COACHING A SPRING SPORT IN DULUTH!

One of the benefits in moving into our new addition last fall for me has been a window that allows me to see outside. It is the first time in my 10 years here that I've been able to do that. An a day like today I'm not so sure that's much of a benefit. As I write this I'm staring out that window looking at blizzard conditions which are forecast to last into tomorrow. My colleagues, who normally stop by my office to say hi and check in on how the season is going seem to be avoiding me lately. Hmmm....I wonder why that is?

If John Baggs were here right now I know exactly what he would be saying, "turn a negative into a positive". He never had a problem building a successful program in a less than ideal climate. So I will remain optimistic and take on the challenge.

Since returning from our spring trip we have identified some areas that we feel we need to improve on, so have spent the past two weeks addressing those areas. The first being our defense. We went back to the basics and really focused on looking the ball in and our footwork. I think we made improvements as wee committed no errors in our doubleheader against UW-Eau Claire on Sunday, but I still feel like we left a lot of outs on the field so we will continue to work in that area.

Our pitchers have also been working on trying to control the zone. We just haven't been consistent enough throughout a game. It seems every mistake they make are hit hard and then decent pitches are turning into Texas Leaguer's and swinging bunts. We haven't had a lot of things go our way, but good teams make their own breaks so we will keep plugging away.

Hitting has been very inconsistent this season, although I feel we have faced much better pitching than we did last year at this point. Last Sunday I felt we put together better at bats but didn't have much to show for it with only five hits in the doubleheader, but I am seeing signs of good things. To be honest that is the one thing I like about being indoors, I've always felt it's easier to get more swings inside so we will continue to work at it.

So, as the March goes out like a furocious, hungry, man-eating lion, all I can say is bring it on. We can't control the weather, but we can control our attitude toward it. As a matter of fact, I'm rewriting our Saints Softball Mission to include...we will become the northernmost softball program to win a National Championship.

Rain, snow, wind, cold does nothing but fuel our fire!

This picture was taken yesterday (March 30, 2009),
before the snow!