IUN News
Ryan Halbe
Ryan Halbe
Thu, Sep 17, 2009 - [Baseball]

Coming off a 1-22 season with a baseball team that only has 9 players leaves everyone-- the players, the staff, and the administration-feeling exasperated. This year, barring any unforeseen eligibility issues, they'll hit the field with at least 26 guys. Dan Soria, the team's new head coach, hopes with the influx of fresh talent the RedHawks middling record will see a profound turnaround.

Soria was made assistant coach in spring 09 to help the pitching staff. After Bob Lucas was removed from his position as coach, Soria took over as an interim. He was officially made head coach after the season ended.
Dr. Charles Gary, Director of Athletics and Student Life, said, "I'm so thrilled about having Coach Soria and the initiative he's taking to get new players here at IUN. I'm confident that he will do a great job with his vast experience."

This is Soria's twelfth year playing and coaching collegiate baseball. He coached at Calumet College of St. Joseph for three years, Chicago State for two years, and Crown Point High School for a semester before arriving at IU Northwest. Joining him will be assistant coaches John Vode and Mike Klaich.

 
Currently, the expanded roster is playing "fall ball," essentially an abridged season of scrimmage games. Soria is using the fall to see what the team has to work on for the spring season. Considering the youngness of the group-every player is either a freshman or sophomore, no upperclassmen-he is excited about the level of ability.
He said, "We've got a lot of good guys. We only gave up six runs in two games against Harvey College over the weekend."
There are several players to watch out for, including last year's team RBI and batting average leader Jeremy Rataczyk. A new closer Justin Faught, who's being eyed as a potential team captain, and a new starting pitcher Tony Balcazar will be improving the team's pitching staff, which gave up 201 runs last year.

Faught said, "Helping [this program] back to where it needs to be and being a part of that is a good feeling."

 
The RedHawks will even play a spring training of sorts. From March 14 through March 21 they'll be playing 10 games in seven days at Walt Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. Otherwise, the schedule won't be a major shift away from last year; the RedHawks will be squaring off against local teams. Perhaps the biggest news is the changes made to the IU Northwest baseball field. Whereas it used to be full of weeds as tall as four feet, it's now in playable condition.
"It was the resurrection of the field," Soria said. "Having your own field gives you a sense of pride."

That sense of pride carries over into Soria's coaching style.
He said, "A lot of [my style] comes from playing baseball at every level. I try to make [my players] smart ballplayers. I try to build confident ballplayers."

Soria's main goal is to make the USCAA tournament, and the first game of the season is against the USCAA champions.
He said, "I saw them [play] last year and they did everything well. This group of guys I'm coaching now is that team; they do everything just as well."
   
**Story written by The Northwest Phoenix Editor-in-Chief: Don Sjoerdsma