Fisher, team prepare to ‘play ball’
From our weekly issue dated March 18, 2009
Classes were just completed for the day at Illinois Valley High School, but the weight room near its parking lot is bustling with activity.
Music is blaring and weights are clanging as members of the school’s varsity baseball team engage in conditioning exercises under the watchful eye of coach Keith Fisher.
With a stopwatch in his hand and a whistle around his neck, Fisher does what he can to keep the student athletes on their toes. It’s a clear example of the “no pain-no gain” philosophy that he hopes to instill in the players.
“You got to be tough on them sometimes,” Fisher said.
This baseball season will be Fisher’s eighth of coaching and his second at IVHS. Last year, the team didn’t win any regular season games. But Fisher said that he anticipates much-improved results this time around.
“That was mostly errors and a lack of conditioning,” he explained.
As such, Fisher is pushing the team to improve its defensive skills and toughen up for the season. He said that an emphasis on conditioning is needed in order to keep the players from being injured, especially since some haven’t played sports since last year.
Helping Fisher will be assistant coach Tony Paulson. He brings to the table years of experience coaching Little League and Pony League baseball. Paulson said that he wants to help the players with the game fundamentals.
Todd Yohan also will be part of the coaching team, helping the squad with its batting skills.
The team is led by seniors Jack Anderson, Andrew Augustadt, Chris Carlton, Antonio Escalante, Sean Ewing, Cory Glasgow and Thomas Kolberg.
Fisher said that he sees conference rivals Hidden Valley, Phoenix and Henley as the teams to beat this year. But he’s also confident that IVHS will be able to compete at their level.
“We’re going to give everybody a good fight, that’s for sure,” he said.
The teams plan to have a batting cage at the school by the end of the year, Fisher said, and some grant money has been received for funding improvements to its baseball field. However, he said that all the players are being required to raise $250 each for equipment such as bats.
The 2009 IVHS varsity baseball team will have its first game on Thursday, March 19 at 4 p.m. against Glide. ~ Scott Jorgensen
Advertisement:
Advertisement:
