Naperville Central’s head coach of the girls softball team reached his 750th career with a 15-5 victory over Plainfield East on April 8.
Andy Nussbaum was only 25 years old when he took over the softball program at Central in 1984, and has now served as head coach for a little over four decades.
“My career has been far from perfect, but I’d like to think that I had a positive effect on those [who] played here,” Nussbaum said. “We learned some things about life and sportsmanship and had some fun while we were doing it.”
Senior Meredith Cann, a Division 3 softball commit to Concordia University Wisconsin, has been coached by Nussbaum for three years.
“His biggest successes as a coach is just the way that he’s able to manage the team and work with the girls and make sure that we’re all on the same page,” Cann said. “He does a good job of saying: ‘This is how we’re going to do things. This is the expectation.’ He’s always very clear with that. He’s just a really good coach.”
Nussbaum’s coaching career began in high school.
“I got cut from basketball,” Nussbaum said. “My high school basketball coach was third in the state of Indiana in career wins. So when I got cut, I ended up keeping stats and sitting behind the bench and watching him coach.”
The win against Plainfield East marked the end of the varsity Redhawks’ three-game losing streak.
During the game, sophomore Avery Miller spent six out of seven innings on the pitching mound, and sophomore Cali Lenz hit a double.
“It was a really good game,” Cann said. “We were really strong, and hit really well.”
In addition, senior Shea Meech, a St. Ambrose University softball commit, hit a home run, her first of the season. Senior Jamie Saran also scored a home run.
Following a win against Naperville North on April 15, the varsity Redhawks are 4-6 on the season.
“There have been [times] when we’ll have season-ending losses that might be particularly hard,” Nussbaum said. “That’s so frustrating with so much time [invested], and then it’s just over. And as discouraging as it is, I’ve never had to say that I’m not going to have to have a lot of energy to do this again. There’s a certain degree to which you still look forward to doing it again. I mean, maybe I’m crazy, but I love it.”
