Dakota Wesleyan softball team inks 2 Mitchell natives

Dakota Wesleyan University softball coach Ed Kieff is looking to keep Mitchell players in town.

Kieff signed Mitchell native Shelby Gunsch to join the Tigers’ program earlier this year and this week Kieff added Mitchell natives Courtney Hellman to next season’s roster and Krista Huber for 2013-14.

“We’re fortunate right now that the summer club teams in Mitchell have some very good talent,” Kieff said. “We want to take advantage of that and luckily we’ve signed three.”

Kieff said there are two or three other local players he hopes sign to play for Wesleyan.

“These kids have something to offer our program and make us successful,” Kieff said. “If we get the players we’re looking at right now, we’ll be set up for a couple of years.”

The Tigers are coming off a 17-30 season in Kieff’s first year as head coach. The team finished 10-10 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference and earned a berth in the conference tournament.

The 17 wins tied a program record and Kieff said the success in his first year at the helm has made the recruiting process a little easier for him.

“It definitely doesn’t hurt to have some success right out of the gate in my first year,” he said.

“We’ve got a very good class coming in this year. We’ll be set up for a couple of years. We’re going to be very young and very talented at the same time.”

Kieff said he hopes to utilize the local talent to build the Wesleyan program.

“A lot of credit has to go to the coaches in the Mitchell area for doing such a nice job with the kids,” he said. “Hopefully, we can keep that rolling and keep them in Mitchell. I don’t like to see them leave.”

Tags: tigers, sports, dwu, softball