This week, I interviewed HSE junior Ethan Lund, a Left-handed pitcher and Purdue commit. Currently, Lund’s daily routine consists of eating a healthy breakfast with oatmeal and eggs, going to school, and then going to PRP and working on mechanics to get comfortable with how he is moving and to fix any flaws in his throws. After that, he starts throwing based on the day; he works on long tosses, moderate throwing, or other mechanisms to perfect his pitch. Finally, Lund finishes his routine with a recovery workout consisting of speed agility training and lifting so that he can return to his next day of practice without soreness. One piece of advice that Lund gives incoming freshmen is, “You’ll never make it far if you don’t enjoy practicing or lifting or working on the little things because, at the end of the day, baseball is just a game.” Lund’s greatest accomplishment is how far he has come over the last two years. As a freshman, he threw low 70’s and was 140 lbs. His biggest holdback was doubting and telling himself he wasn’t good enough. Looking forward, Lund has thrown up to 92s on the mound and is 205 lbs. He is genuinely starting to believe in himself and trust all the hard work and hours he has poured into baseball. Lund’s favorite memory of being on the HSE baseball team was his freshman year when he threw a complete game in the HCC championship. Lund states, “After the game, all the guys from the dugout dog piled me, and I was just so happy to help the team win!” One secret to his success is ensuring he gets at least 8.5 hours of sleep before games and gets in the right mindset through positive self-talk. Throughout his years of playing baseball, Lund has learned that you need to surround yourself with the people who want to see you succeed and those who are also working to achieve goals. He says you will become complacent if you do not do this.  He also believes that “you must treat and act like your teammates are family. You are all brothers, and you win and lose as a team. If one of you fails, the other is there to pick you up, and the same thing happens if you succeed; you do it all together.” In the interview, Ethan talks about how some of his teammates became his best friends outside of school. Lund’s best piece of knowledge was from a former HSE alumni, Sam Bachman, who got drafted 9^th overall by the Los Angeles Angels. Ethan reminisces the day Bachman watched him practice as he threw a bullpen. After Ethan’s practice, Bachman gave him three tips to improve his performance. The first tip that Bachman told him was that many people have the ability to be good, but it’s the consistency aspect that helps people be great. Secondly, Bachman told him that he needed to write down all the ques, tips, and advice he had learned from all his years and keep It in a notebook. Thirdly, Bachman told Lund to find a routine that works for him on game day and find out what works during workouts so that he can repeat the same routine every time to have consistency in his pitches. This year, Lund’s goals are to: make All-Conference at the end of the year, be one of the conference starters for the team, and keep his earned run average below a 2. According to Lund, the HSE team aims to win the Mudsock series and have a winning conference record. Hopefully, after attending Purdue, Lund will fulfill his long-term dream of being on an MLB team! Ethan Lund’s positive attitude and grit inspire many HSE students and will bring him far on the field and in life.

In Addition to Ethan, I interviewed HSE’s Baseball Coach, Coach Seitz, a 1996 HSE graduate and three-year letterman in baseball. In these years at HSE, Coach Seitz was an All-state and an Indiana All-star. After his time at HSE, Seitz went to IU, played on the baseball team for four years, and became a letterman. One life lesson he has learned while coaching is to be adaptable with your players. He states, “figuring out what makes a kid tick can go a long way in the production you get out of them.” During the team’s off-season, they have focused on getting stronger in the weight room. This year, Seitz made sure that he created more space for players to work with outside instructors instead of players having to do everything through the HSE baseball program. Coach Seitz’s favorite part about coaching is seeing the players have success on the field based on what they do at practice. This year, Seitz believes that the HSE baseball team will prove that last year did not accurately represent what type of team they can be. He discusses that they have solid arms returning this year and should have a solid defense behind them. Seitz suggests, that offensively, the team needs to grind out on batting and have determination. Seitz’s goal for the season is for the HSE baseball team to play their best in the postseason. Seitz has high hopes for his athletes, and with his coaching strategy, and talented and committed players like Lund, the HSE baseball team has great protentional for success on the field this season.