The South African Masters Baseball Commission National Baseball Championships 2024 concluded in Cape Town this past weekend with much jubilation. After four days of action, teams from all over South Africa concluded the finals at the Athlone A’s Baseball Club in Cape Town, with everyone celebrating baseball and the camaraderie that comes with the spirit of the game, as friends were reunited.
Saturday saw the finals play out with the Veterans division battle between Cape Town Baseball and Cape Winelands, with CTBF taking the honors. The Challenge division saw Mandela Bay walk away with the title after their battle against Easterns, and the Elite division victory went to KZN Baseball after a win over Cape Town Baseball.
Each division saw a number of players awarded various accolades. In the Veterans division, Raymond Martin from Cape Winelands was voted Best Batter, Lance McKinnon as Best Pitcher, and MVP going to Dalton Peters from Cape Town Baseball.
In the Challenge division, Jacques Groenewald from Easterns was awarded Best Batter, while Best Pitcher went to Johannes Smith from Mandela Bay. Conrad Weitz from Mandela Bay was awarded MVP. The Elite division Best Batter was secured by Mark Presley from Easterns, Best Pitcher went to Carl Michael from Cape Town, and Ian Butcher from KZN was crowned MVP.
After four days of tough action, the South African Masters Baseball Commission selectors chose the championship squad, with Cape Town and KZN securing the majority of the positions.
With close to two hundred and fifty players competing in the tournament, supported by a host of officials, scorers, and umpires, the event was by all accounts a tremendous success and once again testimony to the value baseball brings to South Africa.
There is no doubt that these baseball masters can and will continue to bring value to South African Baseball.
President of South African Baseball, Mr. Marc Moreau, was quoted as saying: “We are thrilled with the success of the SAMBC 2024 event and extend our sincere gratitude to Chairman Mr. Dennis Birket-Smith, Scorers Commission Chairperson Lesley Cook, and convenor of umpires Mr. Dennis Philander, as well as everyone else for their support and dedication to baseball and the hard work behind the scenes to deliver such a successful event.”
Moreau went on to say that South African Baseball values the knowledge and experience of the masters and looks forward to finding every possible option to retain this value within South African Baseball.
