Baseball

“Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing!”

That quote, made famous by former Green Bay Packers legendary head football coach Vince Lombardi, is the driving force behind the Dana College baseball team.

“There’s a lot of people who take Coach Lombardi’s statement out of context,” Dana head baseball coach Ken Misfeldt says. “But I truly expect our players to live by that motto every day. You see … winning really isn’t everything … but the will to prepare to win certainly is. That’s what Lombardi was really trying to say, and it’s something we demand from our players -- both on and off the field.”

Misfeldt, who is in his third year at the helm of the Dana baseball team, has inherited a tradition-rich program. The Vikings have won or shared 15 conference titles over the past 40 years. Most recently, Dana won back-to-back conference titles in 2003 and 2004.

“There’s been a precedent set here over the years by some outstanding coaches such as Paul Peterson, Dale “Juice” Lemon and Damon Day,” Misfeldt says. “I feel honored and privileged to be in this position as we try to keep Dana’s winning baseball ways headed in the right direction.”  

Players who play at Dana under Misfeldt have only two rules – to be on time and to do what’s right.

“Those are the only rules we need,” Misfeldt says. “If a young man can learn to follow both of those rules, he’s got a legitimate chance to be successful after college too.”

Dana’s team philosophy is to play an aggressive style of baseball, opting for hit-and-run opportunities rather than a whole lot of sacrifice bunts. Misfeldt also likes his players to take the extra base whenever the defense makes a mistake handling the ball.

“We want to be relentless in putting pressure on the other team,” he says. “Our field (Peterson Field) is too big to sit around and wait for a three-run home run. We’ll sure take home runs now and then, but we’d rather try to hustle and make good things happen.”