SEWARD, Neb. – A solid run through this past fall exhibition season should provide momentum for the Concordia University softball team as it looks ahead to the spring of 2019. The program has now announced a 2019 schedule complete with 18 doubleheaders and another trip to the Tucson Invitational over spring break. The softball program is now under the direction of head coach Shawn Semler, who was most recently the head coach at Waverly High School.
The official Concordia coaching debut for Semler is scheduled for Feb. 15 when the Bulldogs will be at MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) for a doubleheader. Six nonconference twin bills are on the slate for the month of February. Then in early March, Semler will take his squad to Tucson, Ariz., for games on March 4-5, 7-9. Complete opponents and times have not yet been finalized for the Tucson Invitational.
Conference play is set to begin March 27 when Doane makes a visit to Plum Creek Park. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play seven home doubleheaders this coming spring. If the weather allows, Concordia will make its first home appearance on Feb. 27 versus Presentation College (S.D.). One of the home twin bills will also match the Bulldogs up against former GPAC member Nebraska Wesleyan (March 20).
The newest GPAC member, Jamestown, will be in Seward on April 5 for a doubleheader. With the addition of Jamestown, the league schedule moves from 20 to 22 games in 2019. The GPAC slate is balanced with Concordia set to play each of the other 11 GPAC softball teams twice. The only imbalance is that the Bulldogs will play six of their 11 conference doubleheaders on the road.
Concordia will have nearly every key player back from the 2018 squad that finished 21-21 overall (seventh in the GPAC), but showed flashes of brilliance. The headlining returner is sophomore third baseman Hhana Haro, the 2018 GPAC Player of the Year. Outfielder MacKinsey Schmidt also earned first team all-conference accolades last season as a freshman. Senior second baseman Leah Kalkwarf garnered first team All-GPAC recognition in 2017.
Semler has plentiful experience as a collegiate head softball coach. He spent eight seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II Southwest Minnesota State University and six at NAIA College of Saint Mary. He is the winningest softball coach in Southwest Minnesota State history. He won a combined 10 conference championships between those two stops.