Players and coaches ready to get started.

By: Ryne Ryskoski

Duluth, Minn — The Duluth Huskies players and coaches arrived for their first official organized practice on Monday, May 27th at Wade Stadium in preparation for their season opener tonight against the Thunder Bay Border Cats.

All of the players and coaches have specific things that they want to work on and get better at over the summer to bring back to their respective schools, and they are in a great place to do that. These players are here to improve their skills, go up against stellar competition, and be a part of a winning environment; all things that the Duluth Huskies and the Northwoods League, the #1 collegiate wood bat summer league in the country provide. In talking to some of the players and coaches, it’s clear that this team has a lot of potential and desire to get better and showcase their various skills.

Matt Hogan, an outfielder who comes from the highly regarded Vanderbilt University, really wants to “embrace the opportunity to go against high-level competition” and hopes to learn a lot from the coaching staff as well as the other players.

He specifically wants to improve his ability of letting pitches get deeper and taking them the other way, as well as getting more reps to better his defense in the outfield. This last season at Vanderbilt, Hogan got the opportunity to watch and learn from the NCAA’s Home Run leader JJ Bleday. He hopes to take what he’s learned in his first year under Vanderbilt Baseball Manager Tim Corbin and make himself a better overall player for the Duluth Huskies this summer and in the future. Hogan is one hundred percent “ready to get to work and compete at a high level.”

Rising junior pitcher Dane Morrow who comes from Pepperdine University has lots of confidence in himself when it comes down to the biggest moments in a game. He would describe himself as a “really good competitor,” who thrives in crucial moments, and knows that no moment is “too big” for him.

Morrow has the right mentality of a pitcher, because he doesn’t want to give up easy pitches to hitters, and would like to improve his off-speed pitches. Specifically, he is working to better his curveball so he can keep hitters off balance when they might be looking for a different pitch. Look for Morrow to excel when one or two big outs are needed.

Notre Dame’s Carter Putz, who plays infield and outfield has a lot that he wants to improve on, but getting “faster, more athletic, and increasing arm strength” are things at the top of his list. In just his freshman year for the Fighting Irish, he had a lot of playing time and saw lots of action but believes he can improve all of his skills this summer in many different ways.

Putz aims to become a more well-rounded hitter by improving his off-speed pitch recognition and his ability to hit to all parts of the field. He looks to famed Yankees Shortstop Derek Jeter as someone to emulate his game after. Jeter was well known for hitting the ball corner to corner and having near perfect defense, which are skills that Carter would love to add to his arsenal. Putz is one of the more versatile players, so Huskies fans will see him help out the team in any way possible.

First time Huskies Coach Max Fecske is “all about the little things.” Coming off of his first year at Cal State Northridge as the team’s Graduate Assistant, he is known to be effective and very detail oriented. Before getting to Cal State Northridge, Coach Fecske was at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California where he helped coach the team become the #1 ranked baseball program in the country from February to April of 2018 and No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft Hunter Greene, who is currently in the Cincinnati Reds organization.

Coach Fecske wants to keep learning how to call offenses and be able to teach a wide variety of positions as well as improve his scouting abilities. He is “looking forward to this season” and is happy to be with the Duluth Huskies.

Anthony Lim, who also comes from California, is looking forward to learning from his fellow coaches, as well as get alot of experience. Coach Lim, who will be assisting with almost every position on the field, believes that he can relate to players in a different way than others can. “I believe I can convey a point that many different people can understand,” he said regarding coaching players and making relationships with them.

Coach Lim is coming off his first year as an Assistant at De Anza College in Cupertino, California. He would love to one day become a Hitting Coach and said that Coach Stu Pederson, the Huskies’ current Hitting Coach, will be a fantastic person to learn a lot from. Coach Lim is very excited to be given this opportunity and hopes to make the most out of it.

The Duluth Huskies open up their season tonight at 6:05 pm CT and 7:05 EDT against Thunder Bay in Canada. They will return to Wade Stadium for their Home Opener on Sunday June 2nd at 3:05 pm against the Eau Claire Express. Be sure to keep up with the Huskies on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more news and info about the team.

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The Duluth Huskies are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.duluthhuskies.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Huskies as your favorite team.