Rangers take stock for Div 3 challenge
BASEBALL: A new competition and a new challenge awaits a new-look Toowoomba Rangers outfit when it kicks off its GBL Division 3 season at Commonwealth Oval tomorrow.
Rangers first-up faces last season’s Division 3 semi-finalist Redlands while Toowoomba will also field Division 4 and Division 6 teams in home games tomorrow.
Rangers slip back to Division 3 this season from Division 1 due to financial pressure brought on with the off-season loss of a major sponsor.
But player-coach Darryl Luchterhand said the club’s drop from the Major League presented a new challenge with the same focus on bringing home competition silverware.
“It’s a 13-team competition and we want to hit the ground running on Sunday,” Luchterhand said.
“We’ve lost six regular A graders, including our imports, from last season but I still rate our roster highly.
“I think we are pretty strong.”
Rangers’ player loss includes player-coach Tony Tarca, due to work commitments, and pitcher Daniel Luchterhand.
But with Sam McNeice to lead the way on the mound for another Rangers’ season and with the return of three former Toowoomba players, Luchterhand is confident the team has most bases covered.
“We’ve got Dylan Bennett, Laurie Taylor and Luke Ardill returning to the team after a break along with a couple of older heads in myself and Mick Locke playing again,” Luchterhand said.
“We’ve also retained Sean Rogers, Brenton Althouse and Lewis Cod, so I think we have a nice player mix.
“Division 3 is still a strong league and maybe a touch stronger than Pacific A when we last won it.
“Our pre-season has been a bit disrupted but we should get a good early indication against Redlands of where we are at.”
■ TOMORROW’S Division 3 game starts at 2pm.
‘‘ WE SHOULD GET A GOOD EARLY INDICATION AGAINST REDLANDS. DARRYL LUCHTERHAND