IT\u2019S GAME on for women\u2019s baseball in the Geelong region, with the first two rounds of the Western Victorian Women\u2019s Baseball League done and dusted.<\/p>\n
The opening round at Wallington on April 18 saw four teams – Bellarine Bears, Surf Coast Sharks and two teams from the Alfredton Eagles – take part, with Corangamite federal member Libby Coker throwing out the first pitch and officially opening the season.<\/p>\n
Mark Lazarus from the Bellarine Bears said the baseball was competitive but the players (both new and experienced) all enjoyed a sport that is fun and inclusive.<\/p>\n
The competition has already expanded by two, with the Bears and Sharks each committing another team to the league within a week of the first game.<\/p>\n
Round 2 was held in Ballarat on Sunday, and round 3 will be held at the Geelong Baseball Centre on May 16.<\/p>\n
Lazarus said it was a huge achievement to establish a women\u2019s baseball league in western Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore 2017, the Bears had between one and three women playing baseball,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c2017 saw just two, but a decision was made by the club to get a women\u2019s team together for 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe club reached out to softballers, friends and wives of current players, a lot of whom had never played before.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoving from just two players to about 12 in 2018, the Bears entered the first women\u2019s team into the Geelong Baseball Winter Comp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was competing mainly against men and while it was a tough season on the scoreboard, everyone was having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the Bears\u2019 2019 squad comprised both new and existing members, with the team honing their skills, playing competitive baseball and picking up multiple wins during the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 2020, the Bears had two women\u2019s teams ready to play and the club, along with Alfredton Baseball Club in Ballarat, started pushing for a women\u2019s league,\u201d Lazarus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great disappointment when the season was cancelled, like so many other local sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2021, Alfredton kicked off a drive to recruit women and ran a number of come try days with a huge amount of success, gathering enough players for two teams, so the league was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bears put one of their women\u2019s teams in and a combined Geelong team – the Surf Coast Sharks – joined to make a four-team competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bellarine Bears are inviting anyone who wants to try their hand at baseball to attend a training session at their home ground at Wallington Reserve on Thursdays at 6pm or come along to the games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
IT\u2019S GAME on for women\u2019s baseball in the Geelong region, with the first two rounds of the Western Victorian Women\u2019s Baseball League done and dusted. The opening round at Wallington on April 18 saw four teams – Bellarine Bears, Surf Coast Sharks and two teams from the Alfredton Eagles – take part, with Corangamite federal […]<\/p>\n