Baeball team wraps up season
Early struggles shadowed by recent success

By Laura Podgornik
Contributing Writer
Posted 5/4/09

Both coaches and players agree; the UWS baseball team has come a long way since the beginning of the season.  But lately they have seen their struggles from early in the season pay off with some success late in the season.

“In the beginning of the season, we were struggling as a team,” said freshmen pitcher Cale Tassi. “We only took one game from UW-Platteville and we could’ve taken at least two or three,” he continued.

“This is probably the most difficult schedule we’ve seen. We began our season by playing four games against two top-notch division two teams,” said Head Coach Eddy Morgan. “It’s been a great learning experience, and we’re only going to get better from here,” he added.

The Yellowjacket roster consists of thirty-five players, with thirteen of them being freshmen. The rest of the roster includes five sophomores, ten juniors and seven seniors. Coach Morgan especially commended the efforts of senior pitcher Justin Saufley, junior catcher Brett Olson and Tassi for their improvement and dedication this season.

“This is the first time we’ve beaten both UW-Steven’s Point and UW-Whitewater in the same season. We currently have more conference wins than we have since 1989, but I want more,” said Coach Morgan of this season’s accomplishments.

Among those wins is a game pitcher Tassi is particularly proud of. In the first game of a doubleheader against UW-Whitewater recently, he successfully shutout the conference contender and led the team to a 10-0 victory.

“It felt great knowing that I was capable of shutting out a top-notch team but I couldn’t have done it without our defense,” said Tassi.

Tassi has been a stand-out player this season for the Yellowjackets and part of a quality freshmen class of players.

“Our freshman class is one of the most talented freshmen classes this program has ever seen. Tassi, Nick Bursik, Chris Ransom, and Bryan Grabowski head a very talented group of freshmen that have made an immediate impact,” said Assistant Coach Nick Garramone. “These guys are our future and I truly look forward to seeing them flourish,” added Coach Morgan.

The team aimed to finish fourth in the conference this season but fell just short of the goal. “We are in the games just trying to figure out how to get that win. We’re currently playing the type of baseball we’re capable of playing,” said Morgan.

Although the team didn’t meet this goal, Coach Garramone feels that they’ve definitely solidified themselves as a contender within the conference.

“So much of athletics is judged on the surface by a team’s record.  I feel that our season has been a success on many fronts,” said Garramone. “We are beating teams that haven’t been beaten by our baseball program in years, and we are showing the WIAC that we are for real. We focus not so much on what each season produces as far as wins and losses but more of what is our task at hand and improving in small increments each day. This is something senior Justin Saufley focuses on daily.”

The outlook for next season is as bright as ever, since much of the team will be returning. “We’re only going to get better from here,” said Morgan. The players are ready as well.

“Once our final games are over, I’m going to be counting down the days until next season starts,” said freshman Alex Lagadin.

The Yellowjackets finished the season with a four game battle against UW-Oshkosh May 2 and 3.  The Titans came into Superior and took three out of four games from the Yellowjackets, leaving UWS with an overall record of 14-26. They did improve their record in conference play compared to last season, going from 4-20 in 2008 to 6-18 this season.

Second baseman Brandon Willis relays the ball to first base.  Willis filled in for captain Sean Cummings and made the most of his opportunity going 4 for 4 at the plate against  UW-Stevens Point.
                                                                   Photo: Alicia Cummings