Tigers cover their bases

Bacchus Marsh Baseball Club coach, Bronwyn Gell, wants to see her Tigers hit the Grand Final again in 2023.

Appointed to the club earlier this year, Gell brings a 20-year wealth of baseball experience to her role as head coach.

Gell is one of a few female appointments at this team level in Victoria. First representing Victoria at the age of 14 in 2008, Gell continues to be a valued member of the Victorian Squad.

In 2016, Baseball Australia selected Gell to play for the Emeralds, the Australian National Women’s Baseball team. Gell has played five internationals, and boasts two World Cup medals, in 2012 also claiming the Stolen Bases award.

Gell received the Victoria state team MVP in 2017 and in 2022 nationals won golden glove and MVP. She has also taken out the Victorian women’s Division 1 batting title twice.
Asked about a playing career highlight, Gell said, “the 2013 Nationals at Ballarat would definitely be a highlight”.

“Coming from an 8 or 9 run trail against WA, we came back and won the Gold Medal, using all our pitchers, I had to come and close the game from Shortstop,” she said.

Baseball Victoria has this year appointed Gell as assistant coach to the Victorian Youth Women’s State Team, ahead of the April 2023 Australian Youth Women’s Championship. A trained Occupational Therapist, Gell started her own practice, Driven By You, in Bacchus Marsh after moving there in 2021.

Ms Gell said her career choice had influenced her coaching style in a major way.

“Yes, I absolutely believe, when training a team or squad, you are training a group of individuals, at which you need to learn quickly what motivates people and how to get the best out of individuals,” she said.

“You can’t push someone to train harder who might just be there to have fun and a relief from the everyday grind of work and life.”

Ms Gell believes the Tigers can make it to the Grand Final again in 2023, and possibly go that one step further and win the flag.

“There is also no reason why the Tigers can’t have two teams. There are plenty of people out there trying to find a sport for them, or to be part of a community. I have played all the ball sports. But I always come back to baseball because baseball is more than just a game to me,” she said.

“It is a community and a family. I feel most comfortable in myself on a baseball field.”

The Bacchus Marsh Tigers were 2022 runners up in the Geelong Baseball League championships in 2022. With its home ground at Mason Lane Bacchus Marsh, the club has a fully enclosed ground including a batting cage.

Newly elected club president, Greg Tinkler, sees a great future for the club under Gell’s leadership. He looks forward to the club expanding its teams with the Tigers able to field a summer team next season.

“We will also work this year to build a women’s team and at least one junior team,” Mr Tinkler said.

“With Bronwyn’s very strong background in baseball, we will improve the baseball abilities of all our members. Part of the growth of any club needs to be not just players to build the number of teams, but for volunteers; those individuals helping out in the canteen, scoring, and umpiring.”

Anyone interested can contact the club through its Facebook page. The club trains Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm, and has lights so the fields can be used late into the evening.

The baseball season is expected to start in late April, with pre-season training starting Sunday 19 March, and the season starting Saturday 22 April for seniors and Sunday 30 April for the women’s team.