Baseball Culture Creates Will to Win

by Savanah Baker

Concordia’s baseball team worked hard in the off-season to prepare for a season that the team hopes will be as successful as last season. The Bulldogs finished the 2014-2015 season with a 26-18 record, which broke a school record for most recorded wins and was the first winning season since 1979.

“It’s been a nice transition with some good things to build off of last year, but we really want to perform better in conference play,” second-year coach Ryan Dupic said.

The Bulldogs finished 8-12 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and will begin this season with a GPAC poll ranking of ninth.

“I think we are better than that, but it doesn’t shock me that that’s our ranking,” Dupic said. “It’s where we finished last year (in the GPAC), and we graduated a healthy amount of seniors, so it’s probably where they think we are at.”

Key losses for the Bulldogs this year include ace pitcher Jaydee Jurgensen, relief pitchers Heath Benker and Edwin Izumigawa, and first baseman Zach Cambier.

The Bulldogs will capitalize on the returns from sophomore pitcher Neil Ryan, senior pitcher Mark Harris and senior outfielder Alex Alstott, who broke the school record for most triples in a season, while also looking to other players, new and returning, to fill spots.

“Last season was the best in school history, but we left a lot out on the table and didn’t go as far as we thought we could’ve,” Alstott said. “The freshman and transfers we have this year are just adding so much more depth to every position that we didn’t have last year, and they’re going to be a huge part of (this season).”

Old and new faces take shape on the field not only in positions, but also leadership roles. Dupic opened doors for players to step up and be a part of the success the Bulldogs are trying to achieve.

“We’ve established a leadership committee in the position players of five guys, Alex Alstott, (sophomore) Kaleb Geiger, and juniors Ryan Fesmire, Casey Berg, and Christian Montero. We are creating leadership within units, whether they are defensive or offensive leaders,” Dupic said. “(As for) the culture of the pitchers, it has been fantastic with leaders such as Mark Harris, Josh Prater, Nic Seaman and Casey Hall, though I feel bad naming names for pitchers because they’ve all been a part of it.”

“Last year was my first year, so I didn’t have a leadership role until the season was going on,” Alstott said. “(This year) I changed my values and morals to better myself because I want to be a good example and a good leader for the guys.”

Dupic is pleased with the unity of the team from the coaching staff down through the players. The mentality and culture of the team is deeply rooted, and everyone is working to succeed.

“The culture of our program has gotten to the point where we are becoming more of a family… and we have the players take ownership with the mentality,” Dupic said. “They bring mindset videos before practice, and we’ve had multiple meetings about it. We discuss culture, the behaviors we want to see and what it is we stand for.”

Team culture is a main emphasis for Dupic. Prior to the 2014-15 season, nine Bulldogs were suspended in regulation with Concordia University and Athletic Department policies. Dupic heightened the importance of culture after this incident in order to develop a better team atmosphere, and far fewer incidents have taken place this year.

Dupic has implemented team chapel every Thursday morning. The players takes notes on the message, which they later discuss in group meetings before practice, focusing on what it meant to them individually and how it applies to the team.

“The discussions we’ve had in continuation of chapel are vital to us, even in general, as a person because we are helping kids grow in baseball and in life, too,” Dupic said.

The Bulldogs are now 2-2 after opening their season Feb. 13 and 14 against the Bethany College Swedes in Lindsborgh, Kansas. The Bulldogs lost 0-4 and 4-5 on Saturday, but gained ground on Sunday with a 13-2 and 6-2 win over the Swedes.

Their next games will be Feb. 19 and 20 in Sterling, Kansas, where they will take on the Sterling College Warriors.