Victoria Aces win Australian Women's Baseball Showcase, Genevieve Beacom shines in final
The 17-year old pitcher (pictured above) earned the win in the final against the Brisbane Bandits. Seven international players, including WBSC Women's Baseball World Cup reigning MVP Ayami Sato, participated in the event.
The Victoria Aces won the recent Australian Women's Baseball Showcase.
On Sunday, 8 May, the Aces defeated the Brisbane Bandits in the final at the Geelong Baseball Centre in Grovedale.
Genevieve Beacom, the first-ever female player to sign a professional contract in Australia, earned the win, striking out four in four innings.
The second edition of the Australian Women's Baseball Showcase was a three-team tournament sanctioned and supported by the WBSC.
The Victorian Government and the Geeolong City Council also supported the event.
The tournament included the top 47 female players from Australia, in addition to seven of the best international stars: reigning WBSC Women's World Cup Ayami Sato, Mizuki Bando, Yukina Izumi (Japan); Clair Eccles, Alli Schroder, Alex Fournier (Canada); and Anna Kimbrell (USA).
"The support from USA Baseball, the federation of Japan and Baseball Canada was very much appreciated in relation to supporting the entry of these players," commented Baseball Australia CEO Glenn Williams.
The format of the tournament included five-inning games and a 280-feet (85.3 metres) fence.
All the results
Victoria Aces-Adelaide Giants 4-1 Victoria Aces-Brisbane Bandits 14-11 Brisbane Bandits-Adelaide Giants 11-5 Adelaide Giants-Victoria Aces 4-0 Brisbane Bandits-Victoria Aces 12-2 Brisbane Bandits-Adelaide Giants 7-1 Victoria Aces-Brisbane Bandits 7-4
Baseball Australia stated that the purpose of the event was to showcase women's baseball to a wider audience and encourage the participation of more girls playing baseball. Baseball Australia and the Australian Baseball League (ABL) have plans to launch a Women's ABL in the future.
Australia is No. 8 in WBSC Women's Baseball World Rankings.
