Sr. Babes are back at bat

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent
 
As summer begins and the weather turns warmer, members of the Senior Babe Ruth baseball team, which claimed three state titles in the past four years, laced up their cleats as they continue to improve by working their way toward achieving that goal again. According to head coach Justin Tystad, he’s just happy to be able to have a season this year, so his only goals for the team are to get out there and play some ball. 
“Two months ago, we weren’t even sure if we were going to have games,” Tystad said. “We’re just trying to improve as a team.” 
They took “baby steps” into the season and started out by practicing under the Centers for Disease Control’s recommendations of no gatherings over 10 people, and some of the out-of-state games in Montana and North Dakota were canceled. However, as things start to open back up, they are picking up more games. 
“We’ve had to adapt, but we’re doing pretty good at (getting) games,” Tystad said. 
This is Tystad’s first year of coaching the senior team, but he has coached Little League, as well as the Junior Babe Ruth teams, for several years, so he’s used to coaching this group of boys. 
“I know them well,” Tystad said. That includes everything from how they play, their strengths and weaknesses, to their personality traits. 
Tystad said that he loves baseball because “it’s America’s game” and it’s part of summer. Although the game looks slow to outsiders, it’s a “chess match” for true baseball fans, he said. 
The team started out with 18 players and is now down to 12 or 13, depending on the night, according to Tystad. They have a solid defense and good pitching, but they struggle with hitting. The older athletes are stronger in their skills, and the younger ones have a little more room to grow, especially with faster pitches. However, the team is working hard to improve. 
The biggest weakness for his team is staying positive. It’s easy to get caught up in mistakes and failures and let it get into your head, he said, but the important thing is to bounce back from mistakes and keep working to improve. 
“Baseball is a game where you have to have a short memory,” Tystad said. 
Two weeks ago, the Senior Babes won three out of their five games against Spearfish, Wheatland and Buffalo. They beat Spearfish 7-1, and although they lost twice to Wheatland, they were close games, losing by only two runs in both games (12-10 and 7-5). 
In the 7-5 game, Newcastle was in the lead during the seventh inning, Tystad said, but they gave it up in the end. However, on Friday, June 26, they beat Buffalo twice in a row with 11-0 and 10-3 victories. 
“Good week, all in all,” Tystad said. 
On July 1, they were short on players and lost to Douglas in a doubleheader 11-1 and 13-1. 
They have a week off, Tystad said, before heading to Billings, Montana, and then the state tournament. But he said they’ll probably squeeze in a few more games between then. 
The goal for state is to “go play — have fun,” as well as win the title again, Tystad said. Even though they lost quite a few players from last year, the returning kids have done a great job “filling the shoes” and stepping up to the plate.  
“We’re young and we’re coming along,” Tystad said. “We’re starting to improve every game it seems like.”