into division 1. 2016/17: Division 1 club champions In the club's first year back in division 1 it won the club championship and made the first division 1 finals appearance for the firsts since 1961. Following the Christmas break Fitzroy's firsts strung together ten consecutive victories to surge into playoff contention, bowing out in the conference playoff against Essendon. Josh Tols starred on the mound with a 0.20 ERA winning the league's best pitcher award and new club coach Tom Dicker was a standout with the bat, finishing with a 0.421 batting average (the 3rd best in the league ) and a 0.513 OBA. Four Fitzroy players were also recognised in the league allstar team Alex Turlea, Josh Tols, Tom Dicker and Zach Rhodes In a great year for the club the 1sts, 2nds, 4ths and 5ths all made it into the playoffs helping to secure the club championship, with the 2nds winning the grand final 6-4 against Waverley making it back to back premierships for the team. Notable players Bill Ponsford William Harold "Bill" Ponsford MBE (19 October 1900 – 6 April 1991) started his baseball career at Alfred Crescent School (now Fitzroy North Primary School), where his coach was the former Victorian player Charles Landsdown. As a junior Ponsford played shortstop, later as a senior for the Fitzroy Baseball Club he converted to catching. Ponsford was a key member of the all conquering 1920's Fitzroy Maroons, captaining the club to its historic 1925 premiership, the Club's fifth consecutive Division 1 premiership. Ponsford improved rapidly and by 1913 he was included in the Victorian schoolboys side for a tournament in Adelaide. He was again selected in the following year—now as a catcher—representing his state at the first national schoolboys championship in Sydney. The tournament coincided with a visit to Australia by two professional major league teams from the United States—the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. The manager of the Giants, John "Mugsy" McGraw, watched part of the tournament; the Ponsford family claim that McGraw was so impressed with Ponsford's skills that he later spoke to Ponsford's parents about the possibility of Bill playing in the United States. In 1919, Ponsford was selected for Victoria's baseball team, alongside future Test cricket teammate Jack Ryder. In 1923, The Sporting Globe claimed that Ponsford was "... the best batter of the season. ... Indeed, as an all-round man, it