James Beresford

Not content with this, we have an "inside scoop" that James, who has been one of the most sought after signatures for American baseball scouts, has decided to pledge his immediate future to the Minnesota Twins organisation. Yes, we have it on very good authority that James inked the deal in the last couple of days and we will bring you some more details about his signing as soon as we can publish!

Once again, we congratulate one of the finest players to be produced by the Waverley Baseball Club's outstanding junior program... and that is saying a lot!.
We all wish him a long and satisfying professional career whatever it brings!

Andrew Russell


Danny Berg

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Russell, who flew 19 hours from Melbourne, Australia, to Los Angeles, then drove 15 hours to Grand Junction for the Junior College World Series at Suplizio Field. Actually, that was his second trip in the past five weeks to and from the United States and Australia.

Russell and Jim Berg, who also hails from Melbourne, have been watching their sons, Texarkana (Texas) College’s catcher, Andrew Russell, and second baseman, Daniel Berg, as their team finished up the season and went to regionals. On Monday, the men were up in the stands at JUCO behind the Texarkana dugout as the team played Wallace State Community College of Hanceville, Ala. They are two of many parents who have traveled hundreds of miles across states and countries to cheer their sons.

The kids on field think they have it hard, but it’s actually the parents in the stands who have it tough, said Russell, a sentiment that parents from any continent can understand. “On a game day, from the time I get up to the time the game’s finished, my stomach’s in knots,” said Russell, his Scottish accent clear above the noisemakers and yells from the crowd. He and his family moved from Scotland to Australia in 1980. “My wife has been listening to (the games) on the Internet,” he said.
 

Berg coached both Andrew and Daniel when they played junior ball for the Waverly Baseball Club in Melbourne.

In the latest news to hand we can also tell you that Danny Berg has now signed a professional contract with the Minnesota Twins. Danny was taken with the 901st selection in the 30th round of the 2004 United States Major League Baseball Draftas a third baseman by the Twins from Texarkana (Texas) Junior College.

To read the rest of the article about the boys, try this link to the BV web sit, click here.

ROBYN KARLSEN

Knowing Robyn as we do, the last thing she would want is all the fuss and fanfare, but we must take this opportunity to thank and congratulate her on this occasion.

For anyone at WBC who may not be aware, Robyn has completed her fifth year of Committee service to the club as one of the truly outstanding club secretaries in Victorian Baseball... we think she is THE BEST!

As the mother of one of our emerging senior stars, Grant Karlsen, Robyn has been involved in numerous roles through the years with Grant in our junior program. These days she somehow manages to combine the roles of wife and working-mother with her other "full-time jobs" at Waverley as one of our senior scorers, club secretary, administration manager, social helper and supporter!

David White

The Waverley Baseball Club is delighted to announce the appointment of our new senior head-coaching panel of DAVID WHITE and SCOTT DAWES, replacing our popular head-coach DAN McCONNON who has stepped down after three years in charge of the club’s senior program.

For those who may not be fully aware of the history behind David and Scott, it is fair to say that they bring compelling credentials to Waverley both in terms of their careers as star players and for their vast baseball experience at very high levels. They also have an historical “link” with the club as stars of the former Waverley / Melbourne REDS as Championship team mates in the Australian Baseball League.

Ex-patriot American DAVID WHITE should need little introduction to Waverley fans as one of our recent “tormentors” in his role as a pitching giant with the Blackburn club, earning due recognition as one of the most respected players and individuals in Victorian baseball. We need point to no better evidence of his stature off the field than his appointment as the manager of Victoria’s re-invigorated Claxton Shield team from 2004/05. A year earlier he was BV’s Division One Most Valuable Player as a key component of Blackburn’s Premiership team.

Along with home-grown stars like Phil Dale, Graeme Lloyd, Adrian Meagher and very few others, David White ranks among the greatest pitchers to grace Australian baseball mounds. David arrived in Australia with the background of having reached ‘AAA’ level with the Chicago White Sox organisation and, it is said, he should have been given the chance to pitch in the major leagues.

He immediately made his mark in Australia as a pitching “titan” of rare endurance and ability, literally carrying some struggling Bushrangers teams in the early years of the ABL before later joining the Perth Heat and finally, the Melbourne Reds. Such was his longevity of pitching excellence that he was inducted into ‘Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL HALL-OF-FAME as an eligible 10-year player in 2001. He had also represented Victoria in the Claxton Shield and his adopted country Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

While this is a very brief overview of his credentials, it is fair to say that there would be few people, if any, who could present such a resume in Australian baseball. I can also assure you that David is a thorough professional whose entire career has been dedicated to achieving success, while he is also renowned for bringing credit to every organisation he has represented… he is undoubtedly a “class act”. We can only imagine the wealth of knowledge and experience he will bring to our ballclub and, in particular, as a mentor to our emerging young pitching prospects.
 

Scott Dawes

Not to be paled by comparison is popular and long-standing Victorian baseball stalwart Scott ‘Rolla’ Dawes who has been an outstanding player and, more recently, he has made his mark in coaching and baseball administration. On the local scene Scott had been a key player with the Doncaster club for many years before taking a coaching role at Cheltenham.

He would be better known to Melbourne baseball fans as one of the “originals” and a three-time Championship player with the mighty Waverley / Melbourne REDS in the Australian Baseball League. Along with a few others, including some of Waverley’s own sons, Scott was part of the “heart and soul” of the REDS organisation and, one suspects, if the team was still playing in a national league Scott Dawes would still be behind the plate!

He was a catcher of rare courage and a clutch-hitter who never seemed to let the team down in pressure situations. Loyalty and determination are words that spring to mind when I think of Scott Dawes.

Scott also represented Victoria in the Claxton Shield and Australian national teams, notably as the Most Valuable Player for Australia in the pre-qualification series against South Africa before our gold medal triumph at the 1999 Intercontinental Cup. Scott has recently earned high praise for various assistant and specialist coaching roles he has fulfilled for state and national teams. Scott is presently employed as the Executive Director of Baseball Victoria.

Collectively, David White and Scott Dawes represent a terrific “package” to steer the Waverley Baseball Club’s senior program in a positive direction. As individuals, both men are dedicated to success and they know what it takes to achieve it. We know that they will have the support of everyone at Waverley to bring some long-awaited Division One prestige back to the club!

Most importantly, we welcome David, Scott and their families to the “Waverley Family” and we trust that their stay at the club will be just as enjoyable as it is long and successful. We look forward to a tremendous new era of Wildcats baseball!

Finally, some words about our outgoing manager DAN McCONNON. I know that Dan would not want anyone to dwell on the past or to spend too much time discussing his departure as our senior head-coach, but his marvellous contribution to the club must be recognised.

We all know that there are many reasons why teams may not win Division One pennants in our competition and that not all of these are due to lack of direction or lack of talent. Dan McConnon also brought tremendous credentials to the Waverley Baseball Club as a professional baseball manager / coach. He did everything that you could ask to develop players and to bring success to the club.

Very importantly, Dan always conducted himself as a professional, with the poise and dignity that represented the Waverley Baseball Club in a most creditable manner. In an era where bad temper, unruly behaviour and disrespect of officials has become commonplace, never once did we see Dan McConnon lower himself or the club to such histrionics.

Dan was dedicated to success and he supplied all of his time and energy to trying to achieve it. Nobody wanted to win or felt our defeats more than Dan McConnon.

We sincerely thank Dan and his family for all they have brought to Waverley Baseball Club and, although he is stepping down from his position as head-coach, we certainly hope and expect that it will not be the last of Dan’s contributions to the Waverley Baseball Club going forward.

 
Waverley's
LEE HOGAN
with his 
BV Pitcher of Year
Trophies

The Waverley Baseball Club did not miss out on the spoils at the recent BASEBALL VICTORIA 2005 Presentation Dinner when one of our favourite players LEE HOGAN scooped the prestigious Pitcher of the Year Award.

After what may best be described as a frustrating season for the club's Division One team, some may remember what a perilous fate we faced after losing the opening five games of the 2004/05 season. While there were other contributors, it is fair to say that our road to recovery started on the back of veteran pitcher Lee Hogan who had not fully prepared for the heavy workload of a starting pitcher while beginning the season primarily as an infielder.

But, when the emergency call came from manager Dan McConnon, Lee Hogan, typically, didn't hesitate to answer the challenge of helping to rebuild our season from the mound.

Inserted as a key starter in our rotation for mid-week games particularly, Lee set about working on the conditioning needed for the hardest job in baseball. Then he summoned all of the quality and experience that had seen him pitch so successfully with the Waverley Reds in the former Australian Baseball League. 

From memory 'Hoges' was responsible for our first FIVE wins of the season and the quality of his performances was an eye-opener, even for those who had seen him pitch at his best. So many times Lee Hogan pitched deep into games to take the heat off the Wildcats bullpen and, on one occasion at Altona, he was a routine throwing error to first base after a ground ball away from a probable NO HITTER! It should not surprise anyone who witnessed his season that he ended it with the 'CY YOUNG like' ERA of 1.40... it was a wonderful performance from a terrific player and a first-class guy!

And, if this was not enough, he managed our SECONDS to back-to-back Premiership triumphs... just for an encore!

Our sincere thanks and congratulations to LEE HOGAN on a superb season and an award so richly deserved!

Not to overlook any of the other deserving award winners from the 2004/05 season, the Waverley Baseball Club would also like to especially acknowledge and congratulate:

The MALVERN BASEBALL CLUB on taking the Club Championship and the Division One pennant. Also Melbourne, who topped the table for most of the season, and Newport who also made the Division One finals.

Newport's stalwart pitcher DAVID ASP on being voted Division One MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

Blackburn's talented Claxton Shield debutant DAVID TIERNEY who was the Division One Batting Champion with .435 avg.

Simon Beresford

Adam Bonaddio

SIMON BEREFORD: Was THE pitching star of the tournament, with two quite outstanding wins. He was the opening game starter against South Australia, setting the team on its way with a great victory. Then he produced one of the greatest ever pitching performances with his 83-pitch, complete game shutout of the top rated WA in the semi-final... he was AWESOME! Beresford was an easy choice for the coveted GOLDEN ARM AWARD for the best pitcher at the carnival

ADAM BONADDIO: Had one at bat as a position player, but he was used twice as a pitcher. He pitched very well in relief in the opening game, then he supplied a performance not too far behind Simon's. 'Bonnas' produced a superb complete game against the Australian Provincials in the last preliminary game as a most important effort for the team. He allowed just one run in 10.1 innings!

JARROD HODGES: Was the starting centre fielder for the team and he batted as leadoff or in the #2 slot in every game. While not quite as prolific as he has been in previous tournaments, Jarrod was again very good, batting .278 before the finals series, where he cooled off. He was still an excellent team contributor.

DONAVON HENDRICKS: Made three relief appearances as a specialist left-hander out of the bullpen. He pitched tremendously for an 18yo rookie on the biggest Australian baseball stage. It should be the first of many Claxton's for him!

GLEN MASCOLL:  Was ostensibly a back-up infielder who appeared briefly in three games but he did not start in any and he was allowed only one at bat. He was another player who deserved his Victorian senior debut in 2005.

To read more about the Waverley boys (and others) at the Claxton Shield, click here for the ‘Flintoff & Dunn’ web site.

JAMES BERESFORD (in Victorian blue) was a leading star for the table-topping Victorian State team... the Vics went on to lose a hard-fought Grand Final game to WA and were worthy runners-up.
Also representing the Victorian Provincial team were MATTHEW GERRATY (left), ASHLEY DAWS (third) and DANIEL ZUCCHET (right). Although the Provincials did not manage to win a game in the tournament, they gave plenty of cheek in a couple of games and they certainly did not disgrace themselves in the 'big time'.

for their selection in the VICTORIA ACES final 21-Man squad for the upcoming CLAXTON SHIELD Carnival at Blacktown, in Sydney from 22-29 January 2005.

With SIX out of the 21-Man final squad, our Waverley Wildcats can rightly claim a "dominating presence" representing Victoria this year. We wish all of our own Waverley boys the very best of luck in Blacktown, along with all of the Victorian ACES team.

For ALL the LATEST & BEST NEWS about
CLAXTON SHIELD - BLACKTOWN 2005
Visit Australia's No.1 Baseball Web Site:
Flintoff & Dunn's AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL.
Simply click the icon at left, or click here

We will publish any game reports forwarded from Perth on this web site, stay tuned!
The U14 National Championships will be held in Perth from 8 Jan to 15 Jan 2005.