Tara Murray
A familiar face is back in the coaching hot seat for the North Western Titans men’s side for the Baseball Victoria summer league.
The club announced that former coach and president Danny Haymes had been appointed coach and director of baseball.
Haymes said he hadn’t intended coaching this season, but it was the way it had panned out.
“Our coach from last year [Andrew Fielden] has a couple of personal problems and needed to take the time off this season,” he said.
“I’m filling in until he can come back, which is hopefully next year. I’m just filling the spot.”
Haymes said this year was set to be a bit of a reset season with a change of leadership and both the men’s and women’s teams coming down a grade.
He said this season would be one where they are focusing on the future of the club.
“We’re focusing more on the younger group,” he said. “There will be 15-16 year-olds playing in the senior this year to get that experience in the seniors.”
Haymes said last season was a tough season for the men’s side after finding out they had been promoted from division 3 to division 2 five weeks out from the start of the season.
He said the results didn’t reflect how competitive they were.
“We didn’t get much opportunity to look for some more experienced players,” he said. “It didn’t show how competitive we were, especially before Christmas.
“We could have had five or six wins, but we only had two. It was a learning curve and every club goes through it/”
Haymes said he expected this season to be another learning curve as the younger players get used to playing at the higher level.
“Going down a grade, it will make it easier for them as they still grow into their bodies which will take some time.
“As a collerabite they’ve grown up together and they play well as a group.”
The club will only have one women’s side after having two the past couple of seasons.
The side will play in division 3, with their top side having played in division 2 last season.
Tess Warner will coach that side this season.
Haymes said like the men’s side, the women’s side had some challenges in the higher level last season.
“We’re going through a transition stage,” he said. “A lot of our key players from the year before were missing as they decided to have families.
“Some have come back and some haven’t, while others have gone off to have babies.
“That happens and we’re in a rebuilding phase.”
Haymes said across the club, things were going well. He said they were starting a t-ball program on Monday nights which would just be at Macpherson Park, which meant that there wasn’t travel involved.
The summer league season gets underway in October.
