St Marys Baseball Club will put their rollercoaster past few years behind them when they celebrate their 60th anniversary this upcoming season.
Like all community sporting organisations, St Marys have enjoyed the highest of highs and endured the lowest of lows since they were established back in 1964.
They’ve gone from dozens of teams back in their heyday to just one post pandemic, and now St Marys is aiming for upwards of 10 teams – junior and senior – this baseball season.
“St Marys were once the biggest club in the Cumberland region,” Treasurer Darryl Buckley told the Weekender on Monday.
“We’ve been the biggest before, but our motto now is ‘not to be the biggest, but to be the best’.”
To mark the momentous occasion, the club have unveiled a 60th anniversary logo and special 60th anniversary jersey for the upcoming 2024/25 season.
The jersey pays tribute to the club’s original playing top, with some minor modifications paying homage to their current strip.
Club stalwart Glen Robertson has been affiliated with the St Marys Baseball since he was a kid in the 1980s. He said the uniforms and the club’s home ground of Monfarville Reserve has largely remained the same.
“Our first ground was Victoria Park, but Monfarville Reserve has been our main home ground since the ‘70s onwards – we even have the same amenities building,” he said.
“Our uniforms have always been white and green, or green and white, but we did have a couple of terrible green uniforms early on.
“We’ll play in our 60th anniversary jersey this season and then next year we’ll revert back to our usual green and white strip.”
Unfortunately, the club hit rock bottom during and after the pandemic, but thanks to some hard-working and passionate volunteers, it was able to get back on its feet to reach its 60th birthday.
“We’ve lasted so long due to the people that put their hand up behind-the-scenes,” Robertson said.
“When we went through that recent bad period, we came back with one team. We now have three junior teams and a couple of senior teams.
“We’re still a work in progress. We’re nowhere near where we should be or where we need to be, but we are building and hope to have even more teams next season.”
To encourage growth, St Marys Baseball Club will hold five ‘Come and Try T-Ball and Baseball Days’ throughout July and August at Monfarville Reserve, St Marys.
The first one will be held this Tuesday, July 9 from 5.30pm to 6.30pm and continue each Tuesday throughout July. A fifth session will also be held on Saturday, August 3.
“The Come and Try Days are open to kids and adults, and are free to attend. The sessions will be run by our coaches,” Robertson said.
St Marys also plans to celebrate their 60th anniversary with a big party during the upcoming season.
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.