I'm in the woods or on the water whenever time permits. I especially love to bow hunt and ice fish. Other hobbies of mine include coin collecting, playing guitar, watching baseball and weightlifting. Even though we live in a metro area with over 200,000 people we are only 20 minutes from some of the best hunting and fishing locations in the Midwest.
Last year was a big step in the right direction for the our baseball program. I'm very excited for the season and am ready to prove that UWS baseball can win in the WIAC. As Paul said, the reason we write this blog is to help recruits, family, and community members get a taste of what it's like being a Yellowjacket and a college baseball player. We will have lots of stories to share with all of you, especially as we get into our season. I hope you enjoy the blog!
Captain Introduction:
It's that time of year again. The windows on the car are covered in a thin layer of frost in the mornings. The green color of summer grew to brilliant oranges, yellows and reds, but has since faded to brown in the face of winter. Fall baseball ended in early October and the Philadelphia Phillies have since been named champions of the baseball world. Sadly, baseball has said goodbye to 2008. Baseball activities, however, remain in motion in the Lydia Thering Fieldhouse. Always sunny and 72 degrees, the fieldhouse has become and will remain a safe haven from the cold for UWS baseball players. Batting practice will be a commonplace in the coming months along with infield drills and bullpens for the pitchers. The Health and Wellness Center is also home to the Yellowjacket weightroom, where the players train 4 days a week and it is run by the captains. The hard work will pay off come March when UWS kicks off the season against Hamline University on March 4th in the Metrodome.
Along with hitting the weights hard this fall, some UWS players and coaches have also been hitting the woods and water. Seniors Justin Saufley and Nick Hedley bagged some waterfowl in mid-October with Hedley harvesting a whitetail doe in the Minnesota Anterless deer hunt. Junior Sean Cummings harvested a nice whitetail buck during the early archery season. Junior TJ Wink found himself in the right place at the right time and was able to "earn-his-buck" by tagging a whitetail doe during the Wisconsin Antlerless deer hunt. Former player/assistant coach Billy McKusick took a nice whitetail doe on the evening of November 1st with his bow. Junior Paul Schlangen headed to the woods for opening weekend of the Minnesota gun opener but headed back to Superior empty handed. Paul did have the pleasure of seeing a fawn, however. Coach Lucas Olin wasn't as fortunate. "I didn't see a thing. It was cold, wet and windy. I was pretty bored after seeing hundreds of antelope the week before." Coach Olin was able to bag three antelope while hunting in eastern Montana.
We will be hunting for our first playoff birth this spring since the late 1960's. We are coming off a 17-23 season in which we tied the school record for victories in a season. We lost only 4 players to graduation and are returning most of our pitching staff, which lead the WIAC in many categories, including ERA, in 2008.
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