BIG RAPIDS – Ferris softball coach Keri Becker, the driving force behind some of the greatest teams in school history, has never run away from scheduling tough competition for her program.
As far as tough scheduling is concerned, the 2009 campaign is no exception as a veteran Ferris team hopes to make a run at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, successfully defend its 2008 NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region championship and maybe accomplish even more beyond those noteworthy achievements.
“Starting the season out at a regional crossover tournament (Kentucky Wesleyan Great Lakes Challenge) will allow us to get five games under our belts before heading to Florida,” Becker said as she officially announced the schedule’s finalization. “The Great Lakes Challenge along with the eight additional GLIAC games puts us in a position to have 13 more regional opponents which counts tremendously in the NCAA regional rankings. Winning all or even some of these games provides us with an opportunity to get a postseason bid despite the conference tournament's outcome.”
The Bulldogs know they are scheduled to face (weather permitting) some good competition in Kentucky and will definitely be challenged by strong opposition in Florida in early March. If Ferris holds its own, in Kentucky and Florida, it will begin its schedule back home with a lot of momentum. Obviously, the GLIAC is loaded with strong competition (this spring will be no different). Ferris, as an experienced softball team with impressive credentials, will not be afraid of this caliber of competition.
Last season, facing and beating a lot of tough competition made the Bulldogs a battle-tested team by the time they advanced to regionals at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. In 2009, Ferris hopes a similar scenario plays out on the softball diamond.
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