Calling all Alumnae!!

We are in the process of planning a GREAT Blugold Fastpitch Alumnae weekend the weekend of April 4-5, 2009. Our players are also in the process of researching their individual jersey number, so many of you will be contacted by a current Blugold in the near future, hopefully by Christmas. They will have a series of questions they'll be asking you relative to your experience as a Blugold Fastpitch player, and UW Eau Claire student. We are looking forward to their reports, which will be completed by our first day of practice on January 26th!

If you are a Blugold Fastpitch alumnae, we ask that you go to our alumnae information form and submit your current contact information, etc., so we can stay in touch with you! That form can be found here: http://www.uwec.edu/athletics/soft/0809/alumni.htm. We are working hard to update our alumnae database in time for the program's 25th Anniversary this spring! We want you to be a part of it, but we need your contact information!!!

Alumae will also be receiving a mailing from us in the near future, reminding you to save the date for the Alumnae weekend in April, and also asking you to update your information.

There is a proud, rich tradition of fastpitch softball at UW Eau Claire, and our current staff and players are excited to learn more about the history prior to the 2002 season!

We are also working on Jo Ellen Bailey's and Deb Steward's return to Eau Claire to help us with our 25th year celebration!!!

Thank you for your continued support of Blugold Fastpitch Softball!!

Coach Huntington

Blugold Super Six

I'm proud to announce that on Saturday during the annual Blugold Hall of Fame banquet, our own Jill Janke will receive one of our "Super Six" awards, which is the highest honor a Blugold student-athlete can receive. Jill had a banner career, highlighted in her last at-bat with a walk-off homerun in the National Championship game. She started all but one game in her 4 years in a Blugold uniform, and the only reason she didn't start that game is because she dislocated her shoulder in the previous game. (She DID pinch hit in the game she didn't start)

More information on the Super Six can be found here: http://www.uwec.edu/athletics/general/hof08.htm

Congratulations Jill!

Do you know Casey Blake?

Tonight was my big claim to fame - I just watched Indianola, Iowa, native, Casey Blake hit the go-ahead homer for the Dodgers in the bottom of the 6th inning. Why is that exciting for me? Well, way back when I coached and was the head athletic trainer at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, Casey was in the minor leagues. One year during the off-season, he came into the athletic training room and I helped him with a little rehab on his arm - can't recall if it was an elbow or what exactly it was, but I saw him on a regular basis. His dad, Joe, has been a long-time coach for the Simpson baseball team, and now his brother, Ben, is the head coach at Simpson. Casey also has a younger brother, Pete, whom I got to know when he was playing high school ball, as I was the athletic trainer that covered several Indianola High School baseball games during Pete's career. That high school baseball team was VERY good, and I always looked forward to covering their games. Not only did I get to know Casey a little, but his wife, Abby (then Archibald), played softball and basketball for Simpson during my coaching years there as well. Abby was an amazing athlete, and to say that the Blake family is a "baseball family" is an understatement. Best of luck in the rest of the post-season, Casey!

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head……

Well, it wouldn't have been Blugold softball without rain and cold today. We actually DID go through with our annual intrasquad game, but it was in the rain and cold as our players' parents faithfully watched under umbrellas and dressed for December! I was proud of our players, as I pretty much left the decision to them whether or not they wanted to play today. They said, "We've played in worse, Coach," so we went ahead with a 5-inning game under occasional steady rain. The "worse" I think they were referring to was a doubleheader vs. UW Stevens Point last spring with a wind chill of below 30 degress, and snow that, at times, was coming down pretty heavily. I guess that's what you have to be prepared for when you play spring softball in Wisconsin......it's not all that much fun at times, but it is what it is. All day today everyone kept talking about how beautiful the day was YESTERDAY (it was the PERFECT fall day yesterday), and I wish I could have ordered up another day just like it today, but oh well.

After the intrasquad game was over, the players and coaches then got to enjoy all the great food that the parents brought for our annual potluck that we have each year on our intrasquad day. I thank the parents wholeheartedly for their efforts and all the great food! We had quite a spread today!

Congrats go out this weekend to all of the Blugold teams! Our fall sports are off to a great start and we're gaining a lot of momentum as we get closer to the start of winter sports. Our volleyball team defeated UW Oshkosh on Saturday 3-0 in their home opener. Coming into Saturday's game, Oshkosh was 19-1 overall. It was a great win with a great crowd! Our women's golf team was sitting in 1st place at the conference meet, as of this writing. Our football team also defeated UW Oshkosh 34-0 in their Homecoming game, and our women's soccer team also won their conference match-up vs. UW Whitewater on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, both our men's and women's cross country teams finished in 3rd place at the Blugold Open. It's a great time to be a Blugold!

We finish up fall practice this week, and then it's on to all the off-season preparation for the spring.

Our clinic information is all online now, including our brochure and online registration. We're looking forward to a series of great clinics during the winter this year! Hopefully some of you reading this will register to attend one or more of our clinics. We'd love to help you become a better softball player.

Until next time.......hit 'em hard!

Coach Huntington