Ten teams will take part in the second-ever Queensland Baseball5 Schools Cup later this month.
The mixed gender, two age group event for Year 4-9 students will be held at Earnshaw State College on November 26. Robina State High School, Runcorn State High School, Bremer State High School and hosts Earnshaw will have teams take part in the senior division for Year 7-9 students. The junior division for Year 4-6 students will feature teams from Earnshaw, Mudgeeraba Creek State School and Robina State School.
Queensland School Sport baseball committee chair Michael Bozhoff said last year’s tournament had been a huge success.
“We were impressed with the level of skill on display and the speed of the play,” Bozhoff said.
“This year we have more schools on board, which is incredibly exciting.
“I’m really keen to see the progression in the game, in particular the strategies the players will implement.”
This year’s event was invitational due to COVID-19. Baseball Australia baseball projects general manager Scott Hillier said Queensland School Sport was one of the country’s leaders in growing Baseball5.
“Queensland School Sport were one of the first groups to take up Baseball5 after it launched in Australia last year,” Hillier said.
“They launched what was the first-ever Baseball5 tournament in Australia and have done a mountain of work taking it to schools.”
“It is exciting to see continued growth and more students being exposed to the discipline.”
Hillier said the event was a stepping stone towards next year’s Australian Baseball5 Championships and Oceania Baseball5 Qualifier.
“There’s some fantastic Baseball5 opportunities coming up,” he said.
“Events like the Queensland Baseball5 Schools Cup are an important step in the pathway and exposing Baseball5 to more participants.”
Robina State High School was crowned senior division champions last year and Earnshaw State College took out the junior tournament.
Baseball5 is a five-on-five street version of baseball and softball.