Thursday Morning

Had some phone interviews this morning for head coach Bob Babb and senior outfielder Dave Kahn. Got those taken care of before heading out to Fox Cities Stadium around 11:00 am.

At the stadium, the guys spent a good bit of money as the NCAA merchandise was out and available for purchase. Got myself a nice Columbia Blue Johns Hopkins College World Series shirt. After that the team ate a quick lunch, put on by the NCAA. I had the first of what will hopefully be several brats with sauerkraut on this trip.

Also had a chance to talk with Dave, one of our hosts while we're here in Appleton. Dave and Kevin were our hosts when we were out here in 2008 and they did a great job. They became big fans of ours and have kept tabs on us since then. They requested to be our hosts again this year which was great to hear. Several of us at Hopkins got a nice email from Dave and Kevin just minutes after we won the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, congratulating us and welcoming us back to Wisconsin.

After lunch, we took some pictures on the field. The seniors and juniors each did a group shot before we took the team picture underneath the scoreboard. The team then headed to Legion Field for batting practice. The weather can't be any nicer right now, 77 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze. We got some rain last night, but I think the forecast is clear for the rest of the tournament.

We spent about 50 minutes over at Legion Field for BP and then headed back to Fox Cities Stadium for infield/outfield. Shenandoah is still on the field right now for infield/outfield, we should be able to get on the field at 3:40.