A trip to West Lafayette on March 18 was a homecoming of sorts for Valparaiso assistant baseball coach Ben Wolgamot.
Wolgamot played two seasons for Purdue, earning all-conference honors at second base in 2008. The game marked his first against the Boilermakers since joining the Valparaiso staff, but he did set foot in the visiting dugout while coaching at Wabash College in 2011.
Wolgamot played for veteran head coach and LaPorte native Doug Schreiber and played with current Purdue assistant coach Tristan McIntyre.
The second-year Valparaiso assistant picked up several coaching tactics from Schreiber, particularly since both instruct infielders.
“Offensively, you try to put pressure on the teams that you’re playing,” Wolgamot said. “He did a good job of that when I was there, and he’s continued to do that. You try to force the defense to make the plays.”
Although temperatures dipped into the low-40s, Wolgamot knew there was no chance of Scheiber busting out the long sleeves. The Purdue coach never wears long sleeves, even in early season, 30-degree weather.
“He wants to show toughness and try to get guys to feed off the idea that it’s not cold,” Wolgamont said. “He doesn’t want that to be an excuse for his guys.”
Bowling
Valparaiso had something to prove when it competes in its first-ever conference championship on March 22 against some of the top programs in the nation.
However, around the Valparaiso campus, membership in the newly formed Southland Bowling League is an accomplishment in itself. With every other Valparaiso program belonging to the Horizon League or Pioneer Football League, bowling was the orphan sport that did not have conference affiliation.
Since the announcement of the Southland Bowling League, bowlers and coaches feel an increased sense of belonging.
“For us to go out there and have a chance to bring a championship back to the school, that means a lot for us,” Valparaiso coach Matt Nantais said. “That will make the team feel like they’re contributing more than what they had. A lot of people at the school still look at bowling as maybe not a sport. I’m not saying the athletes think that, but maybe some of the students think that.”
The Crusaders finished third in the Southland Championship, falling one match short of the championship match.
Softball
The departure of Angie Doerffler to graduation left a gaping hole at the shortstop position for Valparaiso.
If early season statistics are any indication, consider that void filled. Freshman Stephanie Moreno boasts a .381 batting average that ranks second on the team, and has started all 23 games.
“Steph has a lot of heart,” Valparaiso coach Kate Stake said. “She plays the game the right way. She competes every pitch. She’s always going to be a tough out at the plate; she’s always going to be someone we want up in clutch situations.”
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Though freshmen at the shortstop position may seem like a rarity in college, Moreno becomes the second consecutive Crusader to burst onto the scene at that position. She is following in the footsteps of Doerffler, who was a fixture at shortstop from 2011-2014.
“She’s doing a good job anchoring the infield right now,” Stake said. “She is hopefully going to be one of those people who Valpo softball remembers down the line.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer.