Aussie success wins Hearts

By Stuart Teather
IT WAS a sweet homecoming for local baseball icon Rob Novotny as he helped the team he created, the Aussie Hearts, to international glory as the side crushed America’s finest teams on a whirlwind tour of the country.
The Hearts blitzed the best the US could offer in the Hall of Fame Classic, held at Simmons Field in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Novotny, from Kenosha, has lived in Australia for the best part of a decade and in 2005 assembled the Aussie Hearts, a women’s baseball team made up of some of Australia’s finest players.
He said he rated the victory amongst his proudest moments in baseball.
“Simmons Field is my favorite place in the world. To defend my literal home field against the best teams in America was a deeply satisfying moment,” he said.
Simmons Field holds a special place in American baseball folklore — it was the home of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948-1951, a league best known from the movie ‘A League of Their Own’.
With more than a dozen former All-American Girls watching, the tournament kicked off with the Hearts going up against the top team in the US — four-time defending national champion the New England Women’s Red Sox.
The match turned into an epic 13-innings showdown, with the Red Sox eventually prevailing 6-5.
After losing another match 3-2, the Hearts appeared out of contention for the Championship, but changed the tournament with a 17-3 demolishing of Washington, before an epic 3-2 contest against Chicago secured the side a berth in the final.
Facing the Red Sox again, the Hearts avenged their earlier defeat with a 7-1 belting of the best team in the US, to claim the prize.
Novotny was full of praise for Springvale players Simone Wearne, Shae Lillywhite and (his wife) Kelly Manzie-Novotny after the game.
He said Wearne’s pitching in the crucial match against Chicago was “nothing short of legendary”.
“She maybe only threw four or five pitches at full strength. It was her skill at hitting spots and mixing speeds that carried the day.
“Her skill and baseball intelligence outshone everybody else at that event. She delivered us to the grand final and gave us a chance to win.”
Lillywhite led the Hearts’ batting, and received the Hearts’ Most Valuable Player award.