Baseball NSW wishes the Hills squad the very best of luck as they depart this weekend to compete in the Intermediate League World Series in Livermore, California!
This year, they are joining five international teams, along with six American squads, vying for the top prize in the Intermediate League tournament.
What’s special about the Australian team? This group of players are already battle-tested in international competition, as they have already competed in the 2024 Little League World Series after winning the Little League Nationals last year.
The team stayed strong through the difficult national championships this year, that saw unfortunate weather cause the indefinite postponement of the final games originally scheduled for Lismore.
Still, once the games resumed two weeks later, Hills won in three different states — New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria–to win gold and qualify for the tournament.
Hills never lost a game, though they did overcome adversity early on, where they had to come back from eight runs down to beat the Eastern Phantoms on Day 1.
But once the team got their bearings, they began to dominate, outscoring opponents in their final four games 56-10, including a terrific 12-2 performance to beat the Melbourne Athletics for the gold medal.
In that game, Emma Gainsford (notably the only female in the tournament), Harry Hobbs, and Hugh Graham dinged homers while Justin Jang paced the team with ten hits and nine RBI.
On the mound, Sayre Howick pitched 10 innings, leading the teams, striking out 18 and allowing only two runs.
The squad comprises players from various clubs–Quakers Hill, Castle Hill, Carlingford, and Kellyville–across the Hills area of Sydney.
With Gainsford their only female, the team also has a group of triplets: Fletcher, Hudson, and Spencer Dobb from Quakers Hill.
They will depart for California on Friday 25th July. The tournament will run from 27 July to 3 August.
Catch the games on ESPN and ESPN+! For Australian fans with Disney+ subscriptions, you can catch the action via the app’s ESPN functionality.
The double-elimination tournament means Hills can only lose twice to drop out of the event.
They will also be competing against West Seoul (Asia-Pacific), South Czechia (Europe-Africa), Venezuela (Latin America), Tamaulipas (Mexico), and the Canadian team.
Hills will play their first game on Sunday, 29 July at 2AM AEST (9AM on 28 July local time) against the winner of Venezuela and Mexico.
If Hills wins, they will play next on 31 July at 8AM AEST. If they lose, they will play on 30 July at 8AM AEST.
Don’t miss out on any tournament updates – Follow along via Baseball.com.au or on the Little League website!
Good luck Hills! The Baseball NSW community is behind you!
Photo courtesy of Baseball Australia (baseball.com.au)