By ADEM SARICAOGLU
BASEBALL is not just for summer anymore.
Though locally winter baseball isn’t exactly a new concept, the Werribee Giants are keen to make sure they won’t just be making up the numbers in the upcoming season.
Under senior coach Ben Bavdek the Giants will use the winter to develop some of its best young talent.
Club president Steve Knight explained the change in attitude that has taken place at Werribee in recent years.
“The winter was just for fun to start with but over the last couple of years Ben Bavdek has come in and said we can’t just roll up each week for a game of baseball,” Knight said.
“We focused on developing those kids who will play summer ball, and he’s put a lot of work into the winter to work with the kids and teach them and give them a good grounding so come the summer they’ll be good.”
The Giants’ summer campaign recently ended with a 9-13 win-loss record that placed them eighth in the 12-team Division Two competition.
Knight had mixed feelings on how they went, admitting the young team may have become complacent and “cocky” after some surprise wins were followed by poor showings throughout the summer.
“We won some games we didn’t expect to win but then in the next week we’d come out and play someone around the same place as us and I think our blokes just took it easy or just didn’t apply themselves as hard for some reason,” Knight said.
However, Knight does remain bullish about where the Giants are headed after a tough few years both on and off the diamond.
“We did go through a bit of a trough but things are starting to pick up again, which is good.”
Knight also revealed summer senior coach Earl Byrne may step down within coming weeks.
“In the next couple of weeks we’re going to sit down with Earl and do our review of the season and from there we’ll talk to him and see what his intentions are,” Knight said.
