It has been a smooth transition for first year softball coach Chris Nachtigall at Northwestern College. The Raiders are 16-9 overall and 4-0 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference heading into Wednesday’s matchup with Morningside.
“We obvoiusly have some getting used to each other that we still have to do, but I feel like they’ve bought into what we want to do, and on the field they are playing some decent softball,” Nachtigall says. He says the team is still getting used to his coaching style, but says they are a good group that has done really well.
Nachtigall says a good start has helped the players “buy into” his style of coaching. “When you start to have some success on the field then they see that and they see that their hard work is paying off, and that helps,” Nachtigall.
Nachtigall says he has told his players it is not how they start, but how they finish, and that’s what they try to do in every game and practice. He says that idea has helped them pull out some close games.
Nachtigall says a quick start has helped his team gain confidence, as one of the goals was to come out and play well at the start and finish strong at the end of the season.