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Top baseball coming to Mt Gambier

Posted on October 30, 2008, 1:01pm and updated on October 31, 2008 at 8:01 am

Australian baseball’s most prestigious competition, the Claxton Shield, is coming to Mount Gambier for a weekend feast of action in December.

South Australia and Victoria will go head to head in three matches on December 19 – 21 at Blue Lake Sports Park.

Celebrating a 75 year milestone in 2009, Australia’s oldest and most prestigious baseball competition will herald an unprecedented format that many see as a vital step towards a revamped national competition.

The game schedule will begin with a Showcase Round at Blacktown Olympic Park from December 2 – 7 where five teams will play the first 10 games of a 40 game series.

The remaining 30 games will be played in a subsequent five-week “home and away” series beginning on December 12 and concluding on January 18, with each state hosting a minimum of six games.

The “home and away” schedule includes regional venues in Lismore, Mount Gambier, Mildura, Wollongong, Geelong and Canberra.

The semi-finals will be held from January 23 through January 25, with the finals to be played February 6 through 8, 2009.

The five-team competition will comprise the Queensland Rams, Victoria Aces, Barbagello Perth Heat, New South Wales Patriots and South Australia.

Australian Baseball Federation (ABF) chief executive John May said the objective was to take the game to the fans.

The Claxton Shield, first contested in 1934, remains the pinnacle event for Australian players with as many as 60 current US professionals expected to compete in the 2009 competition.

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