde Red qualified after defeating previously undefeated Cronulla Black in the semi finals. They finished second in the NSW State Champs.

Melbourne Mariners (VIC): The Mariners are a Baseball Representative Charter based in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. They won two games on the first two days of the state championships to advance, finishing with a 2-1 record overall.

Adelaide Rays (SA): Made up of the western suburb Adelaide club teams, the Rays went undefeated to qualify by winning the state championships.

Eastern Phantoms (WA): The East-Perth based charter went 5-0 in the WA State Championships, outscoring opponents 53-14. That’s the most runs scored and least runs allowed by any WA qualifying team.

The best of the West

A multicultural enclave, Blacktown offers a kaleidoscopic range of experiences for the family. Spend the day channelling your inner racing car driver at a motorsport megaplex or encounter exotic native animals at two different zoos. You’ll also find a diverse arts scene, pretty parklands made for cycling, Sydney’s only drive-in theatre and delicious food night markets.

PLAN YOUR TRIP.

Above: Diamond Tours is a family-owned business providing small group personalised Blue Mountains Tour offering a local experience away from the groups. Tour inclusions are Scenic World Rides, breath-taking lookouts with amazing views and photo opportunities of the Blue Mountains, lunch in a quaint village in the Blue Mountains, Sydney Zoo entry and ferry return to Circular Quay where tour concludes. Children enjoying the animal experiences at Sydney Zoo.Photo Credit: Destination NSW Copyright

WHERE TO EAT

Above: Friends enjoying pre-dinner food and drink at Retro decor at Skyline Drive In Blacktown diner. Photo Credit: Destination NSW

Western Sydney is one of the most diverse places on earth and you can experience that in its cafes, restaurants and street food stalls. From Sichuan to Somalian, discover 50 cuisines to try in the west.

FIND OUT MORE

ABOUT CHARTER BASEBALL

Charter baseball is a pathways program that develops players and local clubs, rather than focussing on just the elite. It is a participation-based competition designed to extend player skills at a higher-level to club ball and exposes athletes to national and international programs.

Teams from each state are divided into different charters (groups) at the little league (U13), Intermediate League (U14), Junior League (U15) and Senior League (U17) level.

The charters are based on club locations. Think of it like regionally based all-star teams.

Teams qualify for the national championship through their state championships. If you win the national title, you go to the world title in the USA.

Many elite baseball players have gone through this pathway.

recaps by Eric Balnar, photos by Field of View Photography

The Eastern Phantoms have won the 2024 Senior League Championships and will represent Australia at the World Series in America!

Here’s how the day unfolded.

Recaps by Eric Balnar, photos by Field of View Photography

Two words: Finals Baseball, baby.

Okay, that’s three but you get the point. Today was semi-final day at the 2024 Australian Senior League Championships.

Cronulla Blue, Eastern Phantoms, Wanneroo Giants and Cronulla Black emerged from the group portion of the tournament and were fighting for a spot in the Gold Medal Game. Win the Gold Medal Game? You represent Australia at the Senior League World Series in the USA.

Welcome to the Day 3 update story. Here you will find scores, game recaps, highlights stat leaders and information you may just care about.

To catch up on the tournament and get all the necessities, don’t forget to visit the Tournament Hub. You’ll find final standings, tournament leaders and links to past recaps there.

You can join Phil Herden for the two semi-final broadcasts. through Baseball+ at www.baseball.com.au/baseballplus.

LIVE SCORING & GAME CHANGER: Click Here.

TODAY’S RESULTS

Consolation Game 1 (C1) – Melbourne Athletics 9 def Gold Coast Cougars 5
5th Place Game – Canberra Rangers 13 def NT Buffaloes 3

12:15PM – Consolation Game 2 (C2) – Adelaide Armada 6 def Melbourne Rangers 5

12:15PM – Semi Final 1 (SF1) – Wanneroo Giants 9 def Cronulla Blue 5
3:00PM – Semi Final 2 (SF2) – Eastern Phantoms 9 def Cronulla Black 3

RECAPS – SEMI FINALS

Wanneroo Giants 9 def Cronulla Blue 5

The Wanneroo Giants scored five runs in the first inning and held on for a semi-final victory to advance to the Gold Medal game.

For seven members of this group, it’s their third straight national charter national championship game. The Wanneroo Giants won the 2023 Junior League (U15) Championship and the 2022 Intermediate League (U14) Title, earning trips to America on both occasions.

Now, they look for a Triple Crown.

Judd MacNeil provided the biggest thud in the five-run first with a 2-RBI single. The rest of the runs were scored on walks.

Dylan Bandy kept Cronulla in check most of the afternoon, tossing 5.0 innings in his start, allowing six hits, three runs and striking out five. He also benefited from some nice defensive efforts in the field.

Every time Cronulla scored, Wanneroo seemed to have an answer. Cronulla scored one in the top of third, only for Chayce Benseman to double in a run in a two-score inning for the Giants.

Cronulla scored again in the fourth, but Ben Hannan’s 2-RBI double pushed the lead to 9-2. Cronulla would score two late runs in the last.

Eight different Giants had hits in a full-team effort. Benseman was the only player with two hits. Six different players and RBIs.

Mitchell Elliot didn’t allow an earned run in his 2.0 innings of relief, closing the door on the win.

Lucas Gallardo had two hits to lead the stat sheet for Cronulla, who advance to tomorrow’s 12:15pm Bronze Medal Game.

The Giants will look to complete the three-peat tomorrow at 3:00PM on Baseball+.

Eastern Phantoms 9 def Cronulla Black 3

Don’t let the scoreline deceive you – this game was tight. But, the Eastern Phantoms pulled ahead in the fifth and slammed it home in the sixth during an epic arm-wrestle to set up an all Western Australia showdown at the Senior League Championship.

It was a low scoring affair until the fourth, when Cronulla’s Lewis Gardner sent a booming 2-RBI double to the wall to put Cronulla Black up 2-1.

The Phantoms tied it in the fourth and broke the deadlock in the fifth.

Heads up base-running from Ben Nesbit on what could have been an inning ending double play moved the Phantoms in front. The very next batter, Ryan Warner cashed in an insurance run to make it 4-2.

Things really escalated in the fifth. After one run scored on a bases loaded walk, Thomas Williams put the game beyond doubt with a huge grand slam to push the scoreline to 9-2.

Williams went 2-for-4 with a homer, walk, and four runs batted in. Ben Nesbit was superb at the top of the order, finishing with a 3-for-4 stat line. Four other Phantoms had hits.

Brady Manning struck out five and allowed just one earned run in his 3.2 innings of work. Adam Taylor finished the job, pitching the final 3.1 innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run.

A potent Cronulla line-up, which led the tournament in scoring, managed just three five off the two pitchers.

They didn’t go down without a fight. Cronulla loaded the bases in the seventh but couldn’t bring any home.

Eastern Phantoms will progress to Friday’s Gold Medal Game vs a foe from their state – the Wanneroo Giants. These teams met in the WA State League titles last month. First pitch is at 3:00PM.

Cronulla Black will play Cronulla Blue at 12:15PM.

RECAPS – CONSOLATION GAMES

Adelaide Armada 6 def Melbourne Rangers 5

Offense early, pitching late.

Lucas Doyle and Alex Gray drove in three runs combined in the bottom of the second inning to break an early 3-3 tie and put the Armada up 6-3. Little did we know, that’s all they would score.

The Rangers pegged one back in the third and Sam Walk’s fourth-inning RBI-double brought the Rangers within one run of Adelaide, but then the scoring ran dry.

Luke Kennedy showed his nerves of steal in the last few innings on the mound for the Armada, holding off a valiant Rangers comeback attempt. He pitched 4.0 innings in relief giving up just two earned runs.

Seven different members of the Armada had hits in a balanced attack.

Sam Walk led the charge for the Rangers, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Ollie Hill picked up his tenth RBI of the tournament. Daniel Williams also had two hits.

Adelaide advances to play the Melbourne Athletics tomorrow.

Melbourne Athletics 9 def Gold Coast 5

The Athletics used a five run third inning to erase an early three-run deficit to pick up their second win of the tournament and advance to the fifth place game.

Declan Marshall send line drive double to left field which cashed in a pair of runs in the third to put Melbourne up 6-5 and they never looked back.

Lachlan Brennan, Angus Saggers and Patrick Watson all had two hit performances. Saggers pitched all 5.0 innings for Melbourne, giving up just two earned runs.

Andre Chang had two of the three Gold Coast hits. His two-RBI double helped give Gold Coast their first lead of the game in a three-run first. They added two more in the second to lead 5-2, before Gold Coast scored seven unanswered.

Gold Coast will play Canberra Rangers tomorrow to finish the tournament, while the Athletics will play either the Adelaide Armada or Melbourne Rangers.

Canberra Rangers 13 def NT Buffaloes 3

Canberra used a five-run second and six-run third inning to power to their first win of the tournament. Liam Shyer and Riley Watson had two hits apiece to lead the Ranger attack.

Eli Tanouye had two RBI in the victory to lead the Rangers. Aiden Bates tossed 3.0 innings of scoreless work in his start.

Andrea McVeigh had a two-RBI single in the fifth to score a pair for NT Buffaloes, who put up their biggest total of the tournament.

FRIDAY SCHEDULE

recaps by Eric Balnar, photos by Field of View Photography

It’s Day 3, the final day of the group stage of the 2024 Australian Senior League Championships.

A trip to the Senior League World Series in the USA is on the line for the tournament winner. Today, we discovered which four teams advance to the semi-finals and remain in gold medal contention.

Congratulations to the Eastern Phantoms, Wanneroo Giants, Cronulla Blue & Cronulla Black on advancing to the semi-finals.

recaps by Eric Balnar, photos by Field of View Photography

Welcome to the Day 2 Recap of the 2024 Australian Senior League Championships. A trip to the Senior League World Series in the USA is on the line.

Only one day of pool play remains after today. The top two teams will advance to the semi-finals on Thursday. No team has clinched.

recaps by Eric Balnar, photos by Field of View Photography

A trip to the Senior League World Series in the USA is on the line in addition to the title of ‘National Champion’, as the 2024 Australian Senior League Championships launched on Monday morning.

Ten teams from across the country are divided into two groups of five. Over the first three days of the tournament, each team will play each other once in the group, with the top 2 advancing to Thursday’s semi finals.

Here you will find scores, results, recaps and standings. Scroll down to bottom for the recaps and stat leaders after Day 1.

You can join Phil Herden for all Diamond 1 Broadcasts through Baseball+ at www.baseball.com.au/baseballplus.

We will be logging all results and information at the Senior League Hub.

LIVE SCORING & GAME CHANGER: Click Here.

Daily Results

Cronulla Blue 4 def Canberra Rangers 1
Adelaide Athletics 17 def Melbourne Athletics 6

Gold Coast 15 def Canberra Rangers 0
Wanneroo Giants 23 def NT Buffaloes 0

Cronulla Black 45 def NT Buffaloes 2
Eastern Phantoms 20 def Melbourne Rangers 5

Current Standings – End of Day 1

Top 2 teams advance to Thursday’s semi-finals.

RECAPS

Cronulla Blue 4 def Canberra Rangers 1

Cronulla Blue scored all four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to pick up their first win.

Cameron Crowles, Joseph Hutt and Jacob Hazan strung together three straight hits which scored the four runs in the decisive inning.

It spoiled what was a fantastic pitching performance by Canberra’s Nathan Adams to that point who had pitched 3.1 scoreless. Jack Blundell worked 2.2 scoreless for the Rangers.

Blundell also had two hits in the loss. Cayden Herbert led the Cronulla pace with two hits to his name.

Adelaide Armada 17 def Melbourne Athletics 6

It was the Luke Kennedy experience in a big win for the Armada. Kennedy did it on the mound and at the plate.

With the bat, he went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in. On the bump, Kennedy tossed 3.0 innings allowing one hit and zero earned runs.

All ten players who entered the game contributed. Nine players scored runs, nine players had RBIs, and every player reached base. Lucas Doyle and Alex Gellert scored three times. Diesel Fallon, who has an elite baseball name, led the balanced attack with 3RBI.

Trailing 10-3 entering the fourth, Melbourne made it interesting by pegging four in the top of the inning before Adelaide pulled away.

Zach Locklier had four RBI for the Athletics.

Gold Coast 15 def Canberra Rangers 0

Andre Chang drove in four runs off his three hits in an impressive Gold Coast batting display. Asher Kwok also had three hits.

Joining Chang and Kwok with multi-hit games were Cooper Reed, Toby Muller and Cody Harrison who each had two base knocks.

Kota Murayama had three RBI, too, as every player in the Gold Coast line-up reached base. Lawson Muller allowed one hit with four strikeouts in 2.2 innings on the mound.

Wanneroo Giants 23 def NT Buffaloes 0

A 20-run third inning was the story in the Giants’ big win on Monday afternoon.

The Giants’ tallied seven hits and 18 walks in the win, while eleven different players scored runs.

Chayce Benseman had two hits and 3RBI to lead the Wanneroo offence. Dylan Bandy and Rafael DiBlasi combined for a 4.0 inning no-hitter while striking out nine.

Cronulla Black 45 def NT Buffaloes 2

It was a big day for the Cronulla bats.

Three players went deep for Cronulla – reigning U16 National Championship MVP Tahlan Cavill, Gabriel Tentomas, and Lewis Gardner.

We’ll leave you to explore the Box Score on GameChanger, but there were some standouts.

Colm Sheehan had four hits and seven RBI. Tentomas had four hits, six RBI and a homer. Ryan Nicholas, Liam Cavanough and Gardner each had three hits.

In total, Cronulla amassed 20 hits.

Blake Kimber and Charlie Casey had the RBIs for Northern Territory, who are entering a squad with only NT players for the first time in tournament history.

Eastern Phantoms 20 def Melbourne Rangers 5

A powerful top of the Phantoms line-up helped drive the Phantoms passed the Rangers.

Ben Nesbit (3 hits), Eita Samukawa (2 hits) and George Calverley (3 hits) combined to go 8-for-12 with six RBI, two walks and eight runs. Ryan Warner also had three hits from the nine-hole.

Calverley hit a homer.

In total, the Phantoms tallied sixteen hits and every player in the starting nine reached base and scored.

Adam Taylor opened the game well on the mound for the Phantoms, tossing 2.0 innings and struck out four.

Zak Stafilis had a two-hit afternoon for the Rangers and Sam Walk had three RBI.

by Eric Balnar

NOTE: FOR FINAL DAY RECAP + STATS + END OF DAY LEADERS, CLICK HERE.

This is the 2024 Senior League Hub. All schedule, information, links to recaps, and results will be posted here. Just keep scrolling.

The bottom of the article features how each team qualified.

A spot in the Senior League World Series in the United States and the title of National Champion is on the line for ten teams.  The 2024 Australian Senior League Championships (U17) are here.

From May 13-17 in Geelong, ten qualified charter teams will fight for a crown and that ticket to the World Series in July in Easley, South Carolina.

Congratulations to the Eastern Phantoms – our champion!

photos by Erin Honsa, recap by Eric Balnar

Ding dong! We have the world’s first home run in a national little league girls championship!
The honour belongs to the Belles’ Audrey Cheung! You can read about it in the recaps below.

Before we rip in to the daily summary, I’d love to point out some excellent news coverage we’ve got. Like this story from ABC News which is getting national traction.

Another quick note – because of weather and field conditions, we’ve moved tomorrow’s Gold Medal Game between the Victoria Belles and NSW Blue to 9:00AM. You can watch it on Baseball+.

The updated schedule is at the 2024 Little League Girls Hub. 

Scroll down for recaps.

RECAPS

Victoria Belles 13 def NSW White 8

The Belles and NSW White exchanged runs all day, but the big highlight was watching the first Little League Girls’ national championship home run.

The Belles were trailing 6-2 in the top of the third, but a two-run homer from Audrey Cheung helped flip the game on its head. The two run shot was part of a six run inning that put the Belles in front for good.

Her two run homer to centre field was her first deep fly ever over a fence. 

“All my coaches have always told me to focus on hitting a line drive and if you’re early you will hit it over the fences,” she says. “I was thinking line drive, line drive and try to hit it right centre to score the run from second and then it went over.”

Audrey says the experience at this national championship has been unforgettable.

“This is the biggest tournament I’ve ever had in my life to play baseball. I’m meeting so many people like girls from New South Wales, South Australia and other states that I’m definitely going to see if I want to play up on women’s teams and hope to see them as professionals one day too,” she says.

For New South Wales White, Isabella K had a two hit performance and drove in a run. Skyla C struck out five batters in her 1.2 innings of work on the mound.

New South Wales 13 def Adelaide Seahorses 6

New South Wales Blue continued their fine form, winning 13-6 to finish the group portion of the tournament undefeated.

After the Seahorses took an early second inning lead off an Brooke McKechnie RBI, NSW poured it on.

They scored four runs in the second, six in the third and three in the fourth. Taylor O’Keefe and Yvette Wild each had two RBIs in the victory.

Despite the loss, the Seahorses’ Kira Murray says she’s been having a ball.

“I’ve made lots of new friends and became a lot better at baseball,” she says. “The Seahorses are very kind, always cheer you on and are very enthusiastic.”

The Seahorses will play NSW White tomorrow, while NSW Blue will play for gold.

West Coast Rays 15 def Brisbane Rebels 5

It was a close game until West Coast Rays pulled away late.

It was only 7-5 entering the sixth inning before the Rays piled on eight runs.

Emerson Padfield had a huge day with the bat, going 3-for-3. Zoe Dusenberg had three RBI.

Amy Summers Elliot had two of Brisbane’s four hits.

The Rays and Rebels will meet again tomorrow at 11:45AM in the Bronze Medal match.