Nov. 13, 2003
Georgia Tech softball head coach Ehren Earleywine enters his third season at Tech, first as head coach. Earleywine sat down with RamblinWreck.com and talked about the fall season and where his athletes are heading into 2004.
RamblinWreck.com: What was the evaluation of your team after the fall season?
Ehren Earleywine: “We were pleased with the fall. We ended up winning all of our fall games (5-0). Mostly what we wanted to accomplish in the fall was chemistry. In order to do that, we put people in different positions to find out what line up worked the best. I think we found a lot of answers to our questions. That being said, we still have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be. I think this team has the potential to be a top 25 team and perhaps a shot at winning an Atlantic Coast Conference championship, but there is a lot of work to do before that’s going to happen.”
RW: How are individual workouts going?
Coach Earleywine: “We’re doing a lot of live situations in order to see how the newcomers have progressed. The two months in the fall was good for them but you can never hit enough live pitching. It really helps the athletes get used to the type of velocity they will be facing in the spring.
“The weights and conditioning have been great. We’ve seen some really good changes in the athleticism and quickness. I’ve noticed this team is a lot faster and quicker than we’ve been in the past. We had some power in the past, but lacked the speed. Now, I believe, we have both. We’re in the best shape we can be in right now.”
RW: How are the freshmen coming along?
Coach Earleywine: “Our two freshmen have done a great job making the transition into collegiate softball. Not only in softball, but academically as well. They are two of the hardest workers on are team. They’ve both been pleasant surprises and should see some playing time in the spring if all goes as planned.”
RW: How important is the fall?
Coach Earleywine: “We think the fall is huge. It gives us an opportunity to see weaknesses and deficiencies so that we can improve on them. With our freshmen, it gives us a chance to see where they stack up against college players. We’ve seen them play at the high school level and we know that they are the top of line at that level, but this gives us a chance to see if they can compete against D-1 athletes.”
RW: Is everybody healthy right now?
Coach Earleywine: “All 14 players are healthy. That’s going to be a key issue with us this year. If we can stay healthy we’re going to be fine. We only have 14 players so we’re real thin as far as depth, but if we can stay healthy, we like our chances.”
