Batter Up: Sophomore Merryssa Tiedeman

Position: Centerfield
Major: Nursing
Favorite values in others: "Respect and honesty"
What kind of music is on your ipod? "Only the best... Backstreet Boys"
What is the most rewarding experience at CSS this far? "Every time I volunteer somewhere. Nobody really wants to do it, but you feel so much better about yourself and how much you've affected/helped someone else afterward."
I should win an oscar for... "Best Hair"
What time did you grace us with your presence in the world? "I grace the world with my presence every time I walk out the door... but I was born at 10:34 am"
Any significance to your number? "The number 2. Hmm. I wish I were a size 2, does that count?"
If you could eat anything right now, what would it be? "My mom's meatballs. Mmmmm"
What was your favorite toy as a child? "I loved my water baby and playing in the playhouse with my sister."
One of your scars... how did you get it? "Playing tag with my sister when I was little, I tripped (she actually probably tripped me) and I fell on the sharp corner of our wooden TV. Not only is there a scar, but a huge bump that hasn't gone away."
One dream... "I would absolutely love to go to Africa to help the homeless and less-abled children. Hopefully next summer!"

Home Opener Tuesday

The Saints will host Northland College (WI) in the home opener Tuesday at 4:00. This also marks the beginning of the conference season as the Saint look to avenge their conference regular season and post season championships from 2009.

From Then Until Now

Ok, I'll admit, it's been a while... and that hasn't come without some jabs here and there about blogging more frequently. So here is a pledge: We will blog at least once weekly for the remainder of the season. I know it's a lofty goal but hey, we'll give it our best shot.

A lot has happened since the week prior to our spring break trip. Despite the great weather and Tucson sun, our win-loss record wasn't exactly what we had hoped for. We finished the trip at 3-7, with four games lost by two runs or less. Off the field activities included "sunning" by the swimming hole and traveling up the mountain in our 15 passenger vans to eat supper with the Lakeland (WI) softball team who graciously invited us up to their house one night.

We arrived back in Minnesota to find NO SNOW on our field and were able to practice outside immediately. Now, I cannot remember the last time we returned from our spring break trip to a field not covered in snow. We have been loving every minute of outdoor practice since then.

This past weekend we traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to compete in the Coe Tournament. We finished with a 2-2 record, with a pair of losses to #24 ranked Coe College and a pair of wins against UW-Platteville. Freshmen pitcher Shannen Schmidt recorded her first collegiate win in the tournament as the Saints recorded the 500th win of the program.

We returned for a short week of practice before players head home for Easter Break. They will return Monday in preparation for our first home game of 2010 vs conference rival Northland College on Tuesday, April 6th at 4 pm.

Check back for updates!

Saints Anticipating Spring Break Trip

After a couple month hiatus, the blog is back in full swing (no pun intended). We'll do our best to keep this updated with all the Saints news.

Following weeks of preparation indoors, the Saints are ready to hit the dirt. We will board the plane Saturday enroute to Tucson, AZ for a week of softball and sun. The weather outlook looks to be a vast improvement from last year's week of rain in Texas over spring break that saw the Saints play 6 games in 2 days.

The schedule looks to be a challenging one, with 10 games in a five day span, against UW-LaCrosse, Southwestern (TX), Augsburg (MN), Otterbein (OH), Lakeland (WI), Dickinson (PA), Schreiner (TX) and North Central (IL).

Be sure to check back for updates!

Batter Up: Freshman Leah Hettwer

Hometown: Andover, MN
High School: St. Francis HS
Position: Catcher/1B
Major: Pre-Med
Hobbies: Singing horribly with my roommate, bonfires, snowmobiling, going on adventures with my friends.
Dream job: I want to be an orthopedic surgeon or a trauma surgeon because both will challenge me and I want to work with people. My dream job is an orthopedic surgeon for a professional baseball team, hopefully the Twins!
Talent I'd most like to have: Creativity... I'm not creative at all!
Favorite value in others: I love people with a good sense of humor!
Hardest part of the transition from high school to college ball: The pitching is a lot different but it's a new challenge so I'm excited for it!
What animal or rodent do you hate the most? Spiders! Disgusting!!!!
Something few people know about you: I can do 12 backflips in a row... just kidding!
Favorite memory of elementary school years: Going to Camp St. Croix with my 6th grade class and toilet papering our teachers cabin.
Tell us about your teammates: It's been really fun getting to know them this first year! Everyone has a really good sense of humor so it makes everything a good time.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Patagonia with all the penguins!!!
Favorite thing about CSS softball: I love that it is intense but still fun at the same time!

FALL BALL & ALUMNI GAME

We are already in our final week of the fall season and it has been extremely busy. This is the first week I feel like I have some time to breathe. I've spent a considerable amount of time at the field getting it in practice and game shape. The grass won't stop growing and I'll admit, I've become a bit obsessed about it. I also cut an new infield arc to eliminate the lip that was forming. Here's a pointer to all those looking to use a sod cutter. Make sure the ground isn't rock hard, or be prepared to muscle the cutter around. Ouch!

And, there has been a some softball going on as well. We've had five 6:30am workouts. Who scheduled those! We've spent three of those running up Chester Bowl. The players love it....well, maybe 'love' isn't the right word. I also scheduled small group workouts during the day on our team practice days, so those days are quite long for me.

We have really focused on defensive, throwing and baserunning fundamentals. The players are itching to do some hitting, but we'll get to that. I think we've laid a good foundation for down the road.

Last weekend was our alumni game with a record 24 alums returning. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and I think everyone had a great time. We also honored the 25th Anniversary Team, which we named last year. I'd like to report that no homeruns were hit (even with me pitching), but Laura hit a ball half way up the left field fence and settled for a double. Katie Brown made it all the way back from Idaho. It was great to see everyone and reminisce about the good old days.

Front Row (L to R): Sue Van Loon '91, Chris Lorentz '01, Laura Brueggemeier '00, Jen Walter,
Keely Behning '01, Rilee Dawson '07 Back Row (L to R): Laura Heise '06, Abbie Feldt '01,
Azur (Buczynski) Coleman '02, Jen (Vancura) Beres '04, Kristi (Erickson) Kirk '06, Stephanie Sklors '94

This weekend is our Fall Classic. Here's the schedule for the weekend:

10am - vs. Bemidji State
Noon - Family Day Picnic
2pm - Concordia-St. Paul
4pm - Finlandia

We've still got a lot of work to do, but I'm encouraged by the team chemistry and work ethic. It's going to be a fun year.

New Faces Join Saints

With the 2009 season officially wrapped up it's time to look ahead. This has been a great recruiting year for us and I think we have gone out and found some talented individuals who fit in well with the philosophy of our program.

In addressing our needs, we looked looked for players who:
1. Are passionate about softball,
2. Want to get better and possess the work ethic to match that,
3. Have the desire to compete at a high level,
4. Have the talent to help us reach our goal of becoming national champions.

We clearly needed to address our catching situation having graduated Robin Lake who started almost every game behind the plate as a senior. We feel fortunate to have three catchers coming into the program which includes one all-state honoree and two all-conference catchers in Bonnie Kowalcyzk (Menomonee Falls, WI), Leah Hettwer (St. Francis, MN) and Jennifer Marinaro (Nashwauk, MN). Bonnie is a multidimensional player with a strong arm to control baserunners and will give us left-handed power presence at the plate. With her experience playing for the Wisconsin Bandits and success of her high school team, we feel she will provide and immediate impact offensively and defensively.

With the addition of Shannen Schmidt (DePere, WI) and Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, MN) we have not only added two players who give us additional depth on the mound, we add two pitchers to a staff who can help our program continually grow. We feel they both will be able to contribute as freshmen but there is also plenty of room for them to develop in the years to come.

The last area where we felt a void is centerfield after graduating three year starter Chelsey Weiss. We have a number of options with our returning outfielders which may include moving Theresa Tauer back to the outfield, thus opening up the third base position. Because of this, Rachel Perushek (Mesabi Range CC, Virginia, MN) can potentially fill either one of these needs. Her athleticism gives her versatility. Only time will tell where she fits in best. Her competitiveness and will to win can have a very contagious effect on her teammates. Another addition who will give us some options will be Brittni Johnson (Northland CC, Thief River Falls, MN). Brittni spent most of her time at Northland in the pitching circle but has the ability to play in the outfield.

In addition to these players we also welcome Allison Spiering (Mounds View, MN) and Jannon Stewart-Garcia (Minneapolis, MN). Spiering can play a multiple of positions including outfield, second base and catcher and Stewart-Garcia will bring us some speed offensively and will compete at third base or second base.

With this talented group of individuals along with the return of 7 starters it looks like an exciting year to come.