Played by two teams with a ball and a bat, running around the four bases laid in a diamond shape on grounds to score: Baseball is one of the huge pastime games originally from the USA, and is also a pride of J’pura with its outstanding team of dedicated players.
According to the concepts of the game, between the two teams, the one that plays offensive takes batting, and the other chooses defense; fielding. The batting team needs to hit the ball into the field and to run through all the bases while the fielding team must focus both on preventing the batters from becoming the runners and the runners advancing through the bases. The runner must reach his home plate where he started as a batter to score one ‘run’ and the team with more runs at the end of 9 innings is considered to be the winner.
This interesting game commenced in the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in 2006 and through all these years of hard work and dedication of our talented players, the team glows with its glorious victories as it keeps growing in its venture. The prestigious winning history of J’pura baseball started in 2010 as the Runner-up in SLUG and it continued to pursue its victory and won the Championship of SLUG in 2016 and in 2019. The team has also secured 4th place in the SLUG 2013 . In addition, the team has fetched many victories
in the Inter-University Games, including the Championships twice in the years of 2015 and 2018. Other than this, the team has secured 4th place in the years 2011, 2012 and 2014; and got qualified for quarter finals in the year 2017.
With their emerging skills, our players have also been invited to do their national duty by representing the Sri Lankan National Baseball Team at the international platforms. Theekshana Gammanpila being the Vice-Captain of the Sri Lankan National Baseball team, had played for the country in the 8th Asian Baseball Championship 2009 held in Thailand to bring back home a bronze medal. He also led the team in the World University Baseball Championship 2010 which was held in Japan. It’s significant to mention that the team had manifested their talents at the 1st SAARC Baseball championship 2011 in Pakistan under his captaincy, and secured a silver medal in that series.
It’s nothing but a privilege to mention that the Championship Era of J’pura Baseball began with the entry of their dedicated couch Mr. Vihanga De Silva, who joined the team in 2015 and continues to encourage and motivate the players in the right direction ever since.
In2017, Dilshan Priyadarshana and Chamika Yasas had contributed to the National Team in the 28th BFA Baseball Championship held in Chinese Taipei and Vidura Kolombage went to play for the Sri Lanka National Baseball Squad the same year. Chamika Yasas also went to play for the 17th Asian Baseball Championship 2018 in Jakarta. In 2019, Vimukthi Senavirathne played for the national team in the West Asian Baseball Championship held in Sri Lanka to win a gold medal and he also went to the baseball fields of Taiwan for the 29th BFA Asian Baseball Championship the same year and helped secure 7th place for the country.
With their evincible passion for the game, our players have taken the baseball of J’pura to its next level which has also lead our country to shine bright in the international platforms. As a famous saying goes, “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen” and here we are, the ones who make it happen!
Written by: Marin Rachel Mariathasan
Graphic Designed by : Jithmi Rajapaksha