Nothing Dodgy about proud grand final win
Coach praises charges after long wait for league championship victory
DODGY Reds’ under-16 baseballers claimed an emphatic grand final victory in the Cairns Junior Baseball League grand finals on Saturday, winning 20-3 over the Cubs.
As their name suggests, the Dodgy Reds are a combined team featuring players from the Dodgers and the Reds.
Under-16 coach Paul Dymond said a grand final triumph had been a long time coming for his troops.
“It took us nine years to get there, but we got there eventually,” he said.
“I’ve had these kids since they were in tee-ball – since they were five years old.
“I’ve grown up with them and this is my ninth year as coach.
“I’m just really happy the kids were able to get that opportunity to win and feel what it’s like.”
Cairns Junior Baseball League co-ordinator Joel Ward said Saturday was a “glorious” day of baseball.
“This year, we only had two teams in each of the age groups,” he said.
“But one good thing about that was that every single kid that’s involved in baseball was there on the grand final day.”
While baseball has a passionate following in Cairns, the sport also has its fair share of challenges in a region dominated by oval ball sports.
Dymond said the league had struggled for numbers in recent seasons.
“We’re competing against a whole bunch of other sports – in our season we’re against league and AFL, which have big budgets to get more players involved,” he said.
“It can be a really hard sell but, honestly, it’s just such a great sport for kids.
“It’s a non-contact sport and a team sport and an individual sport at the same time.
“It’s a team sport when you’re fielding and an individual sport when you’re in the box batting.
“It just has a really friendly atmosphere. Like any sport, kids come and kids go, but the ones who do love it seem to stick around forever.”
Dymond said the main goal this year was to improve the overall ability of all the kids across the league.
“We didn’t really see it this year as an ‘us-versus-them’ competition,” he said.
“We just worked to improve the quality of the kids’ baseball across the board and I think it worked really well this year.”
With the junior baseball season done and dusted, the league’s top players will put their club rivalries aside as they turn their attention to this month’s state titles.
The under-18 state titles will be held in Brisbane this weekend, while the under-16 state titles will bring Queensland’s finest to Edmonton’s Walker Road Sporting Precinct from September 27-30.