The UW-Superior baseball team started practicing on Jan. 21 and will continue their season throughout the spring.
A few weeks into the season, UWS Head Baseball Coach TJ Oakes and the rest of the coaching staff appear to be very pleased with how the season is going so far.
“We felt like the guys came back ready to go and could tell that they put in the necessary work over the offseason” Oakes said.
With warm weather in the Twin Ports, the baseball team got the chance to start practicing outside.
“Often times it gets very difficult to simulate game-like situations when you are indoors so being outside has allowed us to simulate live situations with actual baseball dimensions” Oakes said, “We joked with our team that we typically don’t take our first team infield and outfield session until prior to our very first game but this year we got that session 30 days prior to playing”.
Nick Fredrikson, a 6th year senior on the team, takes this opportunity to practice outside to prepare for the early half of the season.
“Getting some time to practice outside already this early in our season has been great, as it has enabled us to get game like reps fielding wise way earlier than previous years”.
The baseball roster has plenty of freshman, sophomores and juniors this year, but only a few seniors. As this may seem like a setback, Coach TJ made it clear that the team’s leadership and chemistry is strong.
“We do not have captains as a part of our program, as we believe everyone can be a leader on a team no matter what age you are,” Coach Oakes said, “We are a young group but a passionate group who have meshed well together”.
Fredrikson also mentioned that the team carries a lot of leadership qualities.
“I am in a position having been around the program a while where I am expected to be a leader,” Fredrikson said, “But we also have a ton of great leaders on our team, including first or second-year players.”
The team will continue their season throughout the spring semester and continue to work toward securing a spot in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournament.
