Sarah Oliver
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t halted the growth of the North Western Titans.
Having started to grow in recent years on the back of some hard work, the club is this year fielding three men’s and two women’s sides in the Baseball Victoria summer league competition.
New president Ryan Tompkins said because a lot of indoor sports were cancelled, it had pushed people to outdoor sports.
This the first time the club has fielded two women’s sides.
“We’ve actually grown.”
“We’ve literally just built a whole women’s team out of a hockey team – they’ve all been bitten by the baseball bug,” he said.
The club is also fielding two full junior teams, with the players mostly made up of children from the seniors.
While Tompkins is new to the presidency role, he brings more than 30 years of playing experience, plenty of coaching experience and is the Titans current longest serving player.
Tompkins said he has “big shoes to fill”, taking over from Danny Haymes.
“Danny’s built quite a club out there,” he said.
The Titans takes plenty of confidence into this season after another successful winter season in the Geelong Baseball Association. The club’s ‘Black’ side was on top of the ladder, when the season was called off due to COVID-19. They were awarded the minor premiership.
It has been a tough start to the summer league season for the three mens sides, but Tompkins is positive they’ll do well this weekend in Chelsea.
The firsts team has just one win from their first three matches and were heavily beaten in their most recent match.
Tompkins said he’s confident the men’s firsts can turn it around and win the grand final this season after being runners up last season.
The seconds are also looking to push further this season, with the thirds more of a developmental side.
But Tompkins said the thirds are being “headed up by a pretty seasoned bloke, who can instil some knowledge.”
The women’s teams have started well, after their opening round was washed out.
The ‘Orange’ team is currently undefeated, while the ‘Black’ team has split its first two matches.
Tompkins said the women are coming up against some challenges this weekend when they play Geelong and Sunshine.
