Baseball NSW congratulates Cronulla Black and Hills Red for their representation at the 2025 Junior League, as well as Hills and Cronulla for their representation at the Intermediate League which began last 28 May.
Hills Red finished pool play with a record of 2-2, while Cronulla Black has clinched first place in Pool B and a spot in the Finals. They are in a good spot to launch their campaign to repeat as national Junior League champions.
Meanwhile, both Hills and Cronulla have finished with a 3-0 record after pool play in Intermediate League, both teams clinching a spot in the finals.
Hills also defeated the Central Firebirds to advance to the Qualifying Final, where they then walloped Melbourne Athletics 19-3 to secure their spot in the Gold Medal game.
However, after their strong pool representation, Cronulla bowed out of the tournament after losses to the Melbourne Athletics at the Finals and the Central Firebirds at the Elimination Final.
Unfortunately, nonstop rains at Lismore and Gold Coast eventually rendered all fields unplayable, forcing tournament officials to call off the finals of both Junior and Intermediate Leagues. On the final day, Baseball Australia announced that thorough inspections from event officials have led them to rule the fields unsafe and not ready to complete any games.
As of the same report, Baseball Australia has said that they were working with Little League International on possible options moving forward, particularly on how to crown a national champion this year.
Amid the decision to call off the final games, venue host Far North Coast Baseball offered a statement.
“Our fields are as resilient as our town, our people, and our volunteers,” the statement read. “Our fields bounce back remarkably quickly and we do everything in our power to make games happen.”
However, the level of rainfall last week was simply out of their hands. “We have hardly had a week without rain since a cyclone event headed south,” the association went on. “A cyclone heading south has happened before (not often) but not the continual rain that has followed that event.”
Likewise, FNCBA stressed the importance of hosting games. “We take our responsibility seriously and the fact that we got games on the diamond yesterday is a testament to our volunteers and our fields [sic] ability to cope with this weather. There were games held successfully here and at our cross border neighbours at the Gold Coast early in the week without disruption,” the statement read.
In 2024 we held our NSW Junior League State Championships up in Lismore and were extremely impressed with the hard-working volunteers of the Far North Coast Baseball Association and their overall hospitality.
“It is very rare that we don’t get through a tournament,” the statement continued. “This year it got the better of us but this is the exception not the rule.”
While expressing disappointment at the cancellation of the final JL/IL games, FNCBA thanked their volunteers as well as Baseball Australia for trusting them to host the tournament.
Likewise, we continue to support FNCBA in their recoveries post Cyclone Alfred and recent flooding and hope they continue to be able to host successful tournaments in the future.
Despite the cancellation, Baseball NSW once again congratulates all the teams representing New South Wales at the nationals. Good job, everyone!
Meanwhile, here are some photos from this year’s Junior and Intermediate Leagues! (All photos courtesy of Brendan Beacom/Baseball.com.au)
Junior League
Intermediate League
