Head Softball Coach at Truman State University. This is my new account 2-10-23. I got locked out of my old one, and Twitter won't help me get back on to it.
Big news coming out of Truman State Athletics this week. I was able to inform my team and recruits today that our board approved a new all turf softball field to be completed by next fall. This picture is a potential mock-up, not an official final product.
@TrumanSoftball
This girl got to ring the bell today! This pic is important not for the ring, but because of what it stands for. To spend a Christmas dealing with the aftermath of cancer surgery can only be understood by those that have been through it! But the bell has been rung now!!!
As a coach of any sport, if you just stick around long enough, time will help you reach many milestones. My girls were nice enough to give me one in our season opener today.
@TrumanSoftball
Food for thought for some high school and travel coaches. Every camp I've been at in recent years, most college coaches have said they like multi sport athletes. So when your rules don't allow them to play multiple sports, are you doing whats best for them, or best for you?
I'm extremely excited to announce Mackenzie Merritt as my new Assistant Coach. Makenzie brings DII pitching and coaching experience to our program. More importantly, her personality, charisma, and drive to coach make her the perfect addition to
@TrumanSoftball
@CoachMakenzieM
I got to see a ton of talent this weekend in STL! This morning, I had the honor to present to a high school coaching class in Iowa. This afternoon back to work on the next phase of our season! Speed today, strength tomorrow!
@TrumanSoftball
Almost everyone works hard when their parents or coach are watching! Most work hard during games. Many work hard when their team is there. Work when the weight room, gym, or field looks like this is what will separate you from others! What did you do today?
@TrumanSoftball
Look at this great group of ladies. Not only showed great improvement throughout the year, but also nailed it in the classroom! Great job!
@TrumanSoftball
Our girls wanted to host a cancer awareness day and did a great job. Awesome uniform build, chose to have Tiff throw out the first pitch (rise ball), and raised some money for the cancer center in Kirksville. Some things are just way bigger than the game or wins and losses!
Senior Day ended with a sweep over William Jewel. The girls ended the season winning 4 of their last 5 and more than doubling their wins total from last season. I'm proud of you girls!!!
@TrumanSoftball
Well, you know if I'm posting pictures of waterfalls on game day, it was a rough day! It was however beautiful at the waterfall, great to see the girls smile, picked up a great 2025 commit, and always a great day to be a Bulldog!
@TrumanSoftball
Only being 7 practices into the year this is sure creeping up on me fast!!!! I am extremely excited to see these girls live, though. Come check out the new field and catch some great Bulldog softball at our fall scrimmages!
@TrumanSoftball
Learning, learning, learning! Day 2 in the books! Not sure if everyone was sure what they were getting into, but so far, we have gotten better/stronger 2 days in a row. Great day to be a Bulldog!
The school had an awards night tonight. I told my softball team to be there. I couldn't find anything that looked like a softball team, but this great group of ladies let me take their picture!
These 4 Dawgs bark had bite today! They combined for 14 innings pitched, 10 hits, 17K, 4BB, and 1 run allowed today in our final fall scrimmages!
@TrumanSoftball
Here are our DINGER DAWGS for the day.
@ninafenasci
goes yard to right center in game one and
@Eminater123456
goes big to dead center to lead off game 2!
My bullpen had some struggles yesterday, contributing to a couple of losses. The staff bounced back in a big way today and pitched lights out. Great defensive performance behind them as well!
@TrumanSoftball
We were doing a little hitter focused strength training today and decided to take a short break for a related competition. Much to my surprise and delight, we had two freshmen duking it out for the win!
@TrumanSoftball
@CaliCoombs
@AbbieDanchus
The girls had a great hitting workout today followed by some lateral quickness drill work. We are quicker, faster, and deeper than we were. And we are really just getting started!
What a roller coaster of a day. I wasn't happy with our approach at the plate in the morning game, and part of my post game message was if our pitchers are struggling, we need to score more runs than our opponents. Little did I know we were about to need to score 18 runs!!!
We had a killdeer make her nest on our field. The location is amazing. She laid her eggs right between the Bulldogs legs as if he is guarding them. I don't know if she drug it there or not, but there is also a Truman State pendant lying next to the eggs!!!
@TrumanSoftball
Showed up to the airport at 3:30am, landed in Orlando around 9:00, bat tested, quick workout, found our houses, now our last meal before we get to work. 8 games in the next 4 days!
May not look like much change this week, but the field is about done with lazer grading, the fence is pretty well done, and the turf has arrived!
@TrumanSoftball
Well, you're stuck with me on this final day of meeting the team. Sorry for the poor camera work! I hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas.
@TrumanSoftball
I was sitting in my office today slaving away, and this dude snuck up on me and started barking at me! I never did figure out if he was cheering me on or telling me how bad of a job I was doing!!!
Just like that, the season has come to a close for the Bulldogs. Big progress was made for the 2nd season in a row. Sad this one is done, but I'm already excited to see what next year brings.
@TrumanSoftball
We had a little trouble getting our offense going in game one, but the girls battled back with a great 2nd game. Madie and Bre combined to only give up 1 run in 7 innings.
We now have more crutches than Easton Ghosts, but the girls game to play today. Won 8-0 and 2-0. Our pitching staff did great and the D backed them up.
With us headed into the holiday downtime, I thought it would be a good time to meet the team. 1 DAWG a day till Christmas starts with
@breianna_klein
@TrumanSoftball
Here is my weekly update. Things are looking great. New fence poles are going up, concrete anchor/border wall is about to be poured, and rock base layer is mostly spread!
@TrumanSoftball
Exciting weekend recruiting. Headed to the ICCAC Junior College scrimmages tomorrow and to the
@PG_Softball
tournament in Iowa City Saturday. Update schedules here please.
@DaveDurbala_PG
@AshleyMears_PG
728.5 miles driven and 2 clinics worked in 2.5 days. It would have felt crazy, but many of the athletes and all of the coaches made it a fun weekend. It also helps that I'm confident I saw a few future Truman State Bulldogs this weekend!
Well, the team did a little 4-person alternating shot tournament today. I'm embarrassed to say 2 teams tied for first, and neither of them were my team!!! I was the weak link!
Bam. First time in 8 years I had to watch on TV but
@davahssoftball
gets a round 1 win at state behind a gem pitched by Lea Maro! I'm proud of you, ladies.
This has been around, but I hadn't shared. Just some food for thought for the many athletes I have seen or met recently that wasn't happy with their role or level of success. Everyone is hungry on game day! Doing whatever everyone else is doing will never separate you!
Thank you to Amanda at Mystic Meadows Yoga in Kirksville for getting our girls in this morning and helping get them ready for the weekend!
@TrumanSoftball
Well I got welcomed to DII softball this morning with a pretty brutal beat down! However our girls did a great job bouncing back. Here is the lineup that got us my first Truman State win 3-1 over Southeast Oklahoma.
@TrumanSoftball
I usually don't post many hunting picks on here for the sake of my non hunting followers. I thought this picture of 210 deer sticks and 24 packages of deer sausage looked too delicious though to not share!!!
Bam!!! Or should I say bang? Sorry to my non hunting followers, but my nephew is back from training with the Army and wanted to hunt! So hunting is what we did!
Oh softball! Today was my only day off for a few weeks, so I found my way to Burlington Iowa for a travel tournament! (Isnt that what coaches do on days off!) I didn't find the position I was looking 4 but oooh I noticed someone I wasn't looking for!!! New offer going out!
To all the recruits and coaches out there that have possibly reached out by email! Due to cyber security issues, Coach Rhode and I have not had access to our email since last Thursday. We hope to re-gain access soon!