Pittwater Life July 2024 Issue

Big team in Little League
Little League baseball team Manly
Maroons recently became the first
Northern Beaches side to ever win a
national championship – with four Pittwater
youngsters among their ranks.
The all-stars rep team made up of the
best players aged 10 and 11 from clubs
in the Manly Warringah area (Forest,
Warringah, Pittwater, Curl Curl) won
the Division 2 State Championship in
May before taking out the National Title
at Blacktown in June – going six games
undefeated.
They outscored opponents 67-6 across
the 6 games and defeated Melbourne
Twins 3-0 to take the title.
It’s the first national championship for
any Manly Warringah District Baseball
Association (MWDBA) team.
Among their ranks were Pittwater
club players Riley White, Jeff Martin and
Benny Beezley – Benny making the last
‘out’ at first base to win the championship.
Noah Smith who lives in Pittwater
but plays for Warringah was also part of
the winning side.
As one of the team’s volunteers and
dads, Mark Connelly explained that
winning was something the team have
become very used to.
LOCAL BASEBALL STARS: (L-r) Benny Beezley,
Noah Smith, Riley White and Jeff Martin.
“The same core team are now undefeated
across five tournaments, starting
with the Rookies Cup last year,” he said.
Again the team were undefeated (5-0),
outscoring their opponents 57-2 across
the four-day tournament.
MWDBA President Brook Russell said:
“We could not be prouder of these boys.
They’ve worked hard for months to
achieve this.”
As Mark points out, people should not
be swayed by the Division 2 nature of
things, as that applies to age rather than
ability.
“The Div 1 / Div 2 thing is misleading
– it’s based on age, not ability. They are
very much the top team in their age level
of 10s and 11s.
“Next year they will progress to Division
1, which comprises 11- and 12-yearolds.”
And that’s where things become really
interesting – with the winner of the Division
1 National title heading to America
to play for the Little League World Title.
An expensive endeavour, but one the
club is preparing for.
“We had good sponsorship and ran a
GoFund me page this year to fund travel
for the Nationals and raised $3000 per
child,” Mark said. “Now we’re lining up
sponsors for next year and will do more
fundraising.”
Are they in with a chance of the Big
League next year?
“Very much,” said Mark. “Shane is a
great coach, they’re very competitive and
they want to win.”
– Rob Pegley
News
The Local Voice Since 1991
JULY 2024 15