Baseball5 Shines Before Incredible Brisbane Bandits Walk-off Win

On Friday, January 9th, Viticon Stadium came alive with the energy of Baseball5 as the B5 x Bandits Showcase Game delivered an unforgettable experience for fans and players alike.  

After the showcase concluded, the excitement didn’t stop there. Eager fans who had been watching from the sidelines were invited to step onto the field and join a community Baseball5 game. The atmosphere was electric as newcomers experienced the fast-paced, inclusive nature of the sport firsthand. 

To top it all off, participants walked away with exclusive Baseball5 and Bandits giveaways, along with something even more valuable—a newfound passion for Baseball5 and a desire to play more.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the Brisbane Bandits and look forward to further developing Baseball and Baseball5 together in the future!

Want to learn more or express your interest in bringing Baseball5 to your area? Click the EOI link below and join the movement! 

Missed out on trying Baseball5?

Gold Coast locals can look forward to the remaining free monthly Come and Try sessions thanks to City of Gold Coast Social Sport!

Want to learn more about Baseball5?

Baseball5 is the fast-paced, 5-vs-5 version of traditional baseball, featuring all of the same key skills in a fast 5-inning, equipment-free format!

Games can last up to 30 minutes and already feature established international events, between Youth and Adult World Cups and inclusion in the Youth Olympic program!

This program is open to any interested athletes between the ages of 10 and 18. Athletes will be split into two groups, of U14 and U18.

• Throwing
• Hitting
• Fielding
• Speed & agility
• Strength & Conditioning
• Testing to track progression within the BQ Pathways framework

Please reach out to program leads Luke Ardil and Josh Bedggood for additional information.

[email protected],[email protected]

Our sincere appreciation goes to Indians Baseball Club as Event Hosts, along with the tournament staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Thank you also to the umpires, scorers, coaches, players and families whose commitment and sportsmanship ensured a high-quality championship and a memorable experience for everyone involved.

Thank you to Narangba Demons Baseball Club for hosting these events and providing a welcoming environment for our young athletes. We acknowledge the efforts of tournament staff and volunteers, umpires, scorers, coaches, players and families who collectively contributed to the success of these important pathway events.

We are grateful to all those involved in hosting the inbound New Zealand teams who played games against our U16 and U18 State teams. A special thank you to our Host Clubs, Coomera Cubs Baseball Club and All Stars Baseball Club, along with the umpires, scorers, coaches, players and parents who helped deliver an outstanding international exchange built on friendship and competition. Thank you also to our friends from Baseball New Zealand for making the trip over to play these games, we look forward to seeing you again soon. 

We also extend our gratitude to the hosting committee of the New Taipei City International Invitational Tournament for their invitation and generous hospitality. Thank you to the coaches, officials, players and families in Taiwan who made our U18 Queensland team feel so welcome, and to our own coaches, players and families for their professionalism and commitment throughout the tour. A special thank you to Rickey Lo for presenting this opportunity and facilitating the relationship that made this tour possible.

We were also proud to welcome the Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School Girls Baseball Team back to Queensland to compete against our Queensland Women’s Squad in a series of games. Thank you to the Kobe Koryo players, coaches and families for travelling and sharing in this wonderful baseball and cultural exchange. We also acknowledge and thank the umpires, scorers, volunteers and staff who supported the delivery of the series, and the Queensland coaches, players and families whose involvement helped make the event such a positive experience for all involved.

Our Largest, Most-Engaged Female Titles Event Ever

2025 marked the 8th iteration of the Queensland Women’s, Youth Women’s, and Girls State Titles. Launched in 2018, the event featured a 7x team Women’s division – 4x Youth and 3x Girls teams representing 143 participants. Everything has grown since then, but many of the players are the same.

2025 saw our longest event ever – a full 3 days of competition for both Women’s Divisions 1 and 2, expanding Friday from a night game to a full day of action, through to Sunday afternoon. This happens a year after our Youth Women and Girls event was expanded from 2 to 3 days, a result of player feedback, improved considerations for athlete health and, the growth of these divisions creating scheduling pressures.

The result was 6x games for each of the 5x Division 1 Women’s, 8x Division 2 Women’s, 6x Youth Women’s and 4x Little League Girls teams, who represented 395 registered players, coaches, umpires, scorers and EOs.

We are extremely grateful to have had the services of Erin Honsa (Studio Honsa) and Michael Lovell (Desolve Images) to capture action shots, snaps from around the grounds and our team photos.

Stay tuned for the release of their galleries!

Women’s State Titles

Indians Baseball Club, Runcorn

Division 1

 North Queensland Storm
 Brisbane Metro
 Brisbane North
#4 Brisbane West
#5 Gold Coast

The mighty North Queensland Storm once again take the Division 1 Championship, demonstrating the strength and consistency emerging from their expanding local competitions!

Division 2

 Brisbane South Green
 Gold Coast
 Baseball NT Buffaloes
#4 North Queensland Storm
#5 Brisbane West
#6 Narangba Rascals
#7 Narangba Demons
#8 Brisbane South Gold

A significant showing in Division 2 with teams from across Queensland, in the start of a strong year for Brisbane South, Brisbane South Green took the Championship over Gold Coast. In a battle of the North, Northern Territory Buffaloes took bronze over North Queensland.

First-time coaches gained experience in the North Queensland squad and the Northern Territory team entry marked their first representative Women’s team in 12 years, their effort and energy appropriately rewarded with the Bronze.

Another sign of growing women’s programs is the entry of two Narangba Demons teams, a club which has skyrocketed to take the spot as one of the largest clubs in the country after successive years of impressive membership growth.

Baseball5

On Friday and Saturday at Indians, Joe Surrentino ran Baseball5 Come and Try opportunities! A number of spectators and athletes from various teams came over to give it a try! Read his recap and see the highlight reel by visiting the article below!

Thank you!

Finally, we must extend our gratitude to the volunteers, parents, relatives, partners and host venues.

Firstly to the host venues for their preparation, groundskeeping, ordering, lunch, waste, parking management among every other hidden responsibility. We thank their teams of volunteers for their preparation and delivery.

Secondly to our tournament staff and the team volunteers, between coaches, umpires, scorers and EOs and their countless hours in preparation for the tournament as well as their management of their teams, their safety, wellbeing and enjoyment… and all the strategy stuff everyone whose sat on the sideline knows isn’t actually that hard. Thank you. Our tournament staff, Tournament Director Anna Day and Assistant Tournament Director, Tara Sands, Scorer’s Coordinators Sharon Teakle and Leigh Tate, as well as QBUA’s Umpire Coordinators, John Proper, Steve Horrigan and the legendary Barry Foat for all of their time, work, coordination and compliance checks.

We must also acknowledge and thank the spectators, the family members, the partners and friends, your energy, your attendance and support of our teams, staff and athletes are what make these events as special as they are.

As we sign off on another Women’s, Youth Women’s and Little League Girls State Titles, Thank You!

What’s Next?

Queensland Women’s Squad selected athletes have been sent their invites via email, and you can expect to see the squad take on the inbound Kobe Koryo Gakuen High School in round 2 of the Kookaburra Cup Friendship Series hosted at All Stars Baseball Club on the 21st and 23rd of December. https://www.baseballqueensland.com.au/calendar/kobe-koryo-qld-dec25/

Female athletes under the age of 18 are able to express their interest in joining our tour to Japan in June 2026 by visiting the following link: https://www.baseballqueensland.com.au/eoi-japan-tours-15-26-june-2026/

Queensland Youth Women’s identified athletes will be contacted soon to begin preparations for the Australian Youth Women’s Championships.

Little League Girls are able to express their interest in attending the 2026 Australian Little League Girls Championships by visiting this page: https://www.baseballqueensland.com.au/ll-girls-2026-eoi/

Baseball Queensland advises that our office will be closed from Thursday 25 December 2025 and will reopen on Monday 5 January 2026.

We encourage clubs, members, participants and stakeholders to plan ahead where possible, noting that responses to enquiries during this period will be delayed until we reopen on 5 January 2026. Response times to enquiries may be prolonged outside of these dates as staff take additional leave, and the office may remain unmanned outside of the above dates for the same reason.

On behalf of everyone at Baseball Queensland, we wish you and your families a safe, happy and restful holiday season, and we look forward to connecting with you again in the New Year. Don’t forget you can get your baseball viewing needs met in this period by watching the ABL on Baseball+

https://plus.baseball.com.au/en-au/page/home