Minor League Challenge
In 2015 the Minor League Challenge was introduced to give those players playing Little League Minors an opportunity to experience Tournament Baseball. This first series was eagerly fought out between the Northern DIamondbacks and the Cheltenham Baseball Club.
In 2016 the Minor League Challenge was expanded to include most of the charter clubs. The Southern Mariners were able to field 2 competetive teams thorughout the tournament with the White team eventually taking out the Championship.
All Star Development
The All Star development is held at both the Little League Level and the Junior League level. The concept behind the Development tournaments is to give those who are close to hte All Star level experience at a Tournament level. The Little League development compete at the same time and venue as the State Little League Championships whereas the Junior League development compete at the same time and venue as the Junior League State Championships.
In 2016 the Southern Mariners entered 2 teams in the State Development Shield Tournament and after the round robin events, the 2 teams played each other for the Championship shield. Obviously, the Southern Mariners won claiming another Championship trophy.
2016 saw the first ever Junior League Development Shield being contested in January in Geelong. After a tough contest, the Southern Mariners came away with the championship trophy.
Little League All-Stars
The Little League All Stars are 14 players selected from all 11 or 12 year olds playing Little League Majors. A series of trials are held towards the end of the summer seaon to select the All Star team.
The All Star team will compete at the Victorian State Little League Championships held in April each year. If successful at the State Championships, the All Star team will then head to the Australian Little League Championships (ALLC), which are held in Lismore, NSW. The winning team from the ALLC will then progress to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA in August.
The Southern Mariners Little League All Stars were successful in winning the 2015 Victorian Little League State Championships undefeated. After traveling to Lismore for the 2015 ALLC, the Mariners finished a credible 8th out of 20 teams.
The Southern Mariners were able to successfully defend their title in 2016 by defeating the Eastern Athletics in the Championship game to progess to the 2016 ALLC as the Number 1 ranked Victorian team.
Junior League All-Stars
The Junior League All Stars are 14 players selected from all 13 or 14 year olds playing Junior League. A series of trials are held towards the end of the summer seaon to select the All Star team.
The All Star team will compete at the Victorian State Junior League Championships held in January each year. If successful at the State Championships, the All Star team will then head to the Australian Junior League Championships (AJLC), which are held in Adelaide, SA. The winning team from the AJLC will then progress to the Junior League World Series in USA in August.
Senior League All-Stars
The Senior League All Stars are 14 players selected from all 15 or 16 year olds playing Under 16 or 18 Baseball. A series of trials are held towards the end of the summer seaon to select the All Star team.
The All Star team will compete at the Victorian State Senior League Championships held in January each year. If successful at the State Championships, the All Star team will then head to the Australian Senior League Championships (ASLC), which are held in Lismore, NSW. The winning team from the ASLC will then progress to the Senior League World Series in USA in August.
The 2016 State Senior League Championships were the first ever held in this age group with the Southern Mariners being successful and taking out the Championship and progressing to the ASLC in Lismore.
All Star Girls
2016 saw the introduction of the first ever Girls All Star State Tournament. There were 4 teams representing hte following hcarters;
* Eastern Athletics
* Northern Diamonbacks
* Southern Mariners
* All Star Invitational
After a tough round robin where any team could win at any time, the Southern Mariners defeated the Eastern Athletics in the Championship game.
2016 Aust SL Championships
GOLD MEDAL GAME: Southern Mariners vs Hills
