"Being able to keep climbing is tough,'' Healy said of the
progress to date. "We're happy
with where we're at, but we
definitely have not peaked.''
it has already paid dividends in the RPI. The
Badgers had a No. 21 ranking despite being the
only team in the top 25 to have not played at
home.
"Our team got excited about playing Notre
Dame and Stanford,'' she said. "Being able to
go head-to-head with some of those teams and
getting wins over them was important.''
The Badgers own two wins over the Irish and
one over the Cardinal. "They're getting more
confident,'' Healy said of her players. "But they
still understand how much work we have to do.
"Every time we win a series, everyone digs
a little deeper. How can we really get better?
That's what we're focusing on now. We have a
lot of room to improve.''
Last spring, Healy was pregnant, which necessitated one concession: she didn't coach
third base. She stayed in the dugout while her
top assistant, Randy Schneider, handled the
on-field assignment.
That allowed her to improve her rapport with
her players.
"And Randy did such a good job coaching
third, he's still doing it,'' Healy said. "I'm calling pitches and spending more time with the
pitchers and I'm loving it.''
What's there not to love about this season so
far? And there's so much more out there ― so
much more growth potential ― which bodes
well for the health of Healy's program.
"Being able to keep climbing is tough,'' she
said of the progress to date. "We're happy
with where we're at, but we definitely have not
peaked.''
There's more history to be made, after all.
42 » VARSITY
APR I L 4, 2013
