Issue 2 Page

The Redlands Rave Compiled by Dorry Beutel

2017 - Issue 2 12 November, 2017

Junior League Bandits Games ReportsJunior League Bandits Games ReportsJunior League Bandits Games ReportsJunior League Bandits Games Reports Despite being tw o players dow n, our Junior League Bandits team

recorded a narrow 9-8 w in over Pine Hills Lightning on Saturday

14th October. Ayden Champneys led the pitching striking out four

batters and allow ing only f ive safe hits in his three innings pitched.

Rays safe hits w ere by David Riley and Nathan Murray (Little

League) w ho played up from Little League Rays to f ill one of the

positions in the Junior League Team.

In the game against West Bulldogs on 28th October, Kai Poon w as

impressive as starting pitcher, achieving six strikeouts and allow ing

only three safe hits over his four innings on the mound. Gabe

Kushi pitched the last inning w ith tw o strikeouts and allow ed only

one hit from six batters.

Rays batting against Bulldogs produced singles from Jamie Doran,

Ayden Champneys, Ryan Baker and Hayden Row e, doubles from

Kai Poon and Josh Wilson, a triple from Gabe Kushi and an infield

home run w ith loaded bases from David Riley. Ayden Champneys,

Jamie Croon and Gabe Kushi assisted in a double play and Kayne

Saverin and David Riley took the only catches of the game.

These phots of the Rays Junior League Bandits are curtesy of Sharon Pow-

ell, Mum of Deegan Powell in the Senior League Rays Bandits team. Thanks

for taking them and allowing me to use them in the newsletter. Editor

I NS I DE T HI S I S S UE

• Junior League Bandits Win

• Meet 2 of Our Original Club Members

• Meet Our Sub-Committee Part 1

• A Blast From the Past

• From the Redland City Bulletin Online

• Did You Know??

• Editors Note

• Our Sponsors

Issue 2 Page 2

Meet Two of Our Original Club MembersMeet Two of Our Original Club MembersMeet Two of Our Original Club MembersMeet Two of Our Original Club Members

IT / Website Manager - Stephen Schneider Email: itsupport@redlandsrays.com.au - Ph: 0411 517 131

Stephen started playing baseball at the Hendra All-Stars Club w hen

he w as six years old but his f irst year at Redlands w as in the 1989/90

season as a player in the U10’s Navajo team w hen the club w as

called Southside Indians and w as aff iliated w ith the current Indians

Baseball Club.

As a junior player, Stephen pitched and played 1st base and now , as

a Senior, his primary positions have been centre f ield and pitcher.

After playing for most of his junior career at Redlands, Stephen

ventured to Windsor Royals for a season, and Carina Redsox for tw o

seasons, before returning to Redlands. He is currently plays in the

Division 3 Rays 2 team, as w ell as in the Masters team.

Stephen represented Brisbane South throughout his junior career

and in his f inal year of junior baseball, he played for Brisbane Metro.

He w as a member of the Queensland team in 1995 and had three

trips to the United States w ith Queensland Taipans.

Stephen is our IT & Website Manager and looks after our w eb and Facebook pages and anything else to

do w ith information technology. He is currently in his f inal semester at Bond University w here he is

completing a degree in Sports Management. He is also a member of the GBL (Greater Brisbane League)

Committee.

Athol (Red) Cunningham

Red started playing t-ball for Redlands in the 1991/92 season in the

U8’s team w hen the club w as called the Southside Indians Baseball

Club and he has played for Redlands in every summer season since

then. During the w inter seasons, he played for other clubs including

Mudgeeraba and Runaw ay Bay.

He has also played in a number of representative teams including for

Brisbane South, Metropolitan East Schoolboys, Queensland School-

boys and the Australian Expos in w hich he participated in 3 tours

playing against teams from Chicago, California, San Diego, San

Francisco.

While a Junior player, Red’s preferred positions w ere middle infield

and relief pitcher but he played all posit ions at some time through his

junior years and as a senior he has mainly played 2nd base, 3rd base,

relief pitcher and catcher. He is also currently playing in the Division

3 Rays 2 team.

When asked about his memories of early Redlands Baseball Club, Red commented “I have seen many

changes with the club over the years. We have gone from a little shipping container on the hill as a

canteen to the clubhouse it is today. The bottom field used to have 2 full diamonds and the field was big

enough to have four tee ball games or 2 junior games going at once. As the fields were built over a dump,

every time it rained, the underlying rocks and stones would be brought up all over the fields. This meant

before any team could train we had to try and fill the plastic baseball bucket with rocks and after training

we would have to rake the field and pick up more rocks even though another team was training after us.

This continued for about five seasons”.

Issue 2 Page 3

Meet Our SubMeet Our SubMeet Our SubMeet Our Sub----Committee MembersCommittee MembersCommittee MembersCommittee Members

Uniform Co-ordinator - Darryn Smallwood Email: uniform.coordinator@redlandsrays.com.au

Darryn f irst became involved w ith Redlands Rays in 2014 w hen his son, Blake started playing T-Ball.

During that season, he volunteered to help w ith grounds maintenance and, since then, has w orked w ith

the grounds crew whenever he has the time.

Darryn has 5 children and 2 jobs and is also uniform coordinator for his

daughter’s netball team and assistant coach for Blake’s soccer team.

He likes to help out w here he can as he knows that sporting clubs are

only as strong as the people in it.

This season Darryn has signed up for the role of club uniform co-

ordinator and umpire for Blake’s Litt le League Bandits team. He is also

continuing to w ork w ith the grounds crew to keep our f ields looking as

spectacular as they are.

When asked, he commented “I like to help out where I can as I know

that sporting clubs don’t run without help and are only as strong as the

people in it”.

Media Co-ordinator - Dorry Beutel Email: rave@redlandsrays.com.au Ph: 0408 730 423

I f irst became a baseball supporter w ith Redlands Baseball Club in 2007 w hen my elder grandson, Brett

Riley, started playing T-Ball. Although I didn’t attend every game in the beginning, I w as hooked after

watching the semi-f inals of 2010 school boys softball state tit les w here Brett’s team w as playing and since

then, w hen possible, I have attended every club baseball game. Those state t itles w ere also responsible

for my interest in scoring and for my ow n curiosity, I started by just marking runs and outs. How ever, as

Brett w as a pitcher, before I knew it, I w as also noting pitch counts. I w as also an avid photographer and

took thousands of action photos during Brett ’s early playing years.

In 2012, my younger grandson, David, also started playing and at his f irst

club game, his coach handed me the score book. My reaction w as rather

comical as I hadn’t seen a “proper” scorebook before. How ever, I quickly

learned w hat to do and have been scoring for whatever team David has

been in since then. I have even achieved Level 1 status w ith my Level 2

exam to come before the end of this season. Unfortunately, taking on

the scoring role put an end to my action photography and my album is

seriously lacking David's early action photos.

At this year’s AGM, I volunteered to take on the Media Co-ordinator role

and my focus is to get our club out there in the community media through

the Redland City Bulletin online and in new spaper form as w ell as

through our club’s Facebook page. I encourage everyone to introduce

themselves to other members, get to know your fellow supporters and

eventually you w ill get to make some great friends.

Issue 2 Page 4

A Blast From the PastA Blast From the PastA Blast From the PastA Blast From the Past Our blast from the past this week takes us back to April 2012 when our club hosted that year’s

Little League State Titles where eight regional teams from the greater Brisbane area, Gold Coast,

North Queensland and Lismore competed for the right to contest the Australian Little League

Championships at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast.

The Brisbane South team included ten Redlands Rays Little Leaguers and they finished the

round robin competition undefeated. This ensured that Souths had home team advantage in the

most exciting Little League grand final against Brisbane North that even the BQ officials had

seen for a long time. The game was drawn at 5-5 through the 10th inning until Brisbane North

brought 6 runners home in the top of the 11th. Unfortunately one of those runners knocked

Souths’ catcher, Nick Johnstone, over at home plate ending with Nick being taken off to hospital

for observation.

The game was declared a win for Brisbane North even though the inning wasn’t completed. After

some intense discussion between the Brisbane South Manager, David Badke, and the BQ offi-

cials, it was decided that both teams would be allowed to participate in the National Champion-

ships along with Far North Coast as the Queensland Country entry, and Gold Coast as the host

team.

Brisbane South proved they definitely deserved to be there when they had resounding wins against all but one of their pool opponents, putting them into the semi-final against Perth Metro North. They were the only Queensland team to make the play-offs.

With Perth as the home team, Souths fought hard keeping the game at 0-0 through 6 innings until Perth finally scored the winning run at the bottom of the 7th inning.

Perth Metro North went on to take the title 29-2 against Yarra Rangers. At the closing ceremony the Perth players commented to our boys that they wished the grand final had been against Brisbane South as they were great opponents and it would have been an exciting game.

Continued over ..

Issue 2 Page 5

A Blast From the Past A Blast From the Past A Blast From the Past A Blast From the Past cont.

Back Row – From Left: Dudley Johnson (Assistant Coach), Frank Didovich (Executive Officer), Kody Saverin (Rays), Ned Somerville

(Hawks), Sheldon Waller (Indians), Joey Norup (Hawks), Rob Towart (Assistant Coach), Sebastian Price-Jones (Rays), Frano

Didovich (Rays), Callum Macdonald (Rays), David Badke (Manager)

Front Row: Ryan C, Tom Lord (Rays), Brett Riley (Rays), Steven Bressow-Thomas (Hawks), Conor Laverty (Rays), Ryan Towart

(Rays), Hayden Michie (Rays) – Missing: Nick Johnstone (Rays)

THE “REDLANDS RAVE”

needs your input Coaches, managers, parents, family and supporters

Please send your photos, stories and captions to

Dorry for the newsletter

Email all content to:

rave@redlandsrays.com.au

Issue 2 Page 6

From the Redland City Bulletin OnlineFrom the Redland City Bulletin OnlineFrom the Redland City Bulletin OnlineFrom the Redland City Bulletin Online

Redlands Rays welcome Americans to the team

Rays Baseball Club has w elcomed three college players from the United States w ho w ill be playing for

Redlands in the Senior Division 1 and 2 leagues for the 2017/18 baseball season. They are Ben An-

drews, Dustin Wells and Riley Moore.

Ben’s home tow n is Seattle, Washington and he is currently aff iliated w ith the Linfield College Wildcats

baseball team in Texas. He f irst started playing T-Ball w hen he w as 4 years old and his preferred posi-

tions are f irst base, third base or short stop. While at Redlands, Ben w ill be coaching the Rays Junior

League Bandits team and is being hosted by the Murray family at Birkdale.

Dustin comes from Glendale, Arizona and his college is George Fox University. He started playing base-

ball at Little League level and is a pitcher for his university team. Dustin w ill be the starting pitcher for the

Rays Division 1 team during his time at Redlands and is hosted by Matt Wyatt.

Riley’s home is in Danville, California and he also started playing T-Ball at age four. Riley comes to us

from Diablo Valley College Vikings in California. His preferred position is pitcher but he has also been an

infielder and catcher. While he is w ith us, Riley w ill be coaching the Rays Litt le League Bandits team and is looking forw ard to being involved in club events w herever he can. Riley’s cousin, Frank Chance is in

the Baseball Hall of Fame and you can read all about Frank at https://baseballhall.org/hof/chance-frank .

Riley’s host family is Elisabeth Caloiero-Smith and son, Isaac.

Redlands Baseball also w elcomes new Head Coach, Dudley Johnson w ho this season w ill be coaching

the club’s Division 1 and 2 teams. Dudley has been playing baseball since he w as 9 years old and for

most of his playing years, w as involved w ith Logan Sharks, Runcorn Indians and Redclif fe Padres.

For the past six years, he has held the position of Assistant Coach for Brisbane South Senior League

Teams, accompanying them to State and National Championships in Brisbane, Lismore, the Gold Coast

and interstate.

Welcome to Rays: Redlands Rays imported players, Ben Andrews, Dus+ n Well, and Riley Moore

with new head coach, Dudley Johnson.

Issue 2 Page 7

Did You Know?Did You Know?Did You Know?Did You Know? Researched and copied from Wikipedia

The first recorded baseball event in Australia took place 160 years ago in

Melbourne, Victoria in 1857, between teams from Collingwood and Richmond.

Accounts vary as to the details, including whether it was a single game or a series

of three games, and although details in common

include a score of 350–230 in favor of Colling-

wood, it is said that the rules used were some

form of hybrid between cricket and baseball,

with teams batting until all players were out, and

runs being scored for every base crossed, rather

than just for reaching home plate. Though there

are no records to confirm it, the commonly held

belief is that baseball in Australia originated on the

Ballarat gold-fields among American miners.

The Claxton Shield, the first annually recurring

national tournament, commenced in 1934.

Though the tournament itself has been

supplanted at various points in its history, the

physical Shield is still awarded to the national champions in the Australian Baseball

League. Since 2011, the national champions have then competed against other

Issue 2 Page 8

Editors NoteEditors NoteEditors NoteEditors Note

Dear Rays members and supporters

I must apologise for the delay with posting the re-created Issue 2 of the

Redlands Rave. Between a busy workload, a baseball night game and a

long-standing weekend commitment, the spare time I had to get back on

top with the newsletter was dramatically reduced over the last two weeks.

The Redlands Rave is meant to be for EVERY member of the club and

feature every team, every player, every coach, manager, scorer, parent

and supporter as often as possible. However, I can’t create a regular

newsletter without consistent original content.

Remember the quote from the baseball movie “Field of Dreams”; “if you

build it, they will come”? Well, if you send it to me, it will appear in the

newsletter. Remember, nothing is too minor, too silly, or too repetitious.

Parents, you know best if your son or daughter has hit his or her first

ball, taken their first catch, made their first out, struck out their first

batter or, as an experienced player, has had a phenomenal game. Please

take a photo of your child during or after the event and send it and the

caption to me.

Scorers, I would greatly appreciate a short re-cap of the game plays after

each game. If you are a novice scorer, just a run down of safe hits, the

number of bases run, runners batted in, catches, strike-outs is enough

for a games report. Coaches and/or Managers, some photos taken

before, during or after the games would be really helpful. Ideally, I would

like to include games reports for every team, in every issue.

Committee & sub-committee, if there is a story that needs telling (for

example, new sponsors, a good deed, anything newsworthy) please

forward it on to me for inclusion in the Rave….. And don’t forget, there

are still a lot of volunteers whose profiles are still outstanding!! Please

email me for the questionnaire at your earliest convenience.

Work with me, everyone….. Remember, it’s YOUR newsletter!!! I’m just

the builder!

Don’t forget to send all content and photos to rave@redlandsrays.com.au

Thanks lots for your co-operation

Dorry

Issue 2 Page 9

With Thanks to Our SponsorsWith Thanks to Our SponsorsWith Thanks to Our SponsorsWith Thanks to Our Sponsors