Throughout the course of the 2011 season, MVNU senior pitcher Steve Miller will write a weekly blog about what is happening with the baseball team.

"Getting Ready for the Start of a New Year" (posted on February 28, 2011)

So, it has been a number of months since the Cougar baseball team has been in game action, but for the past six months we have been working hard trying to improve on our up and down season from last year. The first Saturday after classes started in September we started our six weeks of fall baseball workouts. Once that was complete, we finalized our roster and started our lifting and running groups until Christmas break. Ever since J-term began, we have been in the gym, in the hitting cages, and even had a few days outside preparing for the upcoming season which, weather permitting, (aka Ohio weather) we will begin on March 1 at Shawnee State in a doubleheader.

As mentioned before, last year was a season of streaks for us. We seemed to play great for a week or two, and then something just fell apart for a few games for us. We ended the regular season with a 29-20 record and somehow squeaked into the conference tournament. We played great and won the tournament and advanced to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round where we went 1-2, which ended our season. What we have talked about from day one this fall was becoming a much more consistent team. We showed many signs of a good but not great team last year. We have great coaches who have given us some great instruction of how we can become a consistently great team instead of just being a good team. Some changes have been made to the day-to-day operations of the team and we have been working extremely hard at the game.

We lost a couple key components from last year, but we have also retained many important parts of the team and have added some new ones as well. We are extremely pumped to begin this season which will continue March 4-5 in Mason, Ohio on a turf field against Illinois Tech and Spring Arbor (Michigan). Coach Veale has put together a challenging schedule for us early in the season and while we are down in Florida for our annual Spring Trip (March 16-26). We are preparing to be ready for the challenge and we are really excited to make a statement early in the year.

Like I said we have a few new parts to the team and we will hopefully spend the first few blogs introducing some of the Baby Cougs to the rest of Cougar Nation. Here are a couple of them:

First is Jacob Alan Dickerson.

Hometown/High School: Butler, Ohio/Clear Fork High School

Nicknames: Big-D, Big Country

Favorite sport other than baseball: Football

Favorite Food: Salad, chicken, Cheese sticks

Favorite sports memory: Winning the state championship my senior of high school baseball.

Most embarrassing moment: Falling in the shower during baseball my senior year of high school.

Something random/unique about yourself: I am currently 6'4" but when I when I was in middle school I was one of the smallest kids in the middle school.

Jake is a Pitcher/Outfielder and is a great kid who has worked very hard since stepping into a tough situation with a lot of experience in the outfield and on the hill. He has been compared to Adam Dunn from the Chicago White Sox for his outbursts at the plate during the fall. Jake has also been known as the kid who can do an impression of almost anyone as well as make any animal sound. It is pretty incredible. If you ever see him around, ask him to do his chicken sounds. That's my personal favorite.

Next is Michael John Kochheiser. For those who would have no clue how to say this name, it is something like Ko-Hi-Zer. Yeah I don't really understand it either but that's ok.

Hometown/High School: Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork High School

Favorite sport other than baseball: Golf and Football

Nicknames: Cornstalk/ Koch n' Smoke (if there is a weird nickname, it probably came from none other than Darren Athey. That's where Koch n' Smoke comes from.

Favorite sports memory: Winning state senior year

Most embarrassing memory: Cutting off a throw from the outfield and tripping over 2nd base having my pants end up around my ankles.

Something random= I am terrified of horses...

Cornstalk is a really tall, really skinny kid. He is a pitcher who stands about 6' 6” and 160 some pounds soaking wet. I remember being 160 when I was in junior high. He may be skinny, but he has a lot of heart and works extremely hard at improving. He also comes to the team with a lot of experience in the pitching department, but he has not let that keep him from trying to earn innings on the mound. I have been extremely impressed with his teachable attitude and his goofy personality. I mean look at him, he is so tall and so skinny! How couldn't he be a goof?

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back with more introductions and hopefully a recap of our first games of the year soon.

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