Hello and welcome to the Summer edition of North Eastern Baseball favorite publication. It has been a quiet off season for the men and women of Wangaratta Rangers Baseball Club but this will all change pretty soon with the season fast approaching. Once again this year the club will be professionally run by the master of the prattle President Tony “Spinner” Smith along with the motley crew of characters which make up the one and only baseball club in the rural city of Wangaratta. So if you are a first time reader I welcome you and for all you returning readers welcome back and hope you enjoy the insights into what is going down at “The Ranch”. Enough of the introduction let’s get down to what is going on and what is coming up.
Ranger Ramble another smashing success.
It has been quite a break since our last little correspondence. Since then, twelve intrepid souls headed over to Adelaide for 2016 edition of Ranger Ramble. Now thinking back to then the weather was not kind to the South Australians. Cam “The Soak” Scott and Steve “Fernando” Peruzzo went a day ahead as a scout party and found out the op shop game in Adelaide is not nearly as good as Melbourne’s. When the other men arrived their outfits were pretty impressive. Though all agree wearing op shop shoes is not a great idea. Anyhow the highlight of the weekend was most certainly the AFL Grand final on the balcony down in Glenelg. A great day was had by all. To the organiser Daniel “The Griff” Griffin well done. Where to next men?
Happy Trails Dylan
Over the summer the club waived goodbye for the time being to Dylan “Pickle” Cowan. Dylan and his lovely wife Marnie have headed back to America as Dylan got a offer for further study. He will be sadly missed by all of us at the Wangaratta Rangers Baseball Club and along with the wider sporting community. It was a very good article in the Wangaratta Chronicle highlight how much of an impression Dylan has left on countless people. Good luck on the studying Dylan. We will see you soon.
Nambrok take on the world.
Over the Holiday period four intrepid members of Wangaratta’s favorite boy band “Nambrok” took what looked like one amazing trip overseas taking in Hawaii, Canada and the United States. From the pictures the boys posted on scoial media all were having a great time and left one Daniel “Hank Scorpio” McCullough behind for the year. Have a great year abroad Chopper. This writer is sure you will.
Golfing conundrums
Now there are quite a few at the club who do like a hit of golf. Some play better than others. This was clearly evident one Novmeber morning with Testu “Iron Chef” Kamiyama, Rob “Butts” Seymour and Cameron “The Soak” Scott. The Soak was never in the hunt all daty at black bull where he once again gave a up a few golf balls into the numerous water holes around the course. Each time one of the others had a laughr at someone else expense they too would fall foul of the golf gods and their ball would disappear. By the end “The Soak” was clear winner with a ball score of six under. That’s six balls into the water, with four balls lost on on the one hole. If you play bBlack Bull, make sure you hit the ball straight. A wonderful but very unforgiving golf course.
Cods update.
Yes Kelsey Burder’s favorite topic. CODS. The boys are suiting up for the annual trek to Ballarat from March 17 to 19. Already many of the boys are getting a bit excited for renewing acquaintances with old mates and the possibilities of new friendships. Big Cod Mick Brownlie is very psyched and is looking forward to renewing his friendship with Rob “Butts” Seymour. Not sure how Buttsy is felling about it. The boys will be getting together for run soon. Some specific training will be in order for Cod brother Rob “beaker” Barbour who is going to learn the art of where not to stand to get hit by a ball.
Let’s get together for a run
Wednesday 15th February it has been decided to come down dust off the glove and shoes and come down for a hit and a run around. T-ball will be on as well so come along have a look at our future> Coaches Moose and The Legend Kevin Pool are doing a terrific job with the young guys and girls and more to help out the merrier. So be ready Wednesday 15th from 6pm. If you want to come down for a throw and a hit you are in!
Short one so here is some club news
Training 15th February
Possible game 4th March TBC
Victorian Masters Games March 17-19 Ballarat
Bunnings BBQ 25th March
So in all welcome back and most importantly spread the word about Wangaratta Rangers
Hello and welcome to the presentation edition of Rounding Third. The ranger family got together over the weekend to celebrate season 2016 at their valued sponsor Cafe Martini in Wangaratta. Plenty of laughs were had with all in attendance having a good chance to mingle, chat and joke with one another. Most awards were given out and received graciously, some awards were in good jest and won by deserving recipients. More about that later.
MVP Matters
This year The Rangers decided to use teamapp for all voting purposes, to award the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award. Ranger IT guru and good friend of Line Drive, Cam “The Soak” Scott was busy each week lining up four players, scorers or supporters to vote on who they thought played well in the Orange and Black. The votes were then tallied and presented on Saturday night. Two very deserving winners were announced. In the Rangers Orange the award went to Jason “JJ” Jonker by a clear margin from Kelsey Burder and Brendon French respectively. For Rangers Black, ol Rubberarm Nathan Pool was crowned MVP for season 2016 in front of Aaron Parker and Scott Jenkins, who had a breakout year with the bat. Congratulations to all winners
Who spat the dummy?? It was a suprise!
One of the more prestigious trophies awarded each year is to the person who had a a bit of a breakdown. Cam “The Soak” Scott, surprisingly, was awarded the dummy spit for his meltdown up at Porepunkah. By all accounts from the man with the poison pen, Kevin Pool, it was a beauty. When asked about the award Cam did respond with “oh yeah it was well deserved. Gee it was a good dummy spit. One of my best”. It looks like he spared Scott “The Beard” Jenkins from being given the trophy.
Seymour goes back to back on the fly!
Merchandise guru and wannabe DJ Rob “Buttsy” Seymour was rapt with going back to back in the annual fly ball award. Butts won this award by a short margin last year, but this year he opened up a gap on his opposition that could not be bridged. He is already talking about a three-peat for next year. In the off season look to see Buttsy wanting to spin some decks on the local pub scene.
Strike outs shared
The annual whiff bat was taken out by both, Kyle “The Thrill” Gilmore and Tony “Spinner” Smith, for season 2016. Their strike outs came in batches of multiples which placed them at the top for the award. Both were not surprised by being declared joint winners. Never mind boys it will be time for someone else to step forward next year.
Coach Burder a man of many words
Kelsey “mini bus” Burder can be a man of many words, or actually no words at all. When quizzed on any aspects of games and the season, Burder trotted out the line “uhhh I don’t remember this game” followed by the next line when asked about another game of “uhhh I don’t remember this game either”. One has to question if he remembers winning the B grade premiership this year? The one thing he does remember is how poor he threw on the mound against Porepunkah and still managed to get votes for the game!
Ranger Ramble in Radelaide 2016
This weekend the boys are off to Adelaide to watch some footy, baseball and celebrate the end of another great season. All the usual suspects will be in attendance. Ably led by Daniel “The Griff” Griffin, the boys will enjoy the sites and sounds which Adelaide is known for. The day is always one to look for, being the main theme day. The theme this year is $25 Op Shop. Anything spent over the amount is into the tin for all to enjoy. Looking at the weather forecast, it is going to be cold. I wonder how that will affect the fashion icons such as Brad “Undies” Murdoch and Daniel “Chopper” McCullough? Not to mention Nathan “Rubberarm” Pool who goes all out year after year. All will be revealed at 7am Friday at the airport.
Last years dress up. This year is Adelaide and Op Shop.
Cods news
Victorian Masters will be held once again in Ballarat March 17-19 2017. There has already been strong interest shown by past players and reigning Cod master Mick “Big Cod” Brownlie. The one condition if he goes is that Rob Seymour must go too. Masters is open to all who are north of the age of 35. Check out Cods Masters Baseball on Facebook for more details over the next few months. Once again as the Cods get older they still think they are as good as they once were!
Ranger Club news
Committee meeting in October .
Stubby holders available for purchase from the club. See Butts for one
Cods Masters information. More to follow
Ranger Ramble in Radelaide is on 30th-2nd of October. Good luck boys!
Check out the photos on our Facebook page. Thanks to Brendon French for the pics.
Make sure you are available for the game in Benalla Mick Wyatt!!
Well that’s about it this time round. Once again thanks to all our valued sponsors out there and most importantly, you the readers and supporters of the Wangaratta Rangers Baseball Club. Till next time,
Greetings and welcome once again to another week of news and stories about Wangaratta Rangers Baseball Club. The grand finals have been run and won in the North Eastern Baseball Association. All Finals were played in Wodonga at Gayview Park. Benalla and Wodonga Warriors started the day off with Benalla winning 12-0. In the morning final the men from Wangaratta Rangers Orange jumped NASC Bears Gold early and ran out winners 11-3. In the last game of the day after five tight innings bears opened the throttle and ran away with the final 17-3. It was a great day of Baseball in the North easy and special thanks needs to to go to the Wodonga Warriors Baseball Club for getting the grounds looking great and to all supporters who came down to watch throughout the day. So what else is news?
Orange go from strength to strength
The Wangaratta Rangers Orange men have shown great improvement throughout the season. After a rough start early on, the boys knuckled down and were able to string together some wins for the end of the year. This was evident in the elimination final against Porepunkah Panthers. In the decider the following week, The orange bats came alive from the first inning and behind some great pitching by Brendon “#59” French the boys got the job done. Man of beard and memeber of the Nambrok crew Daniel “The Transporter” Griffin had a day out with the bat racking up hits at will. Griff has been in a purple patch of form with the bat and glove the past few weeks. Not to be out done Ranger cult hero Kyle “The Thrill” Gilmore lived up to his name and was instrumental in getting the out to end the game. The crowed roared for Gilly and was a fitting end to a great game.
Winners are grinners Ranger Orange. Thanks to Tania Pool for the image
Kelsey “The mini bus” Burder steps up when it counts
The last few weeks has seen Orange manager go through some tough times with his chargers. It all started with the savaging as mentioned in the previous edition of this column when the doyen of the Rangers, the man with the poison pen Kevin Pool savaged Burder for his pitching ability against Porepunkah. This has not stopped since with his men calling him “The Mini Bus”. A few members of the club could not work it out why he was being called a mini bus. The boys enlightened those who did not understand that he is only half a coach! So hence the name mini bus. This had stemmed from him forgetting gear amongst other things on gamedays. However when it came to grand final day Mini Bus Burder was able to be upgraded to a fully fledged 57 seater coach. He called a great game from behind the plate and chased down every foul fly ball. He hit the ball hard and was constantly heard throughout the game. He was the leader of his pack. His pack responded by playing hard and fair. Congratulations Coach on a great job in 2016 with Wangaratta Rangers Orange.
Chopper Wiggle
When standing in the batting box many base-ballers have habits that they do to get ready. Multi sport athlete and all round great guy Daniel “Chopper” McCullough has the bum wiggle while getting settled up at the plate. With the high hoop socks and always immaculate appearance it has become a ritual at each Ranger game. The wiggle worked as Chopper hit and had a day out at centre field. Now he is chuffed to have played in a winning final with his great mates The Nambrok Boys. It has been great having you down at the Ranger Ranch this year Chopper.
On base machine Doc
Sean “The Doc” Warfe mentioned that this is his first grand final win in a very long time and he was proud to be a Ranger for it. He should be as Sean has been in white hot form as an on base machine. In the past couple of weeks he racked up walk after walk and hit after hit. This gave the rest of the lineup a perfect launching pad to score the runs they did. Great stuff Sean!
Rangers Black fall short.
With The Orange men winning in the curtain raiser, rangers Black were looking to defend their title against a very determined Bears Green. It was a game that had it all, great hitting, good defense but someone always has to win. In this case it was Bears Green. No matter what the Ranger men tried it just was not meant to be this year. After five tight innings the floodgates opened and Bears Green were never in trouble after that. The score does not give a true indication on how long the game was tight for. At the end of the day Bears Green was just too good. The Ranger boys stuck around and had a drink with their fellow baseball brothers after the game as it always should be done. Win lose or draw always stick around have a chat and a drink with the other clubs who worked hard to put on a great grand final day. That’s one thing Rangers should always be proud of. There is always next year gentlemen.
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Wodonga Warriors know how to style it at the Grand Final
With Wangaratta’s ground being underwater again, the Grand Final was moved up the Hume to Wodonga’s Gayview Park. The ground was in much better shape than Wangaratta’s and was the perfect choice for the final. The boys had it looking tidy and sensational and the canteen was stocked. One more point of difference was their fire drum. It was portable. This does not sound any different to many fire drums around the state but the main point of difference as it was a washing machine drum in a shopping trolley. This made it very easy for the Warrior boys to wheel it around and keep warm wherever they were. Each year our Warrior brothers entertain and support the grand final in the best way possible. With good humor and fun. On behalf of Wangaratta Rangers, thank you for your hospitality all season with our ground being unplayable. All for the good of baseball in the North East.
Ready for action Warrior style!
Seasons over Let’s celebrate with strange phone calls
Sunday night the Ranger family gathered back at Targoora Park for Pizzas supplied by Cafe Martini and a catchup and debrief about the days play. All celebrated in style round the fire with some “interesting” conversations on the telephone. Thinking back over past grand final nights this is nothing unusual. In the past few years phones have been broken random strangers called, so in all was just another night at Ranger land really.
Presentation night Saturday 24th September
Same place as last year upstairs at Cafe Martini Wangaratta, 6pm onwards Saturday 24th September. All are welcome and Annual general meeting will take place before the presentation. Come along celebrate a great year in true Ranger style.
Ranger Ramble 2016 Radelaide
Voted the best club trip by any club in the north east for another year is only a month and days away. A theme has been decided upon. It will be $25 best op shop with tags to be still on the garments. This is for authenticating the stipulations and conditions. A prize is awarded to the Ranger with the best choice of threads. Those who are going get saving and be ready for a cracker of a weekend. Steve “Fernando” Peruzzo and Cam “the Soak” Scott are so excited they booked an earlier flight and arrive on the Thursday! More details to follow.
Season may be over, time for T-ball
In the coming months T-ball will begin again for another summer. Look for more details on the Wangaratta Rangers website in the coming weeks for more details. One thing is for sure Bryan “Moose” Wilson is raring to go with his budding ground of future Rangers.
Photos galore!!!
It was great to see on the Facebook page an assortment of photos from both Wangratta Rangers Black and Wangartta Rangers Orange games. The photos that were shared were sensational. It gives a real picture of what Rangers are all about. A family. A friend of Line Drive wished the club good luck on Sunday morning from London. Claire Smith may be on the other side of the planet but she had time to thinkk about the family that is Wangaratta Rangers Baseball Club. On behalf of myself Line Drive and all other members of the club we thank our supporters, scorers, sponsors for season 2016. We hope to see you all out there cheering us on in 2017.
Ranger News
Presentation 24th September pm Cafe Martini Wangaratta. All welcome
Ranger Ramble 2016 September 30th to October 3 Adeliade
If you have a community Raffle book please get it back to the club ASAP
T-Ball to begin after daylight saving start. More details will follow later
Follow us on twittter @WangRangers on Team App and on Facebook
New stubby holders available See Butts for details
Can we mention CODS yet? Please can we? Oh wait I did!
Note the editor is away so if it not makes sense apologies!
Well that’s it for this edition. Been another big season. I seem to say that each year. To all who I have thanked mentioned throughout the year or maybe not thank you. Till our next time thanks for reading and….
Hello and welcome to this weeks edition of Rounding Third. It has been a few weeks since the last edition and much has been happening. Many of your favorites put on the ‘Cods’ teal and black, for their second appearance at the Victorian Masters Baseball Carnival, hosted by the great folks in Ballarat over the weekend. There were a few changes from last years ‘Cod Squad’ which added to the variety of personalities already in the team.
How did the boys go you ask? Well, the Cods won one game last year and managed to win two games this year. The Cods were competitive in all four games played across the 3 days of competiton. For more information about the games, check out “The Pres” write up on Cods Masters baseball Facebook website. So, what else happened while we were away? Keep reading, Line Drive hopes you enjoy it.
Rookies represent.
The Cods were fortunate enough to have a couple of seasoned veterans of baseball make their first appearance in the Cods colours. Ash “Punter” Meyers and Mick “The Beast” Brownlie. As soon as both of them got in the car to head to Ballarat, they showed some good form. Mick had a memorable three days on and off the diamond. Catching up with his mates from camping was one of the highlights of the weekend. Ash put in a solid three days on and off the diamond also, doing it all on the mound behind the plate in the field and most importantly in the TAB. Rob “Butts” Seymour was particularly impressed with Brownlie’s input into the weekend. Buttsy also loved getting hugs from the big guy. Great job boys. Hope you enjoyed your time as a Cod.
Who is the bigger pest? Buttsy or Big Mick
Rob Seymour has always pride himself on being an antagonist off the field. However he may have been given a run for his money by the big guy Mick Brownlie. Round two may be later this year on the end of season trip if Brownlie decides to pull on the orange and black for the Rangers. This scribe will wait and see.
Who won the lottery?
Not ‘that’ lottery, but the ‘golf ball lottery for batting line up and positions.’ A novel approach was taken this year with the line up for the first game being just pot luck. Sadly, for Mick Brownlie, he drew short stop. The boys soon found out that short stop is no good for a left hander. He did have one play at third base, and going his natural way he was still unable to deliver a strike throw. Lucky the scorers were lenient and only gave him three errors for the inning. For the rest of the time Mick happily plied his trade at right field.
Cods turning up to play on Saturday
The Cods have a simple theme for when they go to Masters. “Have some fun and win a game or two”. This year The Cods managed two wins from their four games. On Saturday the Cod boys had a day out. This was largely to do with how their pitchers performed. Nathan “Rubberarm” Pool, Heath “H” Anders threw an assortment of off speed stuff, to have the opposition hitters off balance all day. In the second game Jason “JJ” Jonker and Cam Rogers, threw combination after combination of different pitches to keep the hitters guessing. Skilfully backed up in the field by some good fielding, The Cods did not disgrace themselves. The boys then celebrated in style, as a good Cod does.
Beaker vs the baseball
Rob “Beaker the ball magnet” Barbour, had an interesting weekend. Beaker had a good Friday on and off the diamond, but on Saturday it all went a little pear shaped. The Cods had just arrived at the ground and were watching a bit of the first game, while Beaker wandered off to get something to eat. A ball was fouled over the back net high in the air, and people called “heads!”. Beaker ducked his head and kept moving. Beaker then copped it right between the shoulder blades making a nice audible “thud.” This put the Cods into hysterics at Beakers misfortune. Later on in the game against the Big Cat Tomatoes, Beaker ventured to the plate and was greeted with a fast ball to the arm. Twice in one day! There was even a remark that if Beaker were to stay indoors a bird would still be able to poo on him! More was to follow.
Sunday had arrived and the boys had found a bike helmet on the walk home back to the rooms the previous night. This was presented to Beaker as a gift for him to not get hit again. Steve Maggs asked to him to use it as an arm guard at one point. Beaker did not take to this suggestion. In the final game, poor ‘ball magnet,’ was struck again by a pitch in the same spot on his arm. Then to add insult to injury, the Tassie ‘Tigers’ catcher, tried to hit him while on third base. In true Beaker style, he copped it all on the chin (see that pun?) and got on with it. You can’t be THAT unlucky again next year Beaker!
Beaker Be careful
Friday’s action from the scorers hut
Dino’s Day out
The warrior was at it again over the weekend. Ian “Dino” Dinsdale had a weekend to remember with the bat. On Friday Dino got his usual game hit, but more was to follow on Saturday. In the first game against the Big Cat Tomatoes, Dino slapped baseballs all over the place. In the second game against the top placed team, Pandas, Dino took it to the next level. In his final plate appearance for the day and facing a Pandas ace, Dino saw the ball and smacked it. Not just half hit it, smashed it over short stop and into the the gap for a base hit. It was remarked that the pitcher did not like that too much. The boys on the Cods bench took great delight in it. Next up, Rob “Beaker” Barbour had a small change of luck also picking up a hit. Just goes to show the older you get the more wily you get with your bats.
Has anyone seen Cam Rogers arm?
Last seen at 9:08am Sunday morning oon diamond one in Ballarat. On the Saturday Cam managed to pitch a couple of innings in the game against Pandas, recreating his memorable windup of knocking his cap off his head and pitching a strike from last year. Cam paid for it today. He still managed a few plays amongst the best once again. Hope you get your arm back for next year, Cam.
Cods and Punting
There was one thing many of the Cods could agree on and it was having a go on the punt. As per usual, good friend of this scribe, Cam “The Soak” Scott was in amongst it all. The boys had a crack at the quaddie between games on Saturday, with very little interest from the rest of the table. However, for the other tipping comp there was plenty of interest and a nice dividend was paid. On the Saturday night it was decided to have a crack at anything that ran. From South Africa to the Finnish Harness racing. The boys were going alright, thanks to Steve “Fernando” Peruzzo jagging a 20 plus dollar winner. However when things turned bad one Cod branched out on his own and bet against his brothers. End result? A nice payout for him. Does anyone know who that was?
The rules of base running
Sunday’s game was unique for many reasons. From base running to bribery for a walk from the opposition. One thing was a constant. The Cods inability to know how to run the bases. Case 1- Jason “JJ” Jonker, running into Tassie’s first ever triple play. It played out as follows…. Dino smashed the ball to third base and was caught out. Heath “H” Anders was left stranded in no mans land at second. That’s two out. Jonker at first just kept running and ran in being the third man out. Triple play. Later on, Spinner at third, Scott at second, Maggs at first. More base running antics. Ball wasn’t caught. Spinner stayed put at third and Maggs given out at first. Scott wandered off second as he thought he was out. Scott then given out for abandoning his base. Maybe just maybe this time Spin should have run? Lucky for us, Spin got home on the next hit. Next year we might need to learn how to run bases properly.
Nice Sunny Sunday in Ballarat
Spinners updates.
Special mention needs to go to The President of Rangers Tony “Spinner” Smith, who kept all those Cod supporters out there informed of how the boys played. His write ups were a good insight into what happened with each game. If you have not seen his write ups as yet, search for Cods Masters Baseball on Facebook. Like and join the page and then you can read about how all went on their second trip to the Victorian Masters Carnival.
The Punkah boys know how to cut up a dance floor
It was great once again to have Porepunkah Panthers as part of the Cods. Heath Anders, Damon Barker and Shane Tatterson were outstanding on and off the field.
Heath “H” Anders, once again won the dance off stakes, grooving on Saturday night. On the field, Barks and Tatt’s were rock solid. “H” was very impressive on the mound. Great job boys, we hope to see you all soon.
In Final
On behalf of the Cods Master Baseball, it was great to have the support of our sponsors again this year.
Thank you to Cafe Martini, Plumbforce Plumbing and Bright/Beechworth Ice Creamery.
Our ability to promote and gain sponsors for the weekend was remarked by many opposition players over the weekend. Not to mention North Eastern Baseball Association who have been supportive in this venture. Great job, Pooly, Dino, Maggsy, Ash, Jason, Spinner, Buttsy, Barks, Heath, Shane, Mick, Soak, Beaker, Fernando and Cam Rogers for pulling on the teal and black. We may not be getting any better, but we are certainly having a good time being competitive on and off the diamond.
Most importantly, getting the chance to play baseball against old and new mates was great.
Now to some club news
Rangers Punters Club soon to start.
A call has been put out by leading rails bookmaker Cam “The Soak” Scott for a punters club. The deal is simple, $10 a week. The club will have two punters per week, with a portion bet and a portion saved. At the end of the season the money is either paid as a dividend, or used towards the end of season trip. Completely up to you. For more information message The Soak or come find him. Open to all comers.
NEBA Season to begin April 10th
A preliminary draw has been devised. The season is to begin Sunday 10th of April. Clubs are now discussing and have until the 25th March to make revisions and suggestions. Nice work to those who have put their hands up to take on this task. By no way is it an easy one.
My Ranger Rules? Is it coming back for season two?
Has the contract been renewed? Can Daniel, “The Griff” Griffin retain his crown? Will Kyle, “Thrillmore” Gilmore step up and cook a roast to rival the best around? Or will it be someone else who will take the mantel? Stay tuned for future updates.
Wow, Rounding Third has been a long one this week. Make sure you like and share and let others know about The Wangaratta Rangers. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter @WangRangers and Team app for all your Ranger news.
For Cods news, look for Cods Masters Baseball on Facebook. Thanks for reading!
TalesofLineDrive 