Sunday, August 21, 2011

Registration Day changes


Hey guys just a new update with our current Registration day plans, Due to Fathers day celebrations, this years Registration Day has been moved from Sunday the 4th September to Friday the 2nd of September starting at 6pm at Glassey Park clubrooms.
The Berri Warriors Baseball Club would also like to wish all the fathers celebrating fathers day this year a happy and safe day!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Warriors win 5th Straight!!!!


The Berri Warriors A grade side accounted for barmera in the end of season grandfinal on friday night winning the contest 5-2. In a low scoring and hard fought affair both sides demonstarted skills in the field to keep the other team at bay. Noone scored in the first innings although chances were present with runners for both teams leaving runners stranded on bases. However Berri was able to blow open the runs in the second with a sharp two run blast to score Phill Goldspink and Nick Kuhn. Barmera had its chances to score but couldnt capitilise. Tim Golding pitched a marathon for Barmera and unfortunately the batters were unable to score and repay Goldings efforts. the game never looked won when a 5-0 lead going into the Barmeras Last at Bat saw them rally for two quick runs in the last, however Berri were able to get the required three outs needed and with a 5-2 scoreline didnt need to Bat again, and Victory was claimed, Berri now move into next year threatening to match the great 6 run premiership streak owned by Renmark through the turn of the century, to establish temselves as Premiership immortals!!!

In the B grade game Barmera took home the major prize easily accounting for Lyrup 12 -2

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Warriors through to 5th grand final!!!!

The Berri Warriors A grade Baseball team had a thumping victory over the Barmera Lakers in the preliminary finals on friday night, With coach Nick kuhn on the mound and a strong line up that saw 12 runs cross the plate, Berri never looked threatened and now aims for a 5th straight premiership victory. Barmera was not so lucky with routine outs from the Warriors and a batting line up that didnt wake Berri moved further ahead in nearly every inning.
Strong outs in the field mixed with smart base running the Berri Warriors A grade displayed its skills on the diamond and has no doubtedly caused disturbances to the teams fighting for a chance at the flag. The atmosphere electric and the crowd was alive as runs poured outs fell and hits soared. However the warriors B grade was not so lucky succumbing to an 8 man line up and low light for a game that was inevitably called early, Berri fought hard was unable to out score Renmark before light forced the game to be called in the 5th inning and sadly saw them eliminated from the competiton. The Berri Warriors under 14s make their Grand final debut as well easily accounting for barmeras side they will face loxton in the grand final. The A grade will now enjoy their week off to see Barmera and Renmark fight it out for the chanceto try and claim and victory!!!!

Thursday, December 16, 2010


BWBC Christmas Break Up will be on Sunday 19th December at Glassey Park starting at 11:00 am. Games and prizes for all...Longest hit and Longest throw for all grades....
you may even get the chance to throw a wet sponge at your coach...shhhh dont tell them yet....Free sausage Sizzle...drinks available for purchase....plenty to do for the little ones....Its time to relax...bring the whole family...It will be a great day....Hope to see you all there....

Remember to bring your membership cards to be able to be entered in the Member's draw...

A portion of our drink sales will go towards our boys playing for Port Adelaide...

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Junior Warriors playing with Port Adelaide...

The Berri Warriors Baseball Club wishes the very best of luck to Kenny and Austin Karpany, Taso Bantolas and Paul Spilios, all of which are playing their first games for Port Adelaide Baseball Club in Adealide on Sunday 19th December....safe travels to you and your families....We also express our gratitude to Nick Kuhn for arranging this fantastic opportunity for these boys...another step towards bigger and better things for the BWBC and Riverland Baseball

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Warriors find form against Wildcats


A gruelling one sided affair developed in Riverland baseball on Sunday afternoon. Coming off a hard fought victory against Renmark, The Berri Warriors were again determined to re-establish themselves as serious grand final contenders against the Loxton Wildcats.
Loxton would come out ready to fire against the reigning premiers, but with their key starting pitcher absent from the line up the task was always set before them.
With Berri’s first at bat leadoff batter Steven Scott was walked at his first appearance at the plate for Berri and was quickly followed up with safe hits to Brenton Halupka, Brad Monaghan, Andrew Law and Ashley Rogers giving Berri their best start to a game with a commanding 4-0 lead before the side was retired.
Andrew Law continued his great form from the previous week starting on the mound for Berri, and with two strike outs and a runner at first, Berri’s Catcher Brenton Halupka was able to cease a stolen base attempt and throw out the Loxton Runner to retire the side.
Heading into the top of the second Law showed his coach why he’s fast becoming a commanding pitcher inside Riverland Baseball with three pitches for three quick routine outs and retiring Loxton sending them into the field again.
Loxton Pitcher Carl Henning was in for a long day on the plate as Berri’s bats woke up in the top of the third; Steven Scott picked his second walk for the day and after successfully stealing second base to be in scoring position, saw Paul Reid hit a triple to left field to score Scott. Peter Moritz was next and scored Paul Reid before Phillip Goldspink Doubled to score Moritz straight after. the side was then retired with Goldspink left stranded on base.
Berri was in a commanding position with Loxton straining to get runners on before Steven Scott showed the wildcats that Berri’s defence was as strong as their offence pulling off an unassisted double play to start the third innings. Andrew Law kept his side going forward striking out his fourth batter of the day to send Berri into bat in the Fourth.
The wildcats headaches continued as Berri coach Nick Kuhn’s faith in Halupka was rewarded when he smashed a long bomb homerun over the left field fence for a two run blast igniting the side and the spectators in classic baseball fashion, Berri kept the batting alive scoring twice more before Loxton was finally able to retire the side and try and stop Berri’s dominance.
However Loxton never recovered as their bats again fell silent with routine outs saw Loxton retired and the game called with Berri receiving the 14-0 victory.
Coach Nick Kuhn was pleased with his team’s performance but vowed “much more work had to be done before finals time”.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Last Chance

Last chance to get your Keys for Ka$h tickets. 10 Lucky ticket holders will be drawn after the A grade game at Glassey Park tomorrow (Sun 12th Dec).

A grade game starts at 2pm...hope to see you there....

Monday, December 6, 2010

BERRI PRESS HARD FOR VICTORY!!!


An intense battle ensued in the A grade of Riverland baseball on the weekend. With a 2-4 start to the season for the reigning premiers, Berri were determined to turn their season around, and take it to top of the ladder leaders Renmark in a cliff-hanger.
No side troubled the scorers for the first two innings, when in the third a few safe hits and a walk with loaded bases to Brad Healy saw Adam Job score and take the lead for Renmark. In a tight jam Berri pitcher Andrew Law took control of the situation to successfully fight back and a short pop up to 3rd base saw Peter Moritz take a well timed catch to retire the side. Coming into the Top of the fourth a walk by Peter Moritz saw him reach first base safely and Brenton Halupkas well executed sacrifice Bunt that followed pushed Peter Moritz onto second base and into scoring position.
Phillip Goldspink was next up to bat and after getting a 2-1 count drove the ball into centre right for a base hit and scoring Peter Moritz to tie the game at 1-1.
Ashley Rogers was able to hit safely to push Goldspink to second but a soft hit to Stefan best at shortstop had Goldspink run into a forced tag between second and third for Berri’s final out of the inning.
Renmark in traditional style never wavered from the task and were determined to take the lead back, however soft hits to the infield for routine outs did nothing for Renmark’s confidence as the side was quickly retired and Berri forced into bat in the top of the 5th.

Paul Reid started the hitting in the 5th for Berri with a double to left field and when Law Tripled at the next at bat Paul Reid scored and Berri moved forward now 2-1.
Renmark determined to regain control of the game called on in form Pitcher Stefan Best to try and close the game down however another safe hit to Mark Lang, saw Law cross the plate for Berri’s third run. Stefan Best was then able to shut down the Warriors with three quick consecutive outs.
The task was now Renmark’s and at the bottom of the 5th needing two runs to tie the game saw the task to great and the game slip from their grasp. Renmark’s batting order collapsed under a strong pitching performance by Law and saw Berri Claim a hard fought victory in what can only be described as the match of the round.
In the B grade Lyrup continued to show they are a side that is capable of finals contention with a convincing 10-6 win over Berri’s B grade side.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Leigh Symons 3 strokes and Not out!!!!!


Hello, My name is Leigh Symons, and I am from Adelaide, Australia. I went to LA in 2003 to achieve my dream of playing Professional Baseball in US Major Leagues. Things were going really well up until Oct 23rd, 2003, where i had my dreams cut short, but a awful brain injury. Ive been rehabbing for 5 years now, and have done a lot of things i thought i would never do, like write an inspirational speech!
I really hope you enjoy it, and please feel free to add me to MSN, or to email me at leighsymons@hotmail.com
Would like to get in touch and here your own personal stories!

Thanks,
Leigh



Inspiration speech: 3 stroke’s and not out! –
Baseball story of Leigh Symons


Baseball dreams… Dreams of being a PE teacher…
Never really that good a player in the beginning. Meeting Quiess, (Andrew Quissier – my first real pitching coach!), winning the Alan Waldron medal, big event for my baseball life! Then trying out for SASI squad this is basically the best young baseball talent being trained with the best coach in the State, and missing by a spot, shattering but gave me so much extra motivation to make it next year.

Making the squad with Warwick Marks (Wally) he is the head baseball coach of the SASI baseball squad and also has done a lot of other Australian and international coaching roles, huge improvements in my motivation and desire to go as far as possible with baseball…

Throwing really good in early 2003, getting offered a part scholarship to West Texas,

Meeting (Josh Frick) Fricky’s billet Aimee, 2002 or so. We got along really well and she said if you ever want to play college ball in LA you can stay with me! Tell them about her background…
Then meeting Tom Pokorski, (Pork) he was a good friend of Wally’s and also the pitching coach from Pasadena City College, from LA, deciding to go to LA to live with a family instead of on campus…

Doing good over there, don’t remember any of my pitching or games over there at all.
But receiving a "yellow jersey" within 2 weeks of starting pre season training. This is so the scouts can see all the players who they are looking to sign. This is a very big achievement having received it so quickly. 3 different teams were thinking of drafting me, the LA Dodgers especially!

The LA Dodgers are the team I support and that would have been a dream come true, if I did sign with them. I came so close to being offered a contract, even the head Dodgers Scout of all of LA spoke to my father and said how close I came to being drafted… This was my number 1 dream in life, from early teenage years, this is what I worked so hard for, for many, many years to achieve this dream of being signed by a Major League baseball team in USA, this would have set me up financially for the rest of my life if I played well enough, and made the big leagues…
Then 23-10

Against East LA at their home ground, middle of gang land territory. Awful place to be.
The last words spoken to me were by my Coach who yelled out "just give them something to hit Leigh" next pitch was belted back at my left temple at over a 150mph. All of my hopes and dreams of getting signed by the Dodgers were in an instant gone. My skull was fractured around the point of impact on the left temple and also the back of my head when I flew back around 10 feet off of the mound and banged my head behind the mound.

My injuries were nothing short of horrific, 3 strokes also a 1.5 cm blood clot all through the brain. Went into "grand mal" seizures immediately after the impact. Stabilized at the field then rushed to the hospital. Very lucky I had 2 players’ parents. Ted Basitties and Pam Buttikoffer, a Dr and a Nurse. They both used their medical training to stabilize me.

Very lucky I was so close to one of the best hospitals in the world for neurosurgery. Also very lucky to have 2 surgeons free for the surgery which enabled me to keep my own skull. If not I would have had a metal plate and a lot of screws to replace my skull. They actually send the army Dr’s there to train before they get sent to Iraq.

Even the surgeons both thought I was a lost cause, they saw my brain and one of the surgeons Professor Hart was stunned at how bad it was, all swollen up and bruised. No real hope and chances of even coming out of the coma. Let alone getting back on with an everyday life. After a month or so transferred to another brain injury rehab facility. Casa Colina? This is one of the best places for rehab in the world. I was rehabbing very well, no one could believe what I was doing and how I was overcoming all of these dire predictions.

When my brother Scott called into East LA hospital to ask why I still the had the neck brace on, Pro Hart and the nurses asked him how I was doing, Scotty told them I was walking and talking, they said absolutely impossible. Scotty told them well he’s gonna come in here next week and say "g’day mate" to you. They all said they couldn’t wait…

Me coming back to the hospital, and Pro Hart was amazed, nurses too, went back to my bed where I was in the coma in. He stood at the door with his arms across his chest like a proud father seeing his baby for the first time!

Final surgery, pop the skull back in my noggin

back home to Hamstead
I thought I may have finished rehab when I left America but I now realize it was the start of a process which may last for many years. I got home and then had to go into Hampstead which is the brain injury rehab facility for Adelaide. I spent a couple of days at home first and then moved in. It was hard getting used to it. Since my sense of direction was really messed up. Sometimes I had trouble finding my way back to my room after lunch and dinner etc…

Very frustrating! Embarrassing story, one day I could not find my way back to my bedroom, and I just sat down on the floor and started to cry. It was all my emotions coming out. I stayed down there for a few minutes then I realized I was like a few seconds away from my room!

Yet when I went back there for the yearly check up I walked straight to my room!

The staff at Hamstead were all very nice and caring. I got started talking with this nice male orderly there. Middle aged man. He always had a smile on his face, really happy man.

It’s around a 20-25 minute drive from my own home. It looks quite old with a lot of nice big buildings.
I was sort of anxious going into Hamstead. I didn’t know what to expect, I just wanted to get all better ASAP, even though I knew that was a hard task…

The purpose of Hamstead is to fine tune patients to get them ready for life after a serious injury. It’s basically a place where you can get ready for life again in the real world, sometimes on your own.
It was nice having your own room at Hamstead, I like my freedom, if you wanted to socialise you could always head in the TV room or the games room and interact there.

Hamstead is a very helpful place to help people get a near as possible to a full recovery. However it is hard since every patient there has had a terrible injury or disability which usually means the place is quite sad. However the staff there were always helpful.

It almost sounds embarrassing of me to say it but I felt ashamed of how weak I was there. Coming from being a very fit base baller working every single day on fitness and now finding myself struggling to do the most basic exercises. Even looking back at my first SASI gym program it looks so easy now. Yet back then it was hard! Keep on working with the professionals when they give you advice and you will get there!
Then home rehab

Aimee now doing nursing college in Kansas all due to my accident. Every single thing has its ups and downs. My baseball career was buggered yet Aimee’s nursing career started with my accident. Positive spin on life. Always look on the bright side of life.

Monday, November 22, 2010


BWBC have $500.00 cash to give away to a Lucky Key Holder in our Keys for Ka$h fundraiser.

100 tickets are available at $20.00 each. Out of all tickets that are sold we will draw 10 tickets. One of those 10 Lucky Ticket holders will win the Key that opens the Lock to $500.00 Ka$h.

So if you haven't purchased your ticket yet or if you can help by selling them to your family and friends, see your Coaches, Team Managers or Committeee Members ASAP.. A ticket to win $500.00, would make a great Christmas Present.!!!...

Lucky Key drawn on 17th Dec 0)r....10 Lucky Ticket holders will be notified prior.