News

The 2026 Senior League Championships is around the corner.

It also has a new home.

After a number of years in Geelong, the competition shifts to Blacktown International Sportspark – home of the ABL’s Sydney Blue Sox – for a five day tournament to answer one simple question: Who will represent Australia at the Senior League World Series later in the year?

10 teams representing different “baseball neighbourhoods” around Australia have earned their way to this tournament by qualifying through their local state championships. Now, they face each other. Winner goes to the Senior League World Series in Easley, South Carolina in August.

The age group of this event is 16 and Under.

SCHEDULE: Download the PDF to see when your team plays 

The schedule can be viewed above. You can learn more about the tournament and their teams below.

Closer to the tournament, a ‘Hub’ will be set up to follow along with results and information.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

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Ten teams from across the country are drawn into two different groups of five. They will play in a Round Robin where each team plays each other once.

From there, the Top 3 teams will qualify for finals. Here is the format:
– The winners of each of Pool A and Pool B automatically advance to the semi-finals
– 2nd and 3rd place in each group also qualify for finals
– 2nd from Pool A will play 3rd from Pool B while 2nd from Pool B will play 3rd from Pool B in a quarterfinal. The winners advance to the semi-finals
– Winner of semi-finals advance to a Gold Medal Game
– Winner of Gold Medal Game advances to the Senior League World Series

COVERAGE AND SCORING

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SCORING

All games will be scored on GameChanger. You can follow the tournament there. We will post the link when it is available.

BROADCAST

Diamond 1 will feature a full broadcast with commentary. It will be free to watch on Baseball+ via the app or plus.baseball.com.au.

Diamond 2 and 4 will have single-camera feeds, free to watch on GameChanger.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Mick Goddard will be on hand capturing the tournament with his camera. Photos will be made available for free to all players (and sent via the EOs) through a link on Baseball Australia’s photo sharing system.

Please email marketing@baseball.com.au with your Working With Children’s Check Approval if you’d also like to take photos of the event. Please note, photos may not be on-sold during this tournament.

COVERAGE

We will be cutting highlights, writing recaps, posting photos, videos and scenes from the tournament on our social media channel @ baseball.com.au. A Tournament Hub will be made available closer to the tournament. 

MEET THE TEAMS

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MANLY (NSW): Manly rolled through their state championships, going undefeated with a 6-0 record. They outscored opponents 91-13. They won a 2-1 thriller in the semi-finals to officially qualify for nationals. The next day, they defeated Cronulla Black 15-5 to lock up the State Championship.

CENTRAL FIREBIRDS (WA): Made up of four clubs from Western Australia – South Perth, Willetton, Victoria Park Belmont
and Melville Mariners. The Firebirds lost the Grand Final after getting walked-off by the Carine Cats. Before that? They were undefeated. They allowed just 24 runs in their six games during the tournament. They defeated the Eastern Phantoms 9-1 in the semi-final to lock up their spot.

RYDE RED (NSW): Finishing third in the NSW State Championships, Ryde had to battle their way into the final spot earned in the NSW-zone. They opened the tournament with a loss to Cronulla Black but quickly rebounded with three straight wins to get themselves in the mix for a nationals spot. After a second loss – again to Cronulla Black – Ryde piled it on in an 11-1 win over Greater Western to clinch a spot at nationals.

MELBOURNE METS (VIC): The Mets put on a show at Victorian State Championships. Filled with plenty of players who made a run to the finals in last year’s Junior League nationals, the Mets scored 71 runs in just five games while going undefeated. The Mets consist of players from Geelong to Ballarat to Melton and as far east as Newport.

BRISBANE NORTH NAVY (QLD): An extremely talented group of players, many on the Queensland U16 state team, they went through the tournament undefeated before losing a thriller (9-8) to Gold Coast in the final. Among the team is Tyler Wilson, who is aiming to become the first Australian to ever win their way through to the Little League, Intermediate League, Junior League and Senior League World Series. Brisbane North is made up of players from Narangba Demons, Redcliffe Padres and Pine Rivers Rapids Baseball Clubs.

ADELAIDE ARMADA (SA): The Armada gained automatic entry to the 2026 Australian National Senior League Championships as a South Australia’s only team in the state championships. They are a composite team made up of players from across the metropolitan Adelaide area.

GOLD COAST (QLD): Gold Coast were uber impressive in the Queensland State Titles. They lost a Group Stage Game to Brisbane North Navy, but battled back to win a one-run thriller in the Gold Medal Game. They are made up of players from the Gold Coast area of the Greater Brisbane League, including Coomera Cubs, Runaway Bay Dolphins, Nerang Cardinals, Surfers Paradise Baseball Club, Robina Braves, Mudgeeraba Red Sox, and Twin City.

CRONULLA BLACK (NSW): They had to battle, but they got there. Cronulla Black won a 9-1 game over fellow qualifier Ryde Red in the semi-finals to guarantee a place in the Top 2. They fell just shy of winning gold after dropping the Grand Final 15-5 to Manly. There are a number of players on this Cronulla side who represented Australia at the 2024 Junior League World Series.

CARINE CATS (WA): The Cats  – a club and their own charter – were a team to behold in the Western Australian titles. They won a gritty game over the Central Firebirds to score a walk-off win and claim the championship.

MELBOURNE ATHLETICS (VIC): This is a strong team with numerous players who reached last year’s Junior League National Championships Gold Medal Game. The Athletics went 3-3 at the Senior League titles, with a pair of big wins to secure their place (12-0 over Twins and 16-1 over Rangers). The offense can put up runs in a hurry when they are firing. The Athletics are made up of players from the Eastern Region of metropolitan Victoria.