Tigers are working hard to learn a new system.
With two outs in the bottom of the 15th inning Saturday, Missouri sophomore Megan Dennis approached home plate. The crowd could sense that the end was near and the fans began packing their things, but Dennis hit an RBI single into right field, extending the game one more batter.
Finally, after four hours and one minute of softball, a strikeout meant the Tigers could rest. Missouri defeated Butler Community College (Kan.) 5-0 in the first seven innings of exhibition play at University Field, but the teams played eight more innings to get more experience.
Saturday’s game wasn’t a run-of-the-mill fall game for Missouri. It was the second of three opportunities the team has to get game experience with new coach Ehren Earleywine, who was hired in August.
Earleywine doesn’t have a house in Columbia yet, but he has been instilling his coaching style on the team up to six days a week this fall. So far, things have been ahead of schedule.
“We have gotten used to it pretty quickly,” junior Micaela Minner said. “I think that we are catching on more quickly than I think we expected.”
The Tigers have been spending 12-15 hours each week working on softball fundamentals, like keeping their heads down when fielding ground balls and making sure that they are focusing on the ball while batting. When something isn’t right, Earleywine tries to fix the problem immediately.
“He is very informative, he is very straightforward,” Minner said. “When you are doing something right he lets you know and when you are doing something wrong, he lets you know and he fixes it. Right then, right there, and it’s fixed.”
Since last week’s scrimmage, junior Amanda Renth said the team has improved 30 percent, and that the team knows 50 percent to 60 percent of Earleywine’s system. Earleywine agreed.
“It is amazing how far that they’ve come, even from just last Saturday’s game,” Earleywine said. “In just learning the signs and the plays, it’s nice to have those things out of the way because then you can start focusing in on hitting mechanics and some of the finer points of the game.”
After being announced as he new Missouri coach, Earleywine said he felt blessed to be in a position that he would like to retire in. For the players, his first season can’t come soon enough.
“I’m ready for February,” Minner said.