IIAC Conference Tennis

The Beaver's finished out their season this past weekend at the IIAC Men's Individual Conference Tournament in Cedar Rapids. The weather did not fully cooperate as most of the tournament was held indoors. In singles senior Derrick Young and sophmore Ben Young recorded wins in their first round match up. In doubles team captain Aaron Wigg and Tim Coleman had a strong finish making it to the quarterfinals. The competition at the conference was very solid and I thought we competed well overall as a team. The Beaver's will lose only one player from this year's squad and the outlook for next year looks promising with some of the new recruits.

Posted by McCadamsK [Men's Tennis] ( April 29, 2008 03:48 PM ) Permalink | Comments[0]

Baseball season down to crunch time

We are down to the last week of the season and as usual, there is a log jam of teams trying to qualify for the Iowa Conference tournament.  The top six teams after the regular season will make the double elimination tournament held in Cedar Rapids beginning on Thursday of next week.  Every team in the league has a chance to get into the top six as we enter the last week.  But we are one of the teams that can control our own destiny.  If we have a good week, we will get in.  We have a big game vs. Simpson at Memorial park on Wednesday at 6:00 pm.  After splitting the two games in Indianola earlier in April, Simpson has moved themselves up towards the top of the league.  They have already clinched a spot in the tournament, but are vying for the important #2 seed, which would give them a first round bye.  This is also the last conference game on their schedule, as they drew the last weekend as their bye weekend.  I would expect both teams to lay it on the line tomorrow night, our focus will be on keeping the guys loose and focus on what we can control.  A big crowd should also help our aggressiveness, it is going to be a fun evening. 

Overall, I have been happy with the way the guys meet challenges.  But I learned something this past weekend at the retirement reception for our softball coaches, Marge Willadsen and the late Rusty Mohler who was a legendary pitching coach in this part of the country.  As many of you know, our softball program owns the only team National Championship in our school's history.  A lot of her players from that team were here last weekend, and it was very apparent that successful people, especially in competition, have that extra edge about them.  To this day, those softball players have that confident personality.  There is no doubt that their personality traits led to success on the field.  I am a believer in how a player should carry himself and how he should react to negativity, whether that be a strikeout, a poor call by an umpire, or making an error.  I hate seeing players mope around or drop their head when something doesn't go their way.  Negativity is contagious, and it can make it nearly impossible to play well.  I guarantee that the National Championship softball team had enough confidence in their ability, that they didn't worry about a bad call or about making a mistake.  This will be important heading into the stretch run of the season. 

Gotta go for now, we are heading to Briar Cliff for a JV double-header today. 

Posted by EddieS [Baseball] ( April 29, 2008 10:47 AM ) Permalink | Comments[0]