LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
KUED·SPORTS
AUGUST, 1996 PAGE 37E
Coach lands 'dream job'
Bunge eager to start
AP PHOTO
Sara Holland led KU in average, hits, runs and homers last year.
BY EVAN BLACKWELL
JOURNAL-WORLD SPORTS WRITER
Tracy Bunge, a former All-American pitcher/outfielder during her playing days for Kansas University, was chosen as the Jayhawks new coach over the summer.
She's already anxious to improve upon the 31-26 record of her alma mater a season ago.
"Once I got into coaching people would ask me, 'What's your dream job?' and I would tell people I always wanted to come back here," said Bunge, a native of Bartlesville, Okla., who returns to KU after working as coach at Ohio University.
Now that she is back, Bunge hopes to restore some stability to the pro
to the program. Just before lsat
SOFTBALL
before isa season, Kalum Haack resigned to begin a program at Alabama. His assistant, Gayle Luedke, took over for a year.
"It was a very tough year mentally on everybody," Bunge said.
The Jayhawks went 10-12 in the Big Eight a year ago. That may be deceptive, however, Bunge said.
"They always told me, 'Tracy, you've got talent,' and it's a real relief for me to hear that the talent is here," she said, referring to comments from other coaches.
Depending on how fast the team adapts to her style, Bunge said she's confident Kansas can improve its conference record from a year ago.
"The biggest thing we're going to have to do is get everyone on the same page, and get the kids back believing in themselves," Bunge said.
One player who should have little problem with that is junior outfielder Sara Holland. Holland, a native of Bixby, Okla., led the Jayhawks in batting average, hits, runs and home runs last season.
"Last season was a disappointment," Holland said. "We didn't have the leadership. We were playing hard, but we didn't have the direction."
Holland will be helped on the offensive end by junior shortstop Michelle Hubler of Merriam and junior catcher Kristina Johnson, who hit over .300 last spring. Johnson, a former Lawrence High standout, led the Jayhawks in RBIs with 31.
Heather Richins, a senior second baseman from Chico, Calif., is back to provide
plenty of experience for the Jayhawks up the middle.
"Those are key positions," Bunge said. "That's a situation where we need to get everybody playing up to
Johnson
Sarah McCann, a junior third baseman from Kansas City, and outfielder Julie True. a junior from Shawnee, both started over 50 games last spring.
their ability."
Bunge believes the coaching staff will be able to right the inconsistency of sophomore pitcher Sarah Workman, who went 14-13 last spring after an impressive fall season. After
working hard over the summer at her home in Orlando, Fla., Bunge said she expects to see the Sarah Workman of last fall.
"I'm looking for good things from Sarah. She'll be the leader of our pitching staff," Bunge said.
"Heather should be the perfect complement to Sarah," Bunge said. "She throws primarily off-speed pitches, down and away. Heather's going to be the junker and Sarah will be the hard thrower."
The Jayhawks pitching will also get a boost from incoming freshman Heather Hibben, who is expected to be the No. 2 starter.
Bunge said she also expects an immediate impact from freshman first baseman Shannon Stanwix, a former Lawrence High player. Stanwix should step in and get plenty of playing time on the infield.
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