Season Preview – Division One 2007/2008

Waverley Wildcats 2006/07 Division One Champions

James Watson, Friday, 28 September 2007

Who’s on the move to Blackburn? Are the strong getting stronger at Essendon? How many players have Melbourne lost this year? The baseball rumour mill has been working overtime this off-season and Baseball Victoria again interviewed the division one coaches to bring you the latest on the 2007/2008 State League season.

In:  Mark Saunderson (ACT) NYC (Not yet cleared), Hayden Chinn (season off), John Chappell (QLD).

Out:  None.

In previous years Essendon always seemed to have an impressive roster yet wilted come finals time.  Last years runners up put that bogyman to bed in 2007, making an impressive finals run before falling at the last hurdle to the Waverley Wildcats.  This off-season the Bombers have added a number of potent bats which may help turn what is already a very strong offensive unit into a potentially devastating one.  Former Australian Provincial slugger Mark Saunderson, one-time Blue Jays farmhand John Chappell and the return of Hayden Chinn should compliment Coach Russell Spear (.407), Tim Sullivan (.438), Scott McIntyre (.370), Josh Davies (.381), Adrian Kelly (.375) and catcher Tristan McDonald (.371) in the Bomber line-up.   Throw in John Edwards (3 HR’s) and Brett Tamburrino and Bomberland is sporting more offensive depth than any other team.

“Tamburrino and Chappell are both rehabbing from shoulder injuries and we’ll see them both in the infield mix around Christmas,” Head Coach Russell Spear said.

“There will also be some opportunities for youngsters early on.  Chris Lane (C), Jarrod Rogers (IF) and Sam Moon (UT) will all get the chance to prove themselves.”

The pitching staff also underwent a makeover this off-season, although they hardly needed it.  Last season’s wins leader Casey Jones (2.90ERA), Ross Hipke (1.40 ERA) and the still dominant Spear (0.87ERA) will be joined by recently converted pitcher Josh Davies.

“Josh is going to see some innings this year, no doubt.  I think we’re going to use a lot more pitching than we have in the past.”  Spear said. .

“I think our team ethic and approach to the season is the most important thing for us this year.  If we stay focussed we’ll give ourselves every chance,” Spear said.

Casey Jones on the  mound for Essendon.

Blackburn Orioles                             Coach:  Lee Hogan

In:  Paul Weichard OF (Doncaster), Adam Bright LHP (Upwey Ferntree-Gully), Brendan Wilson RHP (NYC - Bonbeach).

Out:  Cam Hubbard (Doncaster), Derek Shumpert (Retired).

Nobody has picked up a higher calibre of players this off-season than Blackburn, who will welcome three members of the Australian squad to the fold in 2007/2008.

While the losses of Hubbard (.318) and Shumpert(.385,4HR’s) will undoubtedly hurt, in Weichard the club is getting a left-handed slugger who is rated by the national coaches as one of the top outfielders in the country.  Weichard will slot into a line-up that includes David Tierney (.415), Hayden Dingle (.346) and Daniel Mack (.310).  Coach Lee Hogan also pointed to the emergence of young shortstop James Brooks and the return of Andrew Tierney from injury as important factors to his side’s performance this season.

“He (Andrew Tierney) is really fired up about coming back and I really think that will set the tone for the guys out there,” Hogan said.

“We’ve also got a lot of young guys coming through who will really push for spots.”

“We need to be consistent and play the full nine innings each week,” Hogan said.

 
Ryan Booth.

Last Season:  1^st                                 Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  3^rd

In:  Brett Fleming LHP (College)

Out:  Ryan Fisher LHP (College), Scott Dawes C/1B (Retired as a player), Matt Gehrety (injured – shoulder)

Last year we questioned how Waverley would recover from the losses of aces Simon Beresford and Adam Bonnadio with Co-Coach Dave White even suggesting that he wasn’t sure who their replacements would be.  Enter Ryan Fisher (2.80ERA), an 18 year-old lefty who came out of nowhere to help lead the Wildcats to their first flag in more than ten years.  With Fisher’s departure for College in the US and Minnesota Twins farmhands James Beresford (SS - .316) and Daniel Berg (UT) possibly being unavailable for the majority of the clubs games due to state and national commitments, White and Scott Dawes (whose bat must also be replaced) now have to find replacements for not just one position, but four. 

“We’re really going to need some of the younger guys to step up,” White said.

“We also need to get lucky.  Hopefully things will fall our way and we can get it done with pitching and good defence.”

Lefthander Brett Fleming, who is taking the year off from College baseball, seems poised to assume Fisher’s spot in the rotation in support of Victorian lefty Donavan Hendricks, while Stephen Hood and Tom Rynberk will again be replied upon to provide innings.

Defensively, it would seem Waverley will take a hit with shortstop James Beresford missing a large chunk of the season, breaking up the leagues best middle infield.  Don’t panic just yet Waverley fans, last year’s triple-crown winner Andrew Russell made the transition to shortstop during the winter and by all reports could prove to be more than adept at pairing with Glen Mascoll up the middle. 

Waverley’s offense will again rely heavily on centerfielder Jared Hodges (.329), catcher Grant Karlsen (.413) and last year’s triple-crown winner Russell (.451, 5HR, 35RBI) to produce runs.  Last year’s offensive surprise packet Ian Geduld (.388) may also be asked to move up the batting order while White see’s the other replacements coming from the lower grades.

“We see Josh Hendricks (1B) and Taylor McEvoy (IF) as potential ones players this year,” he said.

Without wanting to write the last year’s premiers off, it seems the drastic improvement of Blackburn and Essendon may relegate Waverley to underdog status yet again.

“We surprised even ourselves last year and hopefully we can do it again this year,” White said.

Glen Mascoll at the plate.

Sunshine Eagles                                                 Coach:  Matthew Kent

Last Season:  7^th                                                Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  4th

In:  Marshall Skinner OF (Preston), Peter Stokes 3B (returning from injury).

Out:  None.

Picked by many coaches to be a surprise packet this year, Sunshine finally may have found the right mix to make the top four.

For one coach the return of Peter Stokes, who for a number of years has been tearing it up in winter ball, could provide Victorian and Australian catcher Matthew Kent (2HR, .345) the protection he so desperately needs to get the Eagles offence going.

Kent believes that the acquisition of veteran outfielder Marshall Skinner could also provide a spark for some of the club’s younger players and improve on the Eagles disappointing .245 team batting average. 

“Hopefully he (Skinner) will have an effect on some of our younger guys coming through like (17 year-old utility) Shannon Hornstra.

“We’re not going to score a lot of runs but hopefully with our pitching staff keeping us in games, we can manufacture enough to win,” he said.

With the pitcher almost every coach picked as the “nastiest” in the league, last year’s MVP Greg Wiltshire is undoubtedly the workhorse who will have to carry the Eagles into the finals on his own back.  Coming off the most successful year of his career in which he was awarded best finals player at the Claxton Shield, represented Australia in February, enjoyed an All-Star season of Independent Ball in the US and received a post-season tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies, Wiltshire (1.68 ERA, 122K’s) could cap it all off by leading Sunshine to the playoffs in 2007/2008.  Wiltshire will be supported by James Ross (RHP – 4.05 ERA) and former Geelong Giants right-hander Lindsay Webb in what will mostly by a 3-man Eagles pitching staff.

Matthew Kent & Greg Wiltshire.


Geelong Giants                                                              Coach:  Nathan Holmes

Last Season:  4^th                                                Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  5^th.

In:  None.

Out:  Simon Murray (season off)

The 2005/2006 Premiers took a step back last year as they tried to repeat without the services of lefty Josh Spence. 

While Spence carved out an impressive college career, fellow lefthander Chris Humphrey (1.89 ERA) proved an effective replacement while supporting Victorian duo Cameron Forbes (1.16 ERA) and Dean Barker (2.23ERA).  The Giants also pickup two other lefties in Elliot Biddle and former Angels farmhand Matt Ryan who were both signed as pitchers by the Minnesota Twins in 2007.

In gaining Biddle’s services as a hurler however, the Giants lose arguably their best hitter (.364) with their centerfielder and offensive spark being kept out of the batters box by the Twins this season.  Picking up the slack for Biddle will be shortstop Kirt Zimniewicz (.402) and Adam O’Keefe (.349) who will be relied upon to produce at the top of the Giants line-up.

With holes to fill, Geelong Pitching Coach Cameron Forbes admitted that this would be a transitional year for the Giants.

“We’re really going to focus on bloodying young talent this year with Cameron Lyons (LF), Dale Ricketts (C), Ryan Darcy (2B) and Steve Wilson (OF) all looking to receive playing time,” he said.

Forbes also pointed to the health of Head Coach Nathan Holmes (.299, 18RBI) as a key factor in whether or not the Giants compete in 2007/2008.

“Nathan is probably our best clutch hitter so we really need him healthy to be competitive,” he said.

Last Season:  5^th                                               Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  6^th

In:  Andrew McKenzie 1B (Fitzroy).

Out:  Chris Hodkinson C (Doncaster), Daniel Passlow 1B (Doncaster).

Every year Malvern seems to be able to convince Darryl Dicker and his collection of veterans to push on for one more season and every year come February the Braves find themselves in the hunt for the finals.

With the return of Victorian first-base Andrew McKenzie, Malvern looked like one of the improvers of the off-season until catcher Chris Hodkinson decided to take the co-coaching job at division one ‘newbies’ Doncaster and take RBI leader Daniel Passlow (3HR, 17RBI’s) with him.

“Smoke (Hodkinson) is a big loss for us but we’re hoping Ben Young will be able to step up and fill his shoes behind the plate,” Dicker said.

The Braves will again live or die off the bats of their veteran sluggers with Justin Whitford (DH/1B, .323), Brad Whitford (SS, .343) Jeff Hill, Cameron McHarg and Travis Loft all returning for a shot at another flag.

Once ranked amongst the most dominant staffs in the league, the Braves pitchers seemed to lose a step last year with Ace Ross Mclean (3.48) still proving effective but no longer un-hittable.  Dicker will again call upon lefty Stuart Willemson (4.10 ERA) and right-hander Mark Richards (3.61 ERA) to support McLean and will be hoping young lefty Chris Wall capitalises on his good start to last season to cement a spot in the Braves rotation for years to come.

Ross McLean. 

Last Season:  8^th                                               Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  7^th

In:  Lennart Koster C (Netherlands)

Out:  Mark Jowett (retired from 1^st IX)

Believe it or not, one of the more thrilling sidelines last season was the battle between Newport and Bonbeach for 8^th place and a place in division one in 2007/2008.

After a disastrous start to his senior coaching career, the young Rams started to gel for Coach Mark McKenner in the second half, proving to be one of the form sides of the competition.  With the pressure on and relegation looming, the Rams were able to draw against Bonbeach in a key late season match-up that would eventually set up their close 8^th place finish.

“The younger guys really developed last season and hopefully they’ll continue to improve and allow us to contend this year,” McKenner said.

For McKenner, the key for this season is the Rams acquisition of Dutch catcher Lennart Koster.  Apparently possessing a cannon behind the plate, the move will allow the multi-talented Chris Bramwell (3.16 ERA) to spend more time on the mound this season.  Bramwell will be supported by Scott Malthouse (4.18 ERA), Cable Savage (5.10 ERA) and emerging right-hander Robert Stein. 

Offensively, Newport (who had the 2nd worst team batting average in the league at .225) will rely heavily on David Land (.347) who was their only plus .300 hitter last season.  After a solid winter, also look for McKenner to rebound at the plate and provide some protection for Land in the middle of the order. 

“We also think Troy Malthouse (OF/3B) is ready to step up for some at-bats in A-Grade this year,” McKenner said.

Mark McKenner & Chris Bramwell. 

Last Season:  Division 2 Premiers                       Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  8^th

In:  Chris Hodkinson C (Malvern), Daniel Passlow 1B/OF (Malvern), Cameron Hubbard IF (Blackburn), Jason Blewjas P (Fitzroy).

Out:  Paul Weichard OF (Blackburn), Justin Woo 1B (season off – work), Ritchie Benes IF (remaining in US), Rhys Otter RHP (injured).

Unfortunately for the Dragons their hard work recruiting was offset by the losses of Victorian and Australian outfielder Paul Weichard, first-baseman Justin Woo (who joined the air-fire brigade) and their best defender in Ritchie Benes.

“Ritchie came in and really solidified our infield last year so he’s a tough loss,” Co-Coach Chris Nicholas said.

What Doncaster do have is hitters and plenty of them.  Last year’s division two batting champ Ken O’Malley will have of protection from Hubbard (.318, 15RBI), Passlow (3HR’s) and Hodkinson which should offset the losses of Woo and Weichard.

The real wildcard for the Dragons is their pitching staff who welcome Blewjas to the fold after a season out of baseball.  Blewjas will provide support for towering right-hander Lachlan Craven, whose mechanics underwent a shakedown over the winter.  With a new pitching motion, Craven is as confident as ever but look for Blewjas to supplant him as the teams ace should the tall righty falter early on.  Behind Craven and Blewjas, Doncaster will call upon right-hander Michael Dobelli, whose plus changeup earned him a reputation as a solid late inning reliever in division two.  Also look out for 16 year-old prodigy Rhys Aldenhoven, another product of pitching coach Alan Tanner, who impressed with a solid performance against Upwey Ferntree-Gully late last year. 

The key to the Dragons ability to defeat experienced division one teams will undoubtedly come down to the ability of Craven and Blewjas to eat innings.  If either get knocked out of the game early or suffer an injury, Doncaster doesn’t seem to have the pitching depth to fill the void and keep the tops sides to a low enough score for their offense to be effective.

Lachlan Craven. 

Melbourne Demons                                               Coach:  Andrew Fennell

Last Season:  6th                                                   Predicted 2007/2008 finish:  9^th

In:  Daniel Kitch (seasons off), Shaun Edwards (Malvern).

Out:  Stuart Cox SS (season off), Michael Dunn OF (season off), Brendan Ratcliff P/DH (season off), Brett Caulfield C (retired), Mark Doubleday IF (retired), Tim Frost LHP (season off).

With the retirement of long-time coach Brett Caulfield and the departure of a number of senior players, the MCC Baseball Section turned to former Waverley Pitching  Coach Andrew Fennell to help rebuild the club in the same way he did Croydon in the VWBL.

Fennell however will be hard pressed to rebuild anything this year with a line-up potentially filled with untried A-Grade players.  Dunn (.368), Cox, Caulfield (.300) and Doubleday are all proved division one commodities who will be hard to replace.  What Fennell does have is a host of youth coming through the club that he believes will be proven division one calibre players within the next few years.

“We have a lot of young guys coming through and there are a lot of opportunities,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in to the role but I must say I’m really impressed with the talent coming through the junior system.”

Outfielder Matt Houldon (25 hits) will be expected to step up to Dunn’s spot at the top of the order while ace Daryn Cassidy (1HR), who will be used primarily as a reliever this season, will see time at the corner infield spots.

The pitching staff, once reliant on Cassidy and Brendan Ratcliff to eat innings, will now rely on youth with 18 year-old right-hander Andy Mann (3.13 ERA),  Chris Cassidy and Jonothan Wiggins all expected to step up during the season.  Clubs however should be weary if Melbourne are able to get a lead.  With Daryn Cassidy’s conversion from starter to reliever, it will be difficult to score of the Demons in the late innings.

Overall, the sheer number of players turning over may see Melbourne as one of the teams who will be battling to stay up come February.

 
Daryn Cassidy.

Cheltenham Rustlers                                            Coach:  Matthew Gourlay

Out:  Adam Irons IF (season off), Steve Gourlay 1B (season off).

If baseball was simply about pitching than the sheer abundance enjoyed by the Cheltenham Rustlers would have them sitting at the top of this preview.  With so many question marks in their batting line-up however, the Rustlers enter the season as a largely un-proven commodity.

Travis Blackley (LHP – San Francisco Giants MLB), Adam Blackley (LHP – Boston Red Sox A ), Tom Ellis (RHP – Seattle Mariners A), Andrew Gribbin (RHP San Diego Padres R), Cable Hogben (Arizona Diamondbacks – Academy) and Blake Cunningham would make an impressive Claxton Shield pitching staff let alone club stuff.

Don’t read too much into the names though, with both Blackleys, Ellis, Gribbin and Hogben all likely to be restricted by pro-club pitching counts and state/national duties.  If Gourlay can find the right mix however, if nothing else the Rustlers should be incredibly hard to score off.

“Ellis is the real key for us.  He’s going to be doing the bulk of the innings and will hopefully be the workhorse of our staff,” he said.

On offense, the Rustlers hope youngsters Daniel Gribbin (IF/C) and Justin D’Rozario will be able to get on for power hitters Daniel Williams (OF), Gourlay (1B) and Ben Wenke (DH). 

“Hopefully we can be the team that keeps other sides to three or four runs and then manufacture enough runs to win the game,” Gourlay said.

Tom Ellis.


Other Bits & Pieces

We also polled a number of coaches and players around the league on a host of questions concerning division one this year.  Here are some of the more popular answers.

Outfield arm you wouldn’t run on

Ryan Booth (Blackburn) – “He’s got a cannon from centre.  He’s probably the best at getting guys going first to third in the state.”

Paul Weichard (Blackburn) – “It wasn’t much fun facing him throwing 90mph from the hill.  It’s even less fun watching him gun guys down with that cannon from left.”

Andrew Russell (Waverley) – “When he’s playing right for Waverley, you are holding your runners.  It’s as simple as that.

Matthew Kent (Sunshine) – “It’s not his arm strength so much as his release.  He gets rid of it much quicker than anyone else in the league.”

Ross Hunter (Blackburn) – “The guy has a cannon for an arm.  Not many guys steal on him.”

Grant Karlsen (Waverley) – “Other than Scott Wearne (Bonbeach), he probably has the best catchers arm in the state.”

Best ground to play on

Malvern

Doncaster

Geelong

Peter Stokes (Sunshine) – “Not many guys see him over the summer but I tell you what – The guy can flat out rake.  Sunshine will be better with him in the line-up, I’m sure of it.”

Chris Bramwell (Newport) – “He would be the best pitcher, catcher and shortstop on that team.  If they had nine of him they wouldn’t lose a game.”

Greg Wiltshire (Sunshine) - 2-seamer, Slider, Curveball

Adam Blackley (Cheltenham) - Curveball

Travis Blackley (Cheltenham) - Changeup

Brendan Wilson (Blackburn) - Curveball

Russell Spear (Essendon) - Curveball

Jared Hodges (Waverley)

David Tierney (Blackburn)

Justin Whitford (Malvern)

Andrew Russell (Waverley)

Jarred Hodges (Geelong)

Nathan Holmes (Geelong)

David Land (Newport)

Brendan Wilson (Blackburn)

Chris Humphrey (Geelong) 

Casey Jones (Essendon)

Hayden Dingle (Blackburn)

James Beresford (Waverley)