He thinks he might have been 5-foot-10 since the day he was born. He grew up a self-diagnosed baseball knucklehead who eventually married an artist who doesn’t have one athletic bone in her body. To top it off, he fluently speaks a language he calls “ghetto.”

Steve Babinski is also the new Indiana Wesleyan University softball coach – the first one in more 24 years.

IWU Athletic Director Mark DeMichael hired Steve Babinski after longtime softball coach Sue Bowman retired from athletics in May of 2011. DeMichael said Babinski stood out above the other applicants because of his heart for sports as a ministry and his history of success.

Babinski played baseball for most of his life and was voted Grace College’s Athlete of the Year. He was a player on the team for four years and a paid assistant his fifth year.

Babinski worked as a paid assistant at Grace for one season, then moved on as an assistant coach at Bowling Green State University. From there, he was hired as head coach for the MidAmerica Nazarene ladies softball team, the Pioneers.

He now lives in Marion with his wife Rachel and their four children, Corianna, Alizzia, Benjamin and Emi to kick off his first season with IWU softball.

During his years with the Pioneers, he received two notable coaching awards. Babinski was named Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and NAIA Region 5 Coach of the Year in 2006. Four years later, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association named him Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

DeMichael said he has confidence in Babinski’s ability to help athletes hit their potential, the way he did when he helped transform the Pioneers from mediocre to NAIA qualifiers—the first time in the history of the program.

Kelsey Decker (sr) is one of the Wildcats’ leaders and has been impressed with “coach Babs” and his mind for the game.

“His knowledge of the sport is better than anyone that I’ve ever played for – or even against,” Decker said.

Babinski is taking over a program that Bowman created in 1987 and was the coach of since its inception.

He laughs when people ask him what it’s like to follow a woman with such a big legacy.

“It’s not about filling shoes; it’s a relay,” Babinski said. “Sue passed the baton to me, and I’ll pass it on to whoever’s next.”

How’s he feeling about his first season?

That’s another question that makes him laugh.

“I know a lot of people are wanting to know wins and losses, but that’s not who I am,” Babinski said. “Basically, what I’ve seen is my girls get better every day. From day one to right now, everyone on our team is better. On the field, off the field, in the classroom: as people. So it’s already been a successful season.”

Imagine a Christmas tree in the center of Indiana Wesleyan University. This tree has presents underneath it, but they are more or less metaphorical gifts given to different parts of IWU’s campus during the 2011 fall semester. There’s a package for food service and presents for the medical program and seminary (I guess you could say they’re on layaway), but the biggest gifts with the fanciest wrapping paper are tagged for the IWU athletic department.

That’s the way it seems this year has gone. And you’ll be hearing no complaints from me about it.

Fall sports at IWU kicked off on August 19 when the Wildcat volleyball team beat Montana St. – Northern. The gifts have only gotten better since.

IWU athletic teams have a combined overall record of 95-31-1 this season. Honors and awards for players, coaches and teams have been coming in almost as quickly as the victories.

The significant thing about many of these wins wasn’t even just the number, but also the level at which the victories took place. The women’s cross country team placed in its fifth consecutive NAIA National Championship appearance, and the men’s top runner improved on his previous best finish in the final event.

On IWU’s tennis courts, the women’s team finished the season a perfect 14-0, while a very young men’s team took home a winning record, led by star-in-the-making Kyle Johnson (fr) who made the MCC All-Conference team.

The soccer teams gave Wildcat fans something worthy of a Christmas thank-you note, as the women’s squad upset Grace College in a late-season overtime game and sent two players to the MCC All-Conference team. The men’s team rode a winning record all the way to the NCCAA Tournament, despite a young roster.

But perhaps the best gift of IWU’s semester in athletics was on the volleyball court. 2011 was the best season in team history, earning the Wildcats 36 wins, including IWU’s first victory in the NAIA National Tournament. Several players were also named to the MCC All-Conference volleyball team and even became NAIA All-Americans.

And now, both Wildcat basketball teams are off to outstanding starts. Could this be the gift that keeps on giving into baseball, softball, track season and more?

It certainly could be, and again, no complaints if it does. But no matter what happens, this has been a great year in IWU sports. Going to games and watching my fellow students give 100 on their respective courts of play has been nothing short of a privilege. All the winning was an added bonus.

Christmas will soon pass and the gifts of this season may start to seem old. We’ll put them on the shelf, still prized possessions, but in hopes of bigger and better things to come. You don’t have to wait a whole year for a chance at those presents. Spring sports season is right around the corner.

Coach Candace Moats and the 2011 Indiana Wesleyan University volleyball team have been through a lot together. And not just this season either. The team’s spirit has been tested and proven since ‘09, when the Wildcats struggled through an 11-31 season.

“When that poor season occurred, we worked together; we hung together,” said Moats.

Just like IWU always does, these Wildcats also fought back, returning the next season by winning the NCCAA Championship. But even this successful year wasn’t without its hardships. IWU lost to Taylor in the MCC Tournament Championship, a game that could have sent the team to the NAIA National Tournament.

Which brings us to 2011.

Following a prolific regular season, a thrilling MCC Tournament victory and an historic opening round NAIA win, the Wildcats once again found themselves facing tough times. IWU lost its first two games in national pool play and faced certain elimination no matter what the result of its third match.

“We knew that even if we won this game it probably wouldn’t change anything,” said libero Kelsey Masuda (sr). “After fighting through that and fighting through the disappointment of the loss, we just came to the point where we had to come back the next day and just be like, ‘You know what? I’m going to leave with a bang.’ ”

It’s that same relentless spirit that has impressed coach Moats ever since the tough year.

“The character on this team has probably captured my heart the most and will be the most missed,” Moats said. “These seniors kind of started that whole foundation of what we want to be about.”

The Wildcats went on to win what would be their final game this season, falling short of making it to the championship game, but making a good deal of history in the process, and giving future teams something to shoot for.

“Already, the team that’s coming back is thinking, dreaming about how can we do this again?” said Moats. “It’s something that you just want to keep doing now because the experience is so phenomenal.”

Yui Iwase (jr) is one of the IWU’s likely leaders for next year, and values this year’s special team bond even more than what they accomplished on the court.

“It’s great that we made it this far, but it’s the memories with the team that you made,” Iwase said. “On the bus, during the games, during preseason, the hard times, times when you had to work extra hard when you didn’t know what was going to come of it.”

After the players wrapped up a bittersweet final victory, the team huddled together. Masuda and the rest of the team wept as coach Moats gave a post-game speech to this special group of Wildcats for one last time.

“I thanked them for everything that they gave this year to be a part of this program and the dedication it took to accomplish where we were at,” Moats recalled after the match. “It was a lot of thanking them, a lot of gratefulness in my heart and just the privilege it was to be a part of a group of people that were just so quality, and that I would miss them. I won’t forget them.”

The Wildcats won’t forget what they accomplished this season. Even though the final victory wasn’t at the level they hoped, as the team left the court, leaving their historic season behind with it, one important thing remained.

“We weren’t frustrated or mad that we were playing our last game,” Masuda said. “We just went out and played the game we love with the people we love for the God we love.”

And they did it all together.

In the net- Rachel Quackenbush (left), Lauryn Barfell (right) go up for a block

The student section in Luckey Arena cheered as the Indiana Wesleyan University volleyball team sealed its victory in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament by beating Montreat (N.C.) 25-13, 25-15, 25-17. But these weren’t your normal cheers. They were quacks.

Maybe fans were going a little crazy because the 35-4 Wildcats wrapped up their first undefeated home schedule in program history. Maybe it was because IWU is now headed to Sioux City, Iowa, to compete in the field of 24 and a shot at the NAIA National Championship. But the best bet is that it was because Rachel Quackenbush (jr) ended the game with her fourth kill of the night, sending Wildcat faithful into their usual cheer for the outside hitter.

“I just went out there and wanted to have a good time and show everybody how good our team is,” Quackenbush said after the match. “We worked really hard, it’s just exciting to get to this point.”

As for the quacks, she said she loves the cheer.

“They really get me going; they encourage me a lot,” Quackenbush said. “This is the first [place] people have chanted that, but I like it. Hopefully they keep doing it.”

Although several members of the team, including coach Candace Moats, said they expected the straight-set win, the team knows it faces a tough challenge in the rest of the tournament.

“I just think we have better players and we’re just a little more skilled than they are,” said Moats of tonight’s opponent. “We were pretty confident we were gonna win it. That will not be the mindset going into Iowa.”

MCC Libero of the Year Kelsey Masuda (sr) called it a “bittersweet” win for the seniors, who played their final home game in Luckey, but said she is looking forward to the challenge of the NAIA Tournament.

“We’re gonna have fun in nationals; it’s gonna be a good time.” Masuda said. “Everything is heightened, we’re going against bigger schools, bigger hitters, bigger blocks and we have to heighten everything about our performance.”