Albert Lea coach bids adieu

Published 9:49 am Friday, June 13, 2008

All of the fungo hitting and batting practice has taken its toll on Albert Lea baseball coach Joe Sczublewski.

Sczublewski called it quits at the end of the school year, ending a 30-year coaching career that has placed him among the most respected coaches in the state.

Sczublewski compiled a 322-300 record, which ranks 33rd all-time in the state of Minnesota, appeared in four state tournaments, winning one in 1982 with Sauk Centre; but after several knee surgeries he has decided to hang it up.

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Sczublewski has always emphasized the mental part of the game as the key to success.

“So much of the game is mental,” Sczublewski said. “You have to be prepared, that’s the beauty of baseball, you don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

After Sczublewski made his third trip to state with Sauk Centre in 1989 he moved to Albert Lea and took over a struggling program, but quickly turned it into a contender in the difficult Big Nine Conference. His Tiger teams made the Final Four of the section tournament a number of times by extending his knowledge of the game to his players.

“We’re real happy that we’ve been able to have Joe for the last 19 years,” Albert Lea Activities Director Clay Anderson said. “He really knows baseball, really understands the game.”

Albert Lea boys’ hockey coach Roy Nystrom coached with Sczublewski for 10 years and appreciated the approach he took to preparing for the baseball season.

“A lot of his coaching is done indoors,” Nystrom said. “When I first joined I was amazed at the amount of things he accomplished indoors.”

Nystrom described Sczublewski as a demanding, but realistic coach.

“The things he demanded most was to give it all you have, just to play hard,” Nystrom said. “He didn’t have that have that give-up attitude.”

Although the last season ended in disappointment Sczublewski has a young group of talented players waiting in the wings.

“It’s time I guess,” he said. “Hitting the fungos and throwing the ball wears you down.”

After 30 years it would wear anyone down.