The following is a one-on-one interview with Luna softball coach Randall Krutch.
What is your official title? My official title is Head Softball Coach/ Athletic Director.
How many years have you been the head coach at Luna? This is my third year.
How is the job of athletic director going? I think it is going very well. We are compliant with the NJCAA, which is the highest status of compliance a school can achieve. We are working with the City in a couple of different ways. In October alone, the athletic department volunteered over 150 hours to the City in community support and we have plans for more hours in the spring. We hired a great new head baseball coach this year and I feel the program is moving in the right direction. We have solid leadership and experience in that position and we are very excited about the new atmosphere in the athletic department. Communication has gotten better, players work together, coaches work together and I feel that our department is working well with other departments to make the college experience better for all of our student-athletes.
Last year you surprised Region 9 with a fourth-place finish in the post-season tournament. How much of that momentum can you take into the 2024 season? We had a great run last year, and we have some solid freshmen this year who I feel will make impactful contributions to the team. Our sophomores have developed their leadership skills and I think we have a talented team. We have a smaller roster this year, so our key to the season will be keeping athletes healthy. We improved in talent, but health will be the key to our success, We have a pretty tough pre-season so that will help us figure out where we need to put players on defense and in the lineup card to complement each other’s strengths and hide some weaknesses. Junior college is all about learning the game as well as learning how to be a college athlete, so there will be a learning curve, but I believe we have a solid team. Our recruiting class is going well for 2024 and we are excited about that as well.
