Ladies set to dominate the diamond
Matches are set to take place every Sunday. The league will run from May until August.
The new and improved Gauteng Ladies Baseball League will start on May 22, according to the Gauteng Province Baseball Council (GPBC) ladies commission.
The commission announced that the formation of this league follows the success of the ‘League of Their Own’ ladies league last year.
Last year, 60 girls joined the draft and were selected into four teams.
Due to the interest the league garnered, the commission stated that this year it will be expanded.
“The growing interest in this format of the sport has led to the GPBC increasing the number of teams available for players to join.
“Our aim is to have every baseball-playing district represented by at least one club.”
The commission’s Hayley Scott told the paper that games will be played on a rotational basis to attract more girls.
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“Leagues will be decentralised across Gauteng to be able to give access to more ladies who want to play ladies baseball.
“Whether you are a legendary veteran of the game or eager rookie looking to start out, we welcome you to join us in making South African women’s sport history.”
Scott added that the success of Gauteng ladies at the recent National Baseball Championship (NBC) was testament of the growing interest in the sport across the province.
“Both our junior u-16 and Ladies team won the championship at the NBC in Cape Town.”
According to Scott, the ladies will be invited to the continental qualifiers to determine a team to compete in the 2023 World Cup.
She furthermore stated that the national baseball 5 team, which includes four ladies from Gauteng, will travel to Tanzania on May 20, to take part in a mixed gender baseball 5 tournament.
Scott urged more ladies to come join because ‘ladies can play in a league of their own’.
The clubs the organisation has earmarked are:
Easterns: Benoni Indians, Boksburg Cardinals and Palm Ridge.
Johannesburg: Alex Baseball Club, Randburg Mets and Giants Baseball Club
Pretoria: Bulls Baseball Club and Valhalla.
Matches are set to take place every Sunday. The league will run from May until August.
For more information, contact Scott on 083 294 4044, Gerry Grobler on 076 148 4203 or Natalie Campbell on 083 453 3744.
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