All the pitching and batting stats from Geelong Baseball Association’s men’s and women’s Division 1 competitions

A Japanese women’s league baseballer is also holding her own against the men. See where you rank from more than 200 Geelong Baseball Association players.

A Japanese recruit may have hit three home runs in a MVP-winning performance at the recent senior state winter championship, but Kira Kuwamoto believes she’s yet to hit peak form.

The Osaka-born 23-year-old Guild player, who also hit a double in a men’s Division 1 game for the All-Stars, is flourishing on her first Australian trip.

She came to these shores to experience a new baseball culture and hone her English further after a similar trip to the US.

However, Kuwamoto, who is playing in both the men’s and women’s competitions, is looking forward to an even stronger second half of the Geelong Baseball Association season.

“I don’t think I have shown all my skills in the games yet,” Kuwamoto said.

“I am always ready to improve and I believe I can play better each time.”

Kira Kuwamoto was a senior state winter championship MVP. Picture: Geelong Baseball Association.

Playing second base with the men, and shortstop and on the mound with Guild’s women, Kuwamoto has embraced the many challenges that have emerged so far on local diamonds.

“(The men) can hit hard so catching ground balls and line drives without making error is my biggest challenge on the field,” she said.

“Hitting various breaking balls pitched by high level pitchers is also hard.”

Kuwamoto, who took up the sport at the age of 10, is also coaching a junior team and running private sessions early in the week.

She has found the GBA to be very inclusive, allowing people of all ages and abilities to come together.

“I have played baseball in Japan and the US, but it is so unique to Australia,” she said.

“I have already met so many new teammates.

Geelong Baseball Association's women team won the state championship. Picture: Baseball Victoria.

“Everyone is so positive and supportive.

“We are always cheering each other in the dugout.”

Kuwamoto, who also works in a Geelong cafe, was recently crowned an MVP at the recent state winter championships, which was won by the Geelong Baseball Association’s women’s team.

“This is the first time I’ve ever received an MVP and I felt very grateful and honoured,” she said.

“I was so excited about my achievements, so I shared this news with my family in Japan as soon as I received it.”

In a further sign of progress, Kuwamoto was asked to be an assistant coach for one of Baseball Victoria’s girls teams at the under-14 state winter championships in Bendigo in early July.

“I am looking forward to meeting new generations of girls playing baseball in Victoria,” she said.

“This will be an amazing experience for me and I hope for the girls too.”

Local players looking to hone their craft can contact Kira on [e-mail]

Veteran Werribee Giant pitcher leads the GBA for strikeouts

A competition-leading, veteran pitcher has helped the Werribee Giants enjoy a barnstorming start to the Geelong Baseball Association season where they conceded just one run in three games.

While their opening match of the 2023 campaign was curtailed by an administrative error, where a Giant played without being adequately cleared from another club, resulting in a 0-9 loss to East Belmont Saints, Werribee would go on something of a stunning run.

There were 6-0, 13-0 and 22-1 hammerings of Guild, Ballarat Royals and Deakin Blues in a month-long period starting in late-April, with 21 strikeouts in total to Giants pitcher Trent Pantalleresco.

Trent Pantalleresco has led the competition for strikeouts in the Geelong Baseball Association. Picture: Werribee Giants Facebook.

However, the modest 36-year-old is quick to put the spotlight on his teammates and catcher Oliver Box, despite racking 40 strike outs for the season so far.

“It certainly helps having a good team behind you,” Pantalleresco said, who will return to the mound after missing the last two games.

“I’m pretty confident if I make a mistake, somebody will pick me up.

“It helps having a good catcher (like Box), he always steadies everything up for you.”

Originally from the Bacchus Marsh area, Pantalleresco started playing baseball with the Giants about 15 years ago with no local team to play with in summer.

Werribee Giants won the Division 2 premiership in 2022. Picture: Werribee Giants Facebook.

He eventually became an all-year-round player with the club.

Pantalleresco is also proud to have played his part in Geelong Baseball Association’s win at the recent state winter championships.

And he’s keen to add a Division 1 premiership to his trophy cabinet, after scoring a B Grade flag last year where the Giants won through the competition’s mercy rule, 19-0 over Colac.

Pantalleresco dominated on the hill, throwing 58 pitches for only a solitary hit.

However, this year in Div 1, the Giants will have to get past ladder leaders Bellarine Bears and East Belmont Saints, two teams they’ve yet to get the better of.

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A tweak to Geelong Baseball Association rules has resulted in a healthier level of competition so far this year, leading slugger Cameron Brown says.

Brown, who left the Bellarine Bears to coach the East Belmont Saints for the 2023 season, said a rule requiring a Division 1 team to have a Division 2 team below it was scrapped for the 2023 season.

He said it avoided situations in the past where teams were dominating lower grades, because a club could only scrape together a solitary outfit.

Cameron Brown (left) joined the Saints as coach in 2023. Picture: East Belmont Saints.

“You had these instances of what was sort of an A Grade team playing in the third grade and just obliterating everyone, but it was the only option for them,” Brown said.

“It’s good overall, it just means the best people can play against the best … that’s what you want for a healthy comp.”

Meanwhile, Brown, who has belted a competition-high two home runs after eight rounds in Division 1, said he was seeing the ball well so far this season.

Brown has scored six RBIs, seven hits and is batting .389 for the season for the Saints.

He said his second-placed Saints had also been emboldened with youth, namely the “outstanding” Rickard brothers, shortstop Harper and pitcher Emerson.

East Belmont Saints coach Cameron Brown slides into second base. Picture: Mark Lazarus.

“There’s quite a few teams putting youth out there which is great to see,” he said.

“(Harper’s) been doing an outstanding job for us at shortstop and on field leader.”

He said ladder leaders, 6-1 Bears remained the team to beat after the Saints were touched up 7-1 two rounds ago.

“The Bears were quite strong when we played them, we’re keen to get another crack at them somewhere down the line,” he said.

Originally published as All the pitching and batting stats from Geelong Baseball Association’s men’s and women’s Division 1 competitions