This Place is Gonna be Rockin’ this Spring

As we all know, the Spring of 2018 will be here soon! This means the Eagles Baseball team will start practice. According to Kevin Briggs, Coach of the baseball team, “Our season will start with a week of just throwing to build up mechanics and fundamentals of baseball.” Coach Briggs relies heavily on his defense and says our hitting will come around. The defense has always been there as well as pitching. The defense is the team’s strong point, it always has been for New Ulm Baseball since he has been coaching. As long as pitchers throw strikes, the defense will get most balls that are put into play. Briggs says, “The team’s defense is always there for us as long as we are confident and mentally prepared.”

Baseball is a mental game that requires a great amount of focus and energy. Baseball is an easy sport to hang your head in because the smallest mistake can change the outcome of the game. Being focused and ready is a must 100% of the time. Coach Briggs says, “If my team is in the game mentally and makes few defensive errors, we should almost be unbeatable.” Like Coach Briggs had said before, defense and focus is ultimately what wins ball games. Also, winning ball games can boost a team’s confidence level tremendously. That confidence can lead to a high success rate in winning and having fun.

Kevin Briggs said, “I want my team to come together and form greater team chemistry and hopefully lead them to a state title, but first we have to worry about winning our conference.” The south central conference is not an easy one. The conference consists of New Ulm, Blue Earth, Fairmont, St. James, St. Peter, and Waseca. There is some hard competition throughout the conference, but the team thinks they should come out on top. The Eagle’s baseball organization has a high potential with this senior class and a talented upcoming junior class. Briggs says, “As long as we compete and play 110%, he will be happy with any outcome.” Obviously, Coach Briggs wants the best for the team and wants to win, but winning isn’t everything. As long as there is growth among the team and skills are getting better, he’ll count that season as a win.

One of the most important factors in baseball, or any sport for that matter, is confidence. Without confidence, a player makes multiple mistakes before the ball gets to them. According to Kevin Briggs, “In order to be a successful baseball player or successful in anything, you have to be mentally prepared and have confidence in your activity or event.” Having a high level in confidence will boost your ability to focus and play.