There is no better barometer for how the Horizon League Championship will shake out for the Valparaiso men’s golf team than this weekend’s Wright State Invitational in Dayton, Ohio.
The tournament field includes every member of the Horizon League, giving Valparaiso a chance to gauge where it stands with three weeks remaining before the league tournament.
“Our goal is certainly to win the tournament,” Crusaders coach David Gring said. “Our expectation is to beat all of the other Horizon League participants. It’s a different course and it’s in the Midwest versus playing in Florida, but this will be a great preview of the Horizon League Championship.”
Senior Eric Winters leads the team in season scoring average at 73.68, while sophomore Nick Seitz averages 73.79. Freshman Zach Cutler (77.24) has also captured immediate attention with steady performances as a participant in nearly every tournament.
The Crusaders are coming off a fall season that Gring called the best in program history.
The team’s success isn’t exclusive to the golf course, as it carried a 3.61 GPA last semester.
“That’s exceptional when you look at the variety of majors we have from business to pre-med,” Gring said. “They’re not only playing at a high level on the golf course, but they’re playing at an excellent level in the classroom. I deeply admire that.”
Softball
Beginning with the first interviews she granted as Valparaiso softball coach last summer, Kate Stake made her feelings clear about the importance of quality pitching.
What she didn’t see coming was the sudden exit of pitching coach Alex Lagesse over the winter, leaving the position vacant for the 2015 season. It’s the first time Stake has ever been part of a team that does not have a pitching coach.
“Alex knows pitching, as evidenced by her playing stats and what I saw from her while working with our pitchers,” Stake said. “We were counting on having that experience on our staff, so her departure put us at a disadvantage. At the same time, our pitchers have been throwing since they were young and have the talent to be throwing better than they currently are.”
Valparaiso’s 6.73 ERA ranks seventh of eight in the Horizon League.
According to Stake, a pitching coach will be hired before next season. She already has several candidates on her radar for the position.
Football
With spring practices underway, optimism is plentiful surrounding the Valparaiso football program.
Coach Dave Cecchini was hired in January 2014, leaving him and his staff behind in the recruiting process a year ago. The program has brought in a 2015 recruiting class approximately twice the size of the 2014 freshman group.
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“We addressed a lot of needs,” Cecchini said. “The overall speed and athleticism of a lot of the guys we’re going to bring in at the skills positions is really going to improve us. We’ve got a lot more size that we’ve recruited on both the offensive and defensive lines.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer.