Keen for three
The Benalla Bandits are in the hunt for another grand slam season when their matches begin in April.
This season the Bandits will look to go back-toback-to-back after winning the past two North Eastern Baseball Association C-grade league competitions.
Stalwarts of the side Cheyne ‘Ozzie’ Osborne and Rob Vance are back for another season, while the talented group of youngsters who were on board last year, including Tyler Hooper, have been retained.
Bandits player coach Matt Harper said the team would be hoping for a historic three-peat this year.
‘‘The ability in the team ranges from top grade players to completely new players. But we won the C-grade premiership last year, and the year before, so we’re back-to-back. So we’re really hoping we can get up and do three.
‘‘We had a couple of important players leave at the end of last season for work reasons mainly, so we’re looking to fill those gaps,’’ he said.
The club is on the hunt for new players to join the ranks, and to fill the gaps left by players from last season.
Harper, the Bandits’ pitcher last year, and Canadian import and Bandits’ second baseman Landis Fortier have both moved on to pursue work out of town.
‘‘We’re losing Landis Fortier, our Canadian import player that we had. He was our second baseman and very handy with the bat. We’re also losing our pitcher from last year.
‘‘I think we’ve got a couple of young blokes to fill those gaps, but we are definitely asking people to come down and give it a crack,’’ Harper said.
He said no prior experience was needed to play a game, and equipment such as baseballs, catching mitts and bats were all provided by the club.
Harper said the club was in the process of applying for funding to bring in new equipment and kits for the side.
If you would like to get involved in baseball this season, contact the team through its Facebook page: Benalla Bandits Baseball Club.