Eagles Baseball Club (Mildura) Inc |
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CLUB HISTORY | ||
View archive photos | ||
On the 22nd of April 1979 the Sunraysia Baseball
league reformed from the ashes of the old league.
At the time the league was made up of five teams, Hustlers,
Hawks, Coomealla, Red Cliffs and Eagles.
On the day nine Eagles players took to the field to give their
all for the club that they would come to love - some of these players
are now club legends. The first team, on opening day, consisted of the
following players:
Ian Bishop,
Geoff Brown, Terry Smith, Dave Newey,
Mick Miller,
Col Newey, Tim Bell, Dave Hutchinson, and Tim Calaby. While the team was defeated 15 - 11 by Hustlers in
the first game (and for the next three), Eagles battled through the 1979
season to record seven wins and nine losses.
They made the finals however Hustlers defeated Eagles, 27 - 24 in
the Preliminary Final. From that day on the Eagles went from strength to
strength. Newspaper
sporting headlines tell the story, some of the headlines read: - “Eagles still undefeated”; “Baseball final to
Eagles”; “Big win to Eagles in baseball grand final”; “Eagles on the
fly”; “Eagles show no mercy”; “Successive flags to Eagles”; “Eagles
consolidate top spot”; “Eagles still on top”; ‘’Eagles at full
strength”; “Eagles crush Tigers”; “Eagles maintain winning edge”. Each of the articles attest to the strength of the
Eagles Baseball Club. They also show that over many years Eagles has
been held up in the Sunraysia Baseball League as the benchmark for all
other teams. Eagles have been the most successful club in the history of
the ‘new’ league, winning ten grand finals and featuring in most finals’
series. Eagles have had many members selected in representative sides as
players, coaches, and managers and some have been skilled enough to win
a championship or an All Star. Eagles Baseball Club have always been successful on
the field; however the successes could not have been possible without
the hard work of the coaches, managers, scorers, committee and all the
parents and friends who pitch in every week and help out. Eagles
Baseball Club is a club based on family traditions and mateship. There
have been many years of strong junior programs which have produced
excellent baseball players, some of whom have carried on into the club’s
senior teams.
Foundation Members Geoff Brown, Col Newey,
John Hiskins, Dave Newey, Michael Miller, Tim Callaby, Tim Bell, David
Bell, Craig Miller, David Hutchinson, Ian Bishop, Terry Smith, Trevor
Rodgers, Don Pisconeri, Gary Dickinson, Dot Brown
Life Members Dave Newey, Donna Newey, Steve Elms, Kerry Minette,
Mick Miller, Marita Miller, Andy White, Larry Frasca, Pam Rodgers,
Trevor Rodgers, Tim Bell, Shane Harvey, Mark Lang, Luke Gathercole, Kim
Law, Tim Cooksley, Andrew Law |
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