By Lance Jenkinson
Sunshine has made a big splash in the Baseball Victoria summer league division 1 off season.
The Eagles have re-acquired American utility Jared Van Hoon for next season.
Van Hoon was one of the stars of the competition as a player-coach with Sunshine before returning home last year.
Now he is back and Sunshine coach Stuart Clayton believes Van Hoon could be the missing piece in the team’s quest for a premiership.
“He’s coming back to play with us and that might be the difference,” Clayton said.
“We’re hoping anyway.
“He’s one of them guys that will have an impact through his experience and we rate him very highly.”
First and foremost, Van Hoon was a popular figure in his time at Sunshine.
The Eagles rated him so highly to turn him from the club’s import player to a player-coach.
Van Hoon expressed his contentment with Sunshine at the time and it is no surprise he chose to return to the club.
“He fitted right in when he was last at the club,” Clayton said.
“He would’ve stayed for that extra year, but he had a partner at the time who wanted to go back [to America] for family.
“He’s keen to come back now and is excited to play.”
On the field, Van Hoon is a coach’s dream.
He is an outstanding batter, a dominant starting pitcher and is strong defensively.
There are so many strings to Van Hoon’s skillset. He is also a natural leader.
With Sunshine in a premiership window, Van Hoon’s addition could be significant.
“He’s a utility – he can play anywhere,” Clayton said.
“He can play middle infield, he can play third base, pitch and he was one of our better batters in the middle of our line-up.
“That’s something we missed last year, that one extra batter.”
Meanwhile, after the reappointment of Clayton as coach, Sunshine wasted no time bringing back the coaching staff that took it to the finals last season.
The Youngs – Gavin, Jordan and Jeremy – and Leigh Davis will be Clayton’s assistant coaches.
Sunshine has managed to keep together the squad that performed so well last summer.
The Eagles do not forecast wholesale changes, but have a couple of irons in the fire.
“There’s a couple of players who have said we’d love to come over, but it all depends on clearances now,” Clayton said.
