Hardball (2019 TV series)

Hardball is an Australian children's television series set to screen on ABC Me. The series is produced by Northern Pictures with Screen Australia in association with Create NSW and the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF). It was released to stream on the ABC Me app on April 1, 2019, and aired on April 22, 2019, the second season came out in 2021. The series is filmed at La Perouse Public School in La Perouse, NSW, Australia

Hardball
Genre	Family Comedy drama
Created by	Guy Edmonds Matt Zeremes
Written by	Guy Edmonds Matt Zeremes
Directed by	Darren Ashton Kacie Anning Fadia Abboud
Composer	Adam Gok
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	23
Production
Executive producer	Catherine Nebauer
Producer	Joe Weatherstone
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Northern Pictures
Original release
Network	ABC Me
Release	April 22, 2019 (2019-04-22) – present

Plot

Mikey moves to Western Sydney, where he meets Jerry and Salwa, who want to help him win at handball.^[1] The elected school principal is Ms. Crapper and Tiffany's dads are Steele and Stone.^[2]

Cast

• Semisi Cheekam as Mikey
• Reannah Hamdan as Salwa
• Holly Simon as Prisha
• Logan Reberger as Jerry
• Erin Choy as Tiffany
• Helen Dallimore as Ms. Crahper
• Daya Sao-Mafiti as Daddy
• Maria Walker as Auntie
• Sam Everingham as Viktor
• Ella Holowell as Ivanka
• Jack Scott as Kevin
• Nicholas Cradock as Lance
• Tilly Jefferson as Lily
• Taylan Gogan as Bao
• Mahdi Mourad as Mustafa
• Michael Denkha as Jim

Guests

• Guy Edmonds as Bevan Stone
• Matt Zeremes as Steele
• Wendy Strehlow as Wanda the Tuck Shop Lady/Food Truck Lady/Chip Shop Lady
• Hugo Johnstone-Burt as Connor McCaan
• Sam Alhaje as Chicken Billy
• Jay Laga'aia as Mr. Butte
• Haiha Le as Miss Bahm
• Andrew Ryan as Garry Garrison
• Madeleine Jones as Reporter

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"Across the Ditch"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
2	2	"Sorry Salwa"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
3	3	"Howie the Handball Hero"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
4	4	"Impossible Mission"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
5	5	"Too Many Cooks"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
6	6	"Battle of Block Street"	Kacie Anning	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
7	7	"Rush Hour"	Fadia Abboud	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
8	8	"The Girl with the Handball Hoody"	Kacie Anning	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
9	9	"The Odd Couple"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
10	10	"Garry Garrison"	Kacie Anning	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
11	11	"A Few Good Bros"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
Following the events of the last episode, Mikey is out to clear his name. His attempt to persuade Tiffany to affirm what she saw, goes soar when she denies having witnessed him throwing the ball. Mikey's father tries to help by giving Ms. Crapper a team cap, and although she is thankful for it, she remains determined to have Mikey expelled from playing in Sasi-West-Hat. Mikey, Jerry and Salwa attempts to talk to the Butterfield principal by impersonating Ms. Crapper, but to no avail. Salwa later discovers that clause 12 in the handball rules, states a student can't be expelled without a trail where the students vote for or against expulsion. Ms. Crapper approves of a trail, which she herself presides over, Jerry and Salwa acts as Mikey's defence and Mustafa and Bao as the prosecutors. Tiffany, Salwa and Mikey are called to the stand, and their fellow students vote for Mikey's innocence. Afterwards, Tiffany reveals to Jerry that she knows that the legend of Howie was a lie, and that if he doesn't tell Mikey himself, she will do it. Jerry arrives at Mikey's, and confesses that he lied about the Howie legend because Mikey needed something to believe and to motivate him with handball. After it dawns on him, Mikey asks Jerry to leave, leaving him upset.
12	12	"Volbrom"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
Mikey feels betrayed by Jerry and Salwa, and tries to avoid them. Unbeknown to him, Jerry and his brother Kevin, has placed a tracker on his bicycle and follows him to Mustafa's barbershop where Salwa later confronts him. Mikey still blames her and Jerry for the lie about Howie before leaving. He goes to Steele & Stone to tell that he's quitting Sasi-Wests-Hat, and even rebuffs Tiffany's attempt to make him reconsider. After his bike breaks down, he meets his father on the way home. He tells Mikey that everyone deserves a second chance, and after some thought, Mikey rushes to find Jerry and Salwa. He later finds them at the Emu Valley Sports Arena after getting help from Kevin. The friends reconcile and start practising for the upcoming Sasi-Wests-Hat.
13	13	"Sasi-Wests-Hat"	Darren Ashton	Guy Edmonds & Matt Zeremes	1 April 2019 (2019-04-01)
On the day of the Sasi-Wests-Hat, Mikey arrives with his auntie, but his father must attend practise before the match. Mikey's team is up and he is reassured by his friends Jerry and Salwa, that he will win and that he has to remember his “why”. In the first rounds, Mikey wins and loses but manages to go on without issues. While Tiffany wins over Beatrice, Mikey wins against Z-Pop despite that she hurt her leg. During a break, Ms. Crapper tells him that she had wanted to be good at handball, but could never handle the pressure. Mikey's father arrives in time for the grand finale, where Mikey triumphantly beats Tiffany. Despite his victory, he allows her to make her speech before him. Mikey, his father and aunt and his friends celebrate his victory back at her workshop. Tiffany arrives and challenges Mikey for a re-match at a park tournament. After she leaves, Jerry and Salwa nod affirming to him.

Season 2

The second season of Hardball screened from 25 June 2021.^[3] In July 2024 it became available for viewing on Netflix.^[4]