Nov. 7, 2006
Notre Dame head baseball coach Dave Schrage recently took a few moments to reflect back on his team’s fall season and passed along his first-person thoughts, as his team was heading into its winter workouts during late October. Coach Schrage also will be providing comments later in the week regarding the program’s letter-of-intent signees (look for und.com’s customary complete signee release on Nov. 9 or 10, including full bio. capsules, photos and quotes from each signee).
Coach Schrage’s short summary of fall practice follows below (also see the und.com baseball news archive for earlier “Catching Up With Dave Schrage” excerpts and look for more first-hand reports from other members of the Irish baseball staff in the upcoming weeks on und.com):
Catching Up With Dave Schrage #3 (Nov. 7, 2006)
“I felt our fall season and the start of winter workouts have been very productive. The main purpose of the fall was to implement our system and to develop a trust between the coaches and players. I felt it was very important to learn the player’s personalities and at the same time our players needed to learn our expectations of them as people, students, and baseball players.
“The fall sets the tone for everything. It’s a time to set in motion the right way to do things, both on and off the field. You need to start establishing a team concept and develop a work ethic that is disciplined and relentless.
“What stood out the most was the players intense desire to become better every day. Since everyone was being evaluated for the first time by this coaching staff, the work ethic was outstanding. We told the players that everyone was on a clean slate coming into the fall. As a result, a starter in the past had to prove himself again and a non-starter in the past was given another chance. This made for great competition at positions and – in the long run – will make our team stronger in the spring.
“It became very evident in the first week of practice that these players are winners. They expect to win every day in life, in the classroom, and on the field. The returning players came into the fall with a strong desire to defend the BIG EAST Championship – but also to advance further in the NCAA Tournament in 2007.
“We spent a lot of time during the fall working on defensive fundamentals and defensive situations. We also worked on baserunning and putting pressure on defenses. These areas were our focus and I think we will see the benefits of improving those areas. As you saw in the World Series, the most basic defensive plays can make or break your team’s succcess.
“With the loss of many contributors from the 2006 team, there will be many new faces playing prominent roles in 2007. We actually have 15 players who will suit up for the Irish for the first time (14 freshmen and one transfer). With that being said, we still have plenty of experience in players such as Sean Gaston, Ross Brezovsky, Danny Dressman, Brett Lilley, Mike Dury, Wade Korpi and Jess Stewart.
“It also will be nice to have Dan Kapala and Tony Langford return from injury. Both of these players are coming along nicely and will be close to full strength when we start the season in February.
“We currently are focusing on strength and conditioning, as this is a key part to any program. We need to become quicker, stronger and mentally tough over the winter, in addition to getting in plenty of individual hitting and pitching workouts.
“One thing I really have appreciated this fall has been the players’ openess to change. They have come to every practice with a purpose and – as a result – many important thingss already have been accomplished in just a short time. The players in this program are special and our coaches are working to push them to become great. Our goal at Notre Dame is not to be good – we want to be great in life, in the classroom, and especially on the field.
“I will be checking back in with all of the great Irish baseball fans when we discuss the letter-of-intent signees, shortly after the first official signing day on Nov. 8. I also will report back at the end of the semester, as we look ahead to a 2007 season that will be just around the corner.
“Until next time, thanks for you support of Notre Dame baseball and Go Irish!”
– Dave Schrage