When the softball team arrives at the field for practice, all of the equipment is laid out for the players, which creates a worry-free atmosphere throughout the season.

It is the managers’ duty to help perform the hard-working tasks that is necessary for the team’s success on the field.

“They do the grunt work,” head coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “The things you don’t want to do. Most of the time they’re doing the stuff that no one on the coaching staff wants to do.”

Every day the managers of the baseball and softball teams come in anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours before practice begins to set up equipment.

During practice, they’ll do whatever the coaches ask.

The tasks include shagging fly balls, moving the L-screens and cleaning up the field before and after practice.

Whatever the task is, the managers work long, grueling hours.

“I just try to do as much as I can to ensure practice runs smoothly and the coaches have what they need,” said Nathan Brisco, a first-year manager for the baseball team.

After practice, they’ll clean the dirty laundry and have it in each player’s assigned lockers.

And in-between all of the duties and time commitments, they still focus on being a student.

Brisco is taking 12 credit hours, and he finds balancing schoolwork and managerial duties difficult, yet manageable.

“Yeah, balancing schoolwork and managing is difficult, but I played baseball in junior college and high school sports before that, so you just kind of get used to it,” Brisco said. “There’s almost no downtime. I’m always doing something.”

That means that whenever they have free time, it needs to be spent productively — working on homework and assignments — instead of using that time for pleasure.

Even though their schedules are mostly restricted to being a student and a manager, being so close to the team has its perks.

“I love being around the guys,” Brisco said. “It’s great to be around them in the locker room and around the game of baseball.”