First-year Lincoln University softball coach Chad Kerr has inherited a team that went 3-49 last year, has only 12 players and just lost its home field.
So why is Kerr still smiling?
"Quite frankly, this is the most fun I've ever had coaching," said Kerr, who comes to the Blue Tigers after a 21-17 campaign at Alderson Broaddus University (Philippi, W.Va.) that followed three years at Central Christian College (McPherson, Kan.).
"This team has the utmost trust in me and I think I came in with some credibility that I can turn things around. The chemistry is very good on the team. I've never seen a team that has each other's back as much as this one, and they know I have their back."
The optimism started not long after Lincoln began its first practices under Kerr last August.
"I'm watching this team work out, and granted there are four new kids to go with our returners, but I'm thinking, "How did this team only win three games last year?' They worked really hard in the fall and it showed," Kerr said, as the Blue Tigers went 2-3-1 in a limited fall schedule.
"We're anxious to get going," said Kerr, whose team kicks off the season today through Sunday with five games at the Southern Arkansas University Invitational. "We're going to improve this year. How much I just don't know."
Part of the uncertainty stems from the small roster.
"My biggest fear coming in was, with only 12 kids, they're going to know, "I'm at this position and there's nobody behind me,'" Kerr said. "Next year, that will be different, as we're going to have a roster of 18. Competition is good.
"But like I told them, "I saw how hard you were working, trying hard to impress me (in the first few practices). If I see that work taper off, well, I wouldn't advise it. Try me, because I will bench you and lose a game to make a point. I have nothing to lose this year - this is my free year as a coach.'
"But I'm very proud of the girls. They've never tapered off their work ethic, even the ones who know they have a certain position."
The small roster means there's time for lots of individual work, but the worry of injuries will be ever-present.
"We're deep at every position, it's just that it's the same people everywhere," Kerr said with a smile. "Instead of two here, two there, it's all the same players. But everybody has jumped in and will do whatever is needed."
That's the same spirit the team has used to overcome the loss of Lincoln Field, which has been plowed under to accommodate the construction of the new Lincoln University/Parks and Recreation Wellness Center.
"There was some frustration amongst the team members, but we all sat down and said, "This can eat us up and ruin our season, or we can say it doesn't matter where we're playing and let's play to the best of our ability,'" Kerr said. "So that's what we chose to do."
Ground has been broken on a new field to be constructed adjacent to the baseball field, but it won't likely be ready until fall at the earliest. So this season, the Blue Tigers will play their home games at Duensing Field.
"Duensing is a beautiful little field and Parks and Rec has been very accommodating to us," Kerr said. "They basically give it to us for January, February, March and April and I can't thank them enough. We're the only ones using it - I don't have to schedule around people over there."
The Blue Tigers have managed to get onto Duensing a handful of times in the preseason, to go along with workouts at a number of indoor facilities. It didn't take Kerr long to realize that while the roster was undersized, the Blue Tigers had depth at one key spot.
"We have a pitching staff of five despite the small roster, and it's a very competent staff where the five girls complement each other very well," he said.
That group includes sophomore Madison Ragar, junior Sara Westhoff, junior Macie Kinsey, senior Lauren Stamp and senior Sencer Silva. Westhoff, a junior-college transfer, is the only one who didn't pitch for Lincoln last season.
Avery Myers, a sophomore, will be on the receiving end of the pitches from whichever one of that group is in the circle.
"She has improved greatly behind the plate - she's always asking me for extra work," Kerr said. "And she's a very good offensive threat for us with one of the prettiest swings I've seen in a long time."
Backing up Myers will be junior returner Megan Heimbaugh and freshman Tori Nienhueser.
The infield defense appears to be one of the team's strong suits.
"I have four vacuum cleaners playing the infield for me," Kerr said.
That group includes Silva at third base, Nienhueser at shortstop, senior returner Jessica Wolken and a number of the pitchers at first - Stamp and Kinsey will get the majority of the time, with Ragar and Westhoff also seeing time.
"Spencer Silva has looked really good at third base, she's very mobile and solid defensively," Kerr said. "Tori Nienhueser coming in as a freshman has done an exceptional job both defensively and offensively. She does not play like a freshman, and Jessica Wolken is a returning all-conference honorable mention player."
As good as the infield defense is, the outfield might be even better.
"Whoever is out there, we will have three very fast outfielders," Kerr said. "The pitchers know it isn't all on their shoulders to have to get a bunch of strikeouts. If they keep the ball in the ballpark, it's going to be caught in the outfield.
"It's even a challenge when we're doing situations in practice to hit a gapper out there because the outfielders are so quick."
Hope McLeod, a junior who has transferred in from Crowley Community College, leads that group.
"I've never seen a center fielder cover as much ground as she does," Kerr said. "She's going to be exciting defensively and has the potential to be exciting offensively."
Kerr's daughter, Kiley, is a sophomore who transferred from Alderson Broaddus and she will play in right field.
"She's coming back from a knee injury, but she is getting faster and getting more comfortable in the outfield with every practice," Chad Kerr said. "She is hitting better now than I've ever seen her hit and she has a great arm in right field."
Heimbaugh will get the bulk of the time in left field. Myers, Westhoff and returning sophomore Danielle Vaught will also see time in the outfield.
"This year for us, it's going to come down to if we can stay healthy and our hitting," Kerr said. "We've got to increase our batting average, and all indications are that's going to happen. We batted .300 in the fall compared to .217 last spring, so that's a good start."