WNCC baseball, softball head outdoors to prepare for season, which begins in a couple of weeks

It is hard to think baseball and softball seasons when there is snow on the ground and wind chill temperatures at or below freezing.

But for the Western Nebraska Community College baseball and softball squads they are making the best of the weather as they prepare for their seasons beginning in two weeks. Sunday, in fact, was the first time both teams practiced outdoors after spending the last two weeks indoors.

“We did make it outdoors once this semester [Sunday] so that was nice but we still have some improvements to work on and we need to get acclimated to the weather again,” Cougar softball coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “The weather does make it challenging but you have to make the best out of what you have. We work indoor in the gym on drill work and a lot of infield play. The outfield gets somewhat neglected due to the size but we can still work on cut-off plays and plays to the plate they get to do a lot of base running.”

Winn-Ratliff said the team will take advantage of the warm temperatures on Monday with a second-straight day outdoors. She is hoping the team can be outside a couple more times during week if the weather holds out.

“So it looks like we might have a chance to be outside 4 times before our first game. Not ideal but it is better than not having an opportunity to be outside at all,” she said. “Our practices right now consist of a lot of drills we call the everydays. Pitchers are doing a variety of workouts in addition to throwing in live situations. We hit in our indoor facility six times a week and workout at 6 a.m. three days a week and then try and put a lot of defensive work in on the weekends.”

Baseball coach Mike Jones, whose team captured the Region IX tournament last spring, said they are anxious to spend more time outdoors.

“So far we are mainly indoors, of course, and we are doing a lot of drill work, trying to simplify all our fundamentals and mechanics,” he said. “We are anxious to get outside where we can get in some team practice. For right now, we are doing all we can.”

On Sunday, both teams did make it outside, practicing at Oregon Trail Park. Practices during their first outdoor session involved base running and throwing situations for the baseball team and base running and outfield work for the softball team.

The coaches are hoping the weather takes a turn for the better in the next couple weeks to get even more time on the diamond as their seasons are fast approaching.

“It is crazy because everyday in practice we talk about how many days we have until we open up,” Jones said. “We keep counting down and then you go outside and it is below freezing wind chill. It is pretty tough to really stay on track. It is hard to imagine us playing baseball here in three weeks.”

The softball team opens up Feb. 8 with a doubleheader at Frank Phillips College and then they head to Odessa College for a 2-day tournament Feb. 9-10. The baseball team will open up a week later, when they Feb. 15 at Seward County Community College and then the 16-17 at Barton County Community College.

For the men, this is different since they enter as the Region IX champions after taking care of Trinidad State Junior College in last year’s Region IX championship game.

“We have a target on our back this year and we are the team that everybody is trying to keep up with and beat on,” Jones said. “It is a little bit different for us but we are not going to change our mentality; we are going to just keep playing every game, try to do well in conference play and see where everything falls out. At the same time, the guys need to be aware that everybody will be gunning for them.”

The Cougar men return just five players from last season’s championship team, including pitchers Greg Crowe, Todd Stachura, Cesar Perez and Eric Bissonette. Jones said his team will have to play well from the entire season since there is a different regional tournament alignment.

“Our regional tournament changes quite a bit for everybody because you have to finish in the top four or you don’t even go to the regional tournament,” he said. “It is real important in conference play to take care of your business.”

While the baseball team has a lot of newcomers, the softball team has 10 players return from their 36-21 and runner-up finish at last year’s regional tournament. So far, Winn-Ratliff is impressed with how the team continues to show improvement in building for the season-opener in less then two weeks.

“We have shown improvement in our bunt defenses and our 1/3 defense,” she said. “Our hitting is starting to come around and our pitchers seem to be making good adjustments in the cages”

The pitching staff is much improved. The Cougars return two pitchers that saw plenty of action a year ago in Natasha Dypchey and Jessica Pexton. They also return Ashley Patton, a right-hander from Delta, Utah.

The Cougars also have two promising talents in freshmen Kelsey Garner of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and Allie Griffin of Fort Collins, Colo.

The team also returns a slew of position players, including all-region players Jessie McNabb, Kara Ryman and Lauren Mills. Also returning are Amanda Torimaru, Amanda Hensley, Whittany Foster and Lauren Bourdon.

“We have a good mix of returners and newcomers. We are fighting the injury bug right now but nothing too major, just some bumps and bruises,” Winn Ratliff said. “We have increased our pitching depth from a year ago so hopefully that will take some pressure off of our staff. We continue to keep improving our hitting so it will be a matter of if we can put it all together on the same day.”

Both coaches, though, are excited to get things started in a couple of weeks. “I think we are all excited to actually get to be outside and see how we match up,” Winn-Ratliff said. “I don't know if any of us are ready for that long bus trip.”