New London coach hopes to transform players
By Scott Bellile
New London head coach Tom Frederick has visions beyond improving the Bulldogs’ subpar win record.
He wants to spend every day teaching his young players to “behave like champions,” which includes becoming scholars in the classroom, hard workers in practice and conquerors of adversity.
Frederick, entering his second year as head coach for New London, shared his outlook for the season.
Returning players (and grade): Tylan Brown (12), Matt Wunderlich (12), Austin Hanson (11), Brayden Kurth (10), Will Wohlt (10), Kyle Wolf (10).
Players to watch: The returning players plus: Alex Amador (12), Kyle Krenke (11), Remington Steele (11), Bryce Stegall (11), Austin Warren (11), Ethan Wood (11), Parker Fermanich (11), Jake Hoier (10), Dylan Moeller (10), Garrett Ruckdashel (10), Chase Timm (10), Connor Titterton (10) and Logan Locy (9).
How have your recent seasons been? “Our last several seasons have been sub-.500. We are working hard to improve our skills and change the culture.”
What are your team’s strengths? “With only three seniors, we are going to be very young this year. But we have some very talented young kids that will play a lot. We have several kids who love to play the game of baseball and they are working hard every day to improve and help the team be successful.
“I think that we will have decent pitching depth. We will have several guys who will be able to go out to the mound and get hitters out. Our team speed will be better than in the past.”
What will your team need to work on? “Hitting and scoring runs will be a huge emphasis at practice. We are focusing on being aggressive early in the count and attacking the fastball. When our guys have two strikes, we need to get much better at getting the bat on the curve ball and putting the ball in play.
“Another area that we need to improve is on defense. Fielding the routine grounder and using the correct footwork to make a good throw will be a huge part of our preparation for the season.”
Which team or teams will provide you the biggest challenge, and why? “West DePere will always be one of the top teams in the Bay Conference. They always seem to have a lot of talent and combined with a long tradition of winning, they will be the favorites to win the conference again. I also expect Seymour, Xavier and Menasha to be very good this spring.”
Any predictions as to how far your team could get in the postseason? “Our hope for the post season is that we are playing our best ball by that time and then take it one game at a time.”
What do you want your players to learn this season? “Our whole focus this season is to learn the process of behaving like champions. Before we can win on a consistent basis, we have to learn how to behave like champions, on and off the baseball diamond. Becoming champions is a step-by-step process that we need to work on every day. We want our guys to focus on getting 3 percent better every day: 1 percent better in the classroom, 1 percent better as a person and 1 percent better as a baseball player.”
New London Baseball schedule
Games begin at 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Saturday, April 2, 10 a.m. Varsity/JV double headers at Clintonville
Tuesday, April 5, Var./JV vs. Kaukauna
Thursday, April 7, Var./JV vs. Shawano
Saturday, Apr 9, 11 a.m. Var./JV vs. Wittenberg-Birnamwood
Tuesday, April 12, Var./JV at Green Bay United
Thursday, April 14, Var./JV vs. Green Bay United
Saturday, April 16, 10 a.m. Var./JV doubleheaders at Waupaca
Tuesday, April 19, Var. at Weyauwega-Fremont
Thursday, April 21, Var./JV vs. Denmark
Friday, April 22, Var./JV vs. Wautoma
Tuesday, April 26, 6:30 p.m. Var. at Xavier High School (JV at Xavier 4:30 p.m.)
Thursday, April 28, Var./JV vs. Xavier
Saturday, April 30, 11 a.m. Var./JV doubleheaders at Little Chute
Tuesday, May 3, Var./JV vs. Seymour
Thursday, May 5, Var./JV at Seymour
Tuesday, May 10, Var./JV at West De Pere
Thursday, May 12, Var./JV vs. West De Pere
Saturday, May 14, 11 a.m. Var./JV double headers vs. Winneconne
Tuesday, May 17, Var./JV vs. Menasha
Thursday, May 19, Var./JV at Menasha
Friday, May 20, 7 p.m. Var. vs. Hortonville (JV vs. Hortonville 4:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, May 24, Varsity/JV at Shawano