Two South East baseball players have represented South Australia in the under 18 boys baseball side in the 2023 School Sport Australia Championships.
Mount Gambier High School student Blake McAdam and Millicent High School’s Ellis Cushion played in the national championships in Lismore, New South Wales this month.
McAdam plays for the Mount Gambier Federals in the local Mount Gambier and Districts Baseball League, while Cushion plays for the Millicent Bandits.
Cushion and McAdam were coached by Burke Weber, a member of the 1988 South Australian championship side.
The South Australian side played each opposing state side twice to equate to eight games over four days and a win.
The young guns played a myriad of positions over the entirety of the tournament including pitcher, catcher, short stop, third base and left and right field.
The pair did not have enough notice to try out in Adelaide so instead made the team based on their past player record and recommendations.
McAdam said former Federals teammate Cushion trying out for the state side gave him the push he needed to give it a go.
“I did not know anyone else on the team, I knew Ellis was trying out for it, so I was thinking if Ellis is going to do it I am going to try out as well,” he said.
“I figured it might be worth having a go if we could get on the team and then me and Ellis got picked.”
It was Cushion’s performance in game seven as third base which earned him best player while McAdam earned the honour twice for his pitching and his batting performances over the competition.
“I feel like I played pretty good [in game seven], four or five plays at third and I got a hit as well,” Cushion said.
“I played pretty well at left field, but I just took a few catches. The first game I did not pitch very well but I feel like the way I pitched in the second game I come back heaps better and really showed what I was capable of. I felt like I played pretty well.”
Cushion also won the sportsmanship medal for South Australia at the end of the competition. Both McAdam and Cushion said they want to see how far they can take the sport including participating in similar opportunities.
“I will try to keep going as far as I can with whatever opportunity comes around,” Cushion said.
“I learnt a lot as well that I really needed to know, and I felt like it was really good which will be good for my playing and also helping out the club as well.
“I can go into next year and I will have this really good knowledge of what other things need to happen to be successful as a team that I will be able to put towards our team and hopefully can bring success to Millicent.
“If anyone else from down here believes they can play baseball and is good enough to go places I think if this opportunity comes along they should try out and do it because it is a great experience for them.
“If anyone thinks they are good enough, they should go for it.” I want to take it seriously and I want to get better and see how far I can go,” McAdam agreed.
“It was a good experience, and we learnt a lot from it so it would be good to go and do that again.”
