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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-03 Daily Xml
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Motions

Adelaide Giants

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (11:00): I move:

That this house—

(a) congratulates the Adelaide Giants on their outstanding ABL Claxton Shield victory against the Perth Heat;

(b) notes that this is the first win of its kind in 43 years for the Adelaide Giants; and

(c) acknowledges the significance of this achievement in bringing baseball to centre stage in South Australia.

It gives me great pride to congratulate the Adelaide Giants on their victory. This is an absolutely tremendous victory from the Adelaide Giants. We are so proud of them, their players, their supporters and, of course, their owners as well. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Ross Pelligra and the ownership team of the Adelaide Giants. They have invested significantly in this state. Philanthropy is a big part of these teams doing well, and the Adelaide Giants would not have been able to achieve what they did without the financial support of Ross Pelligra and the Pelligra Group, so congratulations to them as well.

While I am at it, I think Ross has also invested significantly in a Sicilian soccer team that I think has now gone up to Serie C. Hopefully, who knows, they might even keep going to Serie B or even Serie A, and maybe even challenge Napoli eventually, but I digress. I come back to this motion.

It gives me great pride to congratulate the Adelaide Giants on their absolutely remarkable victory this year in taking home the Claxton Shield at the Australian Baseball League championship series. This happened after 43 years. Our Giants have demonstrated an extraordinary degree of dedication, resilience and skill throughout the season and, of course, it was rewarded. They pushed themselves to the limit and now once again I am proud to say that South Australia is on top of the baseball stage nationally.

The significance of being the national champion of the sport is not lost on me, nor on this house, and it is definitely not lost on South Australia. It is an extraordinary feat that we now have a South Australian team that is the national champion. It is just an absolutely outstanding feat. The championship victory is not only a remarkable win for the Giants but is also a remarkable win for all of South Australia. It is testament to the unwavering support of their fans in the South Australian baseball community and, of course, the players' families and supporters as well.

If I had to showcase an Australian baseball league game to someone who had never witnessed or heard of ABL before, I would certainly show them this particular game. It was baseball in all its glory, with close scoring and all the dramatic moments that make a great game. It was a rough start for the Giants as the Perth Heat scored twice early on, but it was quickly addressed with Quincy Latimore striking a double and making it to second base, shortly followed by a home run by Jordan McArdle.

There was outstanding pitching from the Giants. There were notable performances from Austin Ross, Mitch Neunborn, Todd Van Steensel and the starter, Jack O'Loughlin, but certainly the highlight that sent waves through the baseball community was Anthony Quirion and that dive catch on a Perth Heat foul towards the end of the game, diving towards the Perth Heat dugout to land an incredible backhanded catch.

Baseball is an extraordinary game. It shares many similarities with our beloved sport of cricket. Some would say that cricket is even heading again towards the baseball way with the sort of striking that you are seeing these days. But it is an extraordinary game, extraordinary players as well—

An honourable member interjecting:

Mr TARZIA: Indeed. South Australia is now officially the best in the country once again. So I extend my sincere congratulations to the Adelaide Giants and, in doing so, commend the motion to the house. I do again want to pay tribute and acknowledge Ross Pelligra and the Pelligra Group as owners of the Adelaide Giants. Congratulations to the family. They should be very proud of what they have been able to achieve. And, of course, to the players, the supporters, the volunteers and the fans, this is your victory. Enjoy it and we are extremely proud to be members of parliament for this state and have our baseball team as national champions this year.

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (11:05): Can I commend the member for his motion. We on this side of the house obviously join with those on the other in congratulating the Adelaide Giants. This is a momentous win for the club. The championship is, of course, the first series win for our premier league baseball team in 43 years, which is no mean feat.

Many probably would not know this but I do actually follow the baseball. When I was a kid, my dad was a baseball coach, so I spent many weekends as a really little tacker at baseball diamonds all over the place and learnt the game through my dad. Back in those days, though, girls did not play baseball, so me and my sisters would play softball and dad would play baseball, and I got to know the game and love it.

Although there is much that we might prefer we did not have from American culture in Australian culture, baseball is certainly not one of those. I think it is one of the world's great games and a great gift that the Americans have certainly driven forward, and their great traditions in the game are those that we celebrate here and build on in Australia as well.

It was, though, a little saddening for me because my second team that I follow behind the Giants is the Perth Heat. Being born in Perth that is the team that I follow and they have had a pretty stellar and amazing history in the league over many, many decades and have been champions many times. But it was certainly our time this time around and it just adds to the achievement of the Adelaide Giants that they did manage to conquer the mighty Perth Heat.

The Perth Heat and our Giants were winning one game apiece and supporters came out in force for the final game, witnessing a really exciting 5-2, game 3 victory, hosted at West Beach. There was an electric crowd. The Minister for Sport came along to some of the earlier series and said that those games were just as electric, and the crowd were pretty thrilled to see, at the end of decades and decades, this success now crowning our South Australian Giants as the best in Australia.

Our government recognises the incredibly hard work, the remarkable skill and the dedication of all the Giants players, administrators and sponsors, as the member rightly pointed out in his address. We congratulate them through their perseverance, especially through recent years which have been disrupted through COVID and other things.

It is so important, of course, to acknowledge the many South Australians who spent time supporting this excellent team and this excellent sport. I understand that there is almost 4,000 people who are members of baseball teams across South Australia, which is an impressive figure for a sport that is not one of the top three, but I think baseball is gaining in its following and its popularity. It is a spectacular game to play, but also watch in terms of its athleticism, and the strategy behind it.

The passion for baseball through so many families across our state was absolutely on show with the Giants with our local family clubs. Also, as we look through the records, some family names really stand out as those who are really doing well and pushing the sport forward in our state.

This success by the Giants will certainly inspire current and future generations of baseball players to continue to aspire to play at the highest level. Our government has shown strong support for grassroots baseball through commitments made to improve facilities at a number of clubs, including the Port Adelaide Baseball Club, the Goodwood Baseball Club and also the Golden Grove Central Districts Baseball Club.

I have to mention the $7 million upgrade at Weigall Oval, which was completed a few years ago. That was initially funded through the previous Labor government and then executed under the government of those opposite. That facility is quite incredible. It was a bit sad to see the trots go, but it has been replaced with an incredible multisport facility with tennis, basketball, baseball and the Cobras soccer team, who do a roaring trade, especially at a Friday or Saturday night game. That facility is, I think, among one of the best in the state as far as baseball facilities go. If you get the chance, make sure you come down to Plympton and watch our local side, the Adelaide Angels, in action.

I might just say a few words about the Angels. I am the number one ticketholder for the Angels. I am a big supporter of theirs and I do get down to their games as often as I possibly can. It is an amazing spirit down there with some fantastic people who have run it for many, many years, and it is a very inclusive spirit as well. In particular, I have been supporting the women's side, which only started about five years ago. They were basically a group of women who said, 'Look, we don't want to sit on the sidelines supporting our kids and our husbands. We want to actually get into this game and see if we can give it a good shot.'

The first year they came last, but the year after they did very well and then the following two years they made it to the grand final. It is a pretty incredible bunch of trailblazing women at that club. We have seen other women's sides put together and a very healthy women's competition is now in action. Like I said, that fills my heart with glee because as a child women were not allowed to play baseball. There was not a women's league when I was little, but now it is really becoming a sport where both genders are embraced and there is healthy competition.

It is quite amazing to see the investment of time and effort in coaching that has been put into bringing up and building up the women's side and also the junior sides as well. You go from seeing little kids or new players barely able to throw the ball between bases to seeing some really fast action play, which is absolutely exhilarating.

I actually got to call the baseball commentary a few months ago for our Adelaide Angels premier league team, which was fantastic. They have their own little radio broadcast and I got to sit in on that. I think I was meant to be there for five minutes, but they could not get rid of me and I stayed for the whole game and commentated, which was super fun and really a highlight. I think this is a fantastic sport. It is not necessarily a very high participation sport, but, like I said, that is growing.

I want to give a special shout-out to Leanne Smith, who has long been an administrator and former president of the Adelaide Angels. She has just stepped back from that role but has spent decades not only administering the Adelaide Angels and getting involved more widely in the baseball community but also even billeting the American players and coaches who come out from America and join the Adelaide Angels for a season or two. She has them at her own home and puts them up in their own quarters, looks after them and really makes them feel part of the family. That means that there is that higher level of skills that are then passed on to our local club because of the generosity of Leanne and her family supporting those American players to come out.

I would encourage everyone to be inspired by the Adelaide Giants' win and get down to their local baseball club, see what is going on and get into this great sport. It is an amazing sport for kids and women and, of course, the blokes have been at it a long time and do a fantastic standard of play. Congratulations to our Adelaide Giants. We are so very proud of you and what you are doing for the sport of baseball.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (11:14): I rise to add my support to the motion before us today from the member for Hartley, congratulating the Adelaide Giants on their groundbreaking ABL Claxton Shield victory earlier this year. It comes as something of a bit of a purple patch for diamond sports in the state of South Australia, with the women's softball team, the SA Starz, winning the Gilley's Shield last year. I think both of those teams broke significant droughts in achieving national championships for the first time in a long time.

As the local member in the West Beach area, we certainly welcome with open arms the fact that the Adelaide Giants did shift from the Parade down to West Beach a number of years ago. It has been a great thing for our local area to welcome the Adelaide Giants and to see top-quality baseball played in the western suburbs of Adelaide.

As the member for Hartley addressed, the finals series, and the finals run really, for the Adelaide Giants was something of a tale of destiny in many ways, with a number of comeback wins. To be down significantly after losing the first game in the three-game final series, to then come back and win in dominant fashion in game 2, and then eke out a close 5-2 victory in the final and deciding game of that series, it saw the Shark Tank go off down there—that is a reference to the old Adelaide Bite.

It is a fantastic venue and was a fantastic atmosphere when we had so many of South Australia's baseball fraternity down supporting the Adelaide Giants and their success through not just the finals series but also the majority of the year. I think it was one of their most successful seasons in terms of fan attendance across this particular season, and that's a testament to Nathan Davison and his small team of staff down at the Adelaide Giants, even manager Chris Adamson. The composition of that team is something that has been an exciting thing to watch develop.

It is amazing to reflect on the growth of the sport of baseball in South Australia. I think the member for Badcoe has touched on that briefly. The western suburbs, in particular, are very well served by way of local representation in the sport of baseball, with Adelaide out at Plympton, as was referenced; the Henley and Grange club; Glenelg; and also my local team, the West Torrens Eagles. The western suburbs, in a majority of ways, are the centre of baseball in South Australia, as well as obviously being home to the Adelaide Giants playing out of West Beach.

For what has been a second-tier sport generally, we have had significant success as a state developing the players who have gone on to play in the major leagues over in the US. I think that is something that is probably not very well known to the vast majority of people in South Australia. We have a program that fits so well in developing players who go over, who have collegiate careers, who have minor-league careers, who are able to earn degrees and to become professional baseball players in some circumstances. So we do punch above our weight, as we always do in sport in this state.

It is a little known fact that there have been a significant number of South Australians who have made it to the major leagues and played at the highest level, not just in terms of professional baseball. Every four years there is an event called the World Baseball Classic, and we had seven of our South Australian athletes compete in that earlier this year. A number of those who were part of the Claxton Shield winning team—Rixon Wingrove, Liam Spence, Jordan McArdle, Mitch Neunborn, Todd Van Steensel, Luke Wilkins and Jack O'Loughlin—were part of that team, and it was a groundbreaking result for baseball in Australia earlier this year.

It was the first time that we had ever got out of the group stage of that event. We beat South Korea, who are an absolute baseball powerhouse, and lost by only one run to Cuba in the quarterfinals, which is unheard of in the baseball world. Not only are we breaking new territory from a South Australian baseball perspective, but South Australia is playing a large part in making sure that Australia continues to succeed, and to produce above the odds in terms of results at the national level as well.

I did talk about that progression to the major leagues, and one of the underrated parts about the ABL is the number of American players who come out here and play for the Giants each year, or play for the Perth Heat or the other teams around Australia. It is an important part of the progression of our baseball players to be able to have those American imports come out and play in our league. It happens to fit in the off-season of the Northern Hemisphere baseball leagues, which means we have had the likes of top-level Major League Baseball players come out and be part of our programs.

Players who have gone through the Adelaide Giants program and have made the major leagues are not small names, by any stretch. Logan O'Hoppe, who has just had his first season with a big league club with the Los Angeles Angels, unfortunately did his MCL, I think it was—one of the knee ligaments—earlier in the year and is out for the year. Ji-man Choi, who played for a long time with the Tampa Bay Rays, has shifted over to Pittsburgh this year and they are defying all odds at the moment. Andrew Kittredge from the Tampa Bay Rays, who was an all-star last year, is a reliever out of their bullpen. It is a significant contribution.

We have so many of our local homegrown talent over there at the moment, including Curtis Mead with the Triple-A Durham Bulls out of the Tampa Bay Rays organisation, and Jack O'Loughlin, who we referenced earlier, who was one of the starting pitchers for the Giants this year and played in the World Baseball Classic. I met him earlier this year when he was hanging around at the Gilley's Shield event.

The beautiful thing about the cross-pollination between our softball community and baseball community is that they are all out there at West Beach integrating and supporting each other. Jack is currently with the High-A West Michigan Tin Caps and performing well, from everything I have heard as well, in the Detroit Tigers organisation. He made a joke when I met him that the code around the summer league training facility that he was about to attend with the Detroit Tigers was the year that they last won the World Series, which I think was about 1960 or something like that, so etched in all their memories is the date that they last won, which was far too long ago for his liking.

Again, I add my congratulations to the Adelaide Giants for their performance earlier in the year, to have succeeded in bringing the Claxton Shield home to South Australia for the first time in 43 years, and I hope and am confident that baseball—and softball for that matter—will continue to grow in terms of popularity and participation in South Australia over the coming years.

It is an exciting time to be part of the sport. I know Ross Pelligra and the ownership group have plans to expand and potentially have a new home for baseball into the future, but for the time that permits that they are in the western suburbs at West Beach, we certainly thank them for their contribution to our local area and for continuing to provide participation avenues for young baseball players in South Australia. I commend the motion to the house.

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (11:22): Once again, I congratulate the Adelaide Giants on their extraordinary achievement. I thank members for their contributions and commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.

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