Oracle Online

The Pipers are currently vying with Gustavus for the fourth and final playoff seed and trying to fend off Bethel.Yet the Pipers had higher expectations coming into this season. Last year, the team won a record-setting 26 games and made it to the MIAC Championship game for the first time in school history. To make matters more promising, many of the key players returned. It seemed as though all the pieces were in place for a strong 2007 campaign.

“In general, this being the sixth year Coach Verdugo and I have been here, this is the most talented team we have coached. We have gotten better every year,” said assistant coach Rob Gossard.

Unfortunately for the Pipers, this apparent talent has not expressed itself in numbers of wins. While one can hardly consider their eleven wins paltry, it does not seem to match up with the coaches’ and players’ expectations.

“I feel that we could be playing better as a team, and that’s a team feeling,” said Gossard. “We’ve played tough in a lot of close games. With a few bounces we could easily be 14-7 rather than 11-10.”

With the talented squad, it can be difficult to point to the exact causes for the teams' up and down tendency this season.

“A lot of times it’s just got to roll your way,” said junior catcher James Bachmeier. “Last year, we played well, but we got those breaks a lot. This year it’s hard to point to one thing.”
Ultimately, it seems that the team must step it up in key situations.

“We are underachieving a bit, and we can do better in hitting in certain situations. We’ve left a lot of guys on base.”
It’s not as though all hope is lost, however. The Pipers’ pitching and defense have been solid. As Gossard suggests, “It’s going to come down to getting hits in certain situations.”

While the team may be lacking in good bounces and clutch hitting, they more than make up for that in confidence. When asked what the strengths of the team are, Bachmeier said, “I’d have to say that we’re tough. We can beat anyone at any given time. We’re not intimidated, and we have talent all the way up and down.”

At this point in the season, the team is doing its best to get hot. Alas, all MIAC teams looking for momentum right now must first deal with Mother Nature. Mid-April snow has put a pause on outdoor practices, and of course, games. Not to mention, it hurts to hit a ball in the cold. Nonetheless, the players and coaches have not let the weather distract them from their goals.

“It does hurt, when you’re down in Arizona for a week [at the Phoenix Invitational Tournament], and you come up here and then the conference season starts and we’ve had only one day where we can be outside,” said Gossard. “But we just have to prepare our team the best way possible. If that means practicing inside, so be it. We’re not the only team going through this right now.”

While the team has had some bad breaks this season, they still have their sights set on the post season.

“The team is concentrating on the same goal. We’d like to win the MIAC championship,” said Bachmeier. “Heck, we’d like to win the national championship.”

With so many conference games left on the schedule, the Pipers are still in a good position to be major players come playoff time. Gossard expressed that the team will probably need anywhere from 14-16 wins to be in position for a playoff surge. With only four MIAC games off the board, anything can happen.

Fortunately for this team, they have a well-developed sense of how good they can be, what they must do to get better, and how to approach the playoff season.

Don’t be fooled by a seemingly mediocre record. This program is changing for the better.