Hello and welcome to another edition of Rounding Third. Once again, weather has played havoc with the scheduling of games and grounds in the North Eastern Baseball Association. The last couple of weeks, Targoora park has just been too wet to play any games on. However the weather gods smiled on the the ladies and gentlemen of the North East this past weekend,  with glorious sunny conditions greeting the teams on their visit to Gayview park in Wodonga. In the early game, The Orange men took on Wodonga Warriors White. Behind a stellar performance on the mound by Jason Jonker, The Orange boys could not get over the line. While in the late game, The Rangers Black squad got the job done over Warriors Maroon by twelve runs. Next week, Rangers Black travel to Springdale Heights to take on Warriors white while Rangers Orange head the other way to tackle Benalla Bandits. It has been a couple of weeks since the last line drive, so what else is news? Continue reading and you will find out.

     With the weather being so ordinary over the past couple of weeks, it has been great to see many members of the North Eastern Baseball community band together to try and get games played and grounds up to scratch. This was clearly evident over the Winter Under sixteens championships a couple of weeks back, where the clubs banded together and managed to get the job done under such adverse conditions. This sense of community has continued, with Wodonga allowing us to transfer our home games from the weekend to their ground, as sadly, ours is still not up to scratch due to the amount of moisture in the turf.. However it was not as simple as just moving the games to Wodonga. Much correspondence was had between Tony “Spinner” Smith and  Michael “Bill” Clear, the vice president from Wodonga. From the Wodonga end, Bill has done a power of work and communication with Wangaratta. He was even down there on Saturday mopping up water and making sure the ground was in a safe and playable condition. Throughout the whole process, Bill has let everyone know what is happening and how it is all going. He has taken it upon himself to help keep everyone in the loop about games, teams and player availability. It is such a big effort to keep a club running and individuals like Bill help clubs run smoothly. Just remember to do your little bit for your club. It does not matter how small it is, every little bit helps.

 

     The boys of Wangaratta Rangers are not immune to the Pokemon go craze. While playing at Wodonga over the weekend, The Nambrok boys were catching them all and defending their gyms while tackling the game against Warriors in front of them. At one point Kyle “Doug” Gilmore was rapt that there was a Pokemon left behind to defend their ‘gym’. He even remarked that Wangaratta’s Pokemon game was stronger than Wodonga. After the game was done, trip organiser and all round good guy, Daniel “The Griffin” took flight looking around for more Pokemon. Last time he was seen, he was stopping in multiple locations attempting to catch them all. More updates to following in the coming weeks on how they attempt to be Pokemon Grand Masters.

     Mick, “The Skipper” Wyatt, got a little taste of his own medicine over the weekend. The Skipper plate umpired the first game of the day and called a third strike on Tony, “Spinner” Smith. In the second game the roles were reversed. Spinner called a third strike on Skipper. The boys in the dugout thought it was an even up for an earlier decision. When asked if this was the case Mick just replied with a low voiced “yep”. This sent the dugout into hysterics. Very humble pie there Mick.

     Cam, “The Soak” Scott, is a man of routine on game days. From getting organised in the morning to making sure he stops in Rutherglen when playing in Albury Wodonga, he is a man of routine. However, The Soak had a change over the weekend with rather poor results. It’s safe to say some were surprised with Cam’s reaction to his poor day. But that’s sport and all deal with a run of bad luck differently. Still, by the end of the game he was able to have a laugh about it. There is always next week Cam.

     If you have not already got a ticket to the one and only Rangers Lucky Ticket draw, make sure you do. Hosts Cam Scott and Scott Jenkins have discussed their outfits for this year and going on last years, the event is shaping up to be a cracker. Tickets are $25 and can be bought from members of the club. If you do want one, just drop into Londrigan Meats in the Wangaratta Plaza, they have a book for sale on the counter. Date is Saturday 6th August, 6pm at “The Ranch”.

     Venue is Adelaide. Flights are booked. Final piece of the puzzle has been completed. Accommodation is organised. Now, all that needs to happen is the punters club getting some wins so we  can fund a bit more of the trip. Jet setters Nathan Pool and Travis Frost are already dreaming of a big return for the group in Las Vegas. They have talked about it so let’s hope they back it up. Trip is from Friday 30th September to Monday 3rd of October. Remember, four games to qualify or other monetary compensation is required.

     Talking of monetary requirements…anyone seen the tin? There are a few of the Ranger faithful who may owe a little bit of coin from over the past few weeks. The club may not have played much but still the penalties tick over. If you do something silly (there are plenty of us out there) then make sure you pay your dues.

     Rob “Butts” Seymour is a man of many hats. He has worked very hard over the past few months perfecting the new look of the Wangaratta Rangers playing caps along with the North Eastern Baseball Association representative side. Finally, he has put it all together and there are some ripping playing caps getting around. If you want one see Butts at training or on game day. He will let you know the price.

     Young Ranger Damian French represented the Bendigo side at the under fourteens representative carnival held over the previous weekend in Melbourne. From the looks of things Damo held his own playing a variety of roles for his adopted side. He had a great weekend capped off with Most Valuable Player honours for Bendigo. Great job Damo.

     Only three weeks left in the North Eastern Baseball Association season. Get down and get around the club for the run into the August finals. It would be great to see as many faces as possible down at The Ranch before the end of the season. Drop in for a chat, a throw or even dinner. All are welcome at Wangaratta Rangers Baseball Club.

That’s it from me this week and

Go Rangers