Tara Murray
After not knowing what to expect in round one of the Baseball Victoria Summer League division 2 season, Newport Rams coach Sean Arnott walked away a happy man on Sunday.
The Rams put out a solid performance against Doncaster to come away with a 13-5 win.
Arnott said they weren’t even sure they would play round one, let alone get out there and get the points.
“We didn’t know how we would look at the start of the year,” he said.
“Pre-season has been tough with the weather and what not. Two weeks ago if you looked at the field you would have said there is no way we would have played.
“The ground came up a treat.”
Arnott said while they were a bit rusty, which was to be expected, he was happy overall with the performance.
He admits Doncaster was probably a bit light on the pitching and it was a match that expected to win.
“I thought we would hit pretty well as we spent a lot of time in the cage,” he said. “We hit well most of the time.
“We got a lot of hits in but we didn’t work on defence as much and it showed at times.”
Arnott said the squad they had put together was stronger than last season.
The key recruit is Gift Ngoepe, a South African team member.
He previously played in the Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays.
Gift has also played professionally in the Philadelphia Phillies organisation and with the Melbourne Aces and Sydney Blue Sox in recent seasons.
Arnott said they were aiming high this season.
“We have a pretty strong squad and it’s stronger than last season.
“Hopefully we’ll go close. We’re setting the side to aim for promotion into division 1. The first aim is to make the top four and look at going beyond that.”
Arnott said overall there were some good numbers at the club this season. He said their second side had some really good kids in the side, while the thirds are looking for a third straight premiership.
Williamstown also got off to a good start in division 2, with an 18-2 win against Bonbeach on Sunday.
In division 3, Footscray had a 15-10 loss to the Pakenham Pumas.
In the women’s competitions, Footscray lost to Doncaster 27-0 in division 1, Newport beat Melbourne Demons in division 2, while in division 3 Newport’s second women’s side beat Williamstown 21-7.
