DULUTH, Minn. – A year ago there was something missing from the start of the St. Scholastica baseball season; a national ranking. The 2008 Saints used their absence from the preseason rankings as motivation, which helped propel the team to its best NCAA finish in program history.This season something else much more important is noticeably absent; the head coach.

John Baggs, the Saints' head baseball coach since 1992, was diagnosed with cancer October 24th. Twelve weeks later his team took to the floor of the Burns Wellness Center at St. Scholastica for its first practice of the season. And its first practice without its head coach in attendance.

Since the original diagnosis, Baggs' treatment has become more focused upon cholangiocarcinoma, or cancer of the bile ducts. This extremely rare form of cancer has an average incidence of only one or two cases in 100,000 people each year.

“We've had more than 30 visits to SMDC and three to Mayo and the prognosis has not improved,” Baggs said. “It is hard when they can't tell you truly what you have or where it came from for certain.”

Baggs, who is 42 years old, is now undergoing chemotherapy treatments which have severely limited his ability to leave his home beyond doctor's appointments.

“There are some days that are better than others,” Baggs said. “There are days when I don't leave the bedroom and there are days when I do some work from home and on the computer, and then there are some days where I am just in sharp pain.”

Even Baggs' better days are filled with exhaustion, as even the simple task of answering an e-mail can cause him to need a lengthy break. But while the disease has taken away some of Baggs' abilities and the treatments have caused him to lose 55 pounds, neither have impacted his spirit.

“I am working on getting into a healthy place as quickly as possible,” Baggs said. “I would certainly like to be at all of our games by our Florida trip in March or shortly thereafter, but that's doubtful so I am shooting for April.”

The 15th-ranked Saints will open their season Sunday at the Metrodome against Mount Marty of Yankton, South Dakota at 2 p.m. It will be the only game Baggs has missed since his father-in-law's funeral in 2001. St. Scholastica's five assistant coaches - Tim Anderson, Tom Berrisford, Justin Harriman, Corey Kemp and Joe Wicklund - have run the team in Baggs' absence and will continue to until the head coach is healthy enough to return.

“Obviously the biggest change is that Coach Baggs isn't physically here with the baseball team,” Wicklund said. “But he is still our head coach and he still has a big part to play in what we are doing each day to prepare for this season.”

Having a staff of assistants with decades of coaching experience among them has allowed Baggs to stay involved, while still focusing on the more important task of improving his health.

“Because of the assistant coaches, I have a very good feel for where our team is heading into the season, how we are going to be and where we need to get some work done,” Baggs said. “They give me regular reports on every one of our players, so the only truly hard part is not being there to see them perform in a game.”

The Saints, the winningest team in NCAA Division III baseball over the last decade, know they will take the field for their first contest without their head coach present.

“The assistants have done a great job of getting us prepared for the season and keeping everything business-as-usual,” senior captain Kyle Wojtysiak (Proctor, Minn./Proctor HS) said. “While the team's thoughts and prayers are with Coach and his family every day, we still feel his presence every day at our practices.”

For one of the most successful coaches in the country, the team's situation has inevitably become secondary to Baggs' own health issues.

“When you are in this situation, the least of your worries is what is going to happen on the field,” Baggs said. “You are much more concerned with your health, the treatments, taking care of your family and how you are going to pay for all of this.”

A partial answer to the financial question has come from one of Baggs' former players, Kenny Kolquist. A financial planner for Urshan Retirement Group Inc., Kolquist has worked with fellow CSS baseball alum Tom Simonson to set up an account allowing people to donate to the Baggs' family. The proceeds will serve as a college fund for John and Colleen Baggs' children, eight-year-old Maddux and three-year-old Josie.

“We wanted to do something to give back to him and his family right away,” Kolquist said. “There are so many people in this area that he's had a positive impact upon, we just wanted to be able to coordinate and cultivate funds to assist him.”

Kolquist, along with Baggs' family friends Ray Higgins and Todd Johnson, have also been working on a benefit which will further assist in these efforts.

Kolquist isn't the only former Saint to offer his expertise to Baggs. Jeff and D.J. Lahti have designed a specific physical therapy routine which Baggs can do daily in bed. And the support is not limited to his former players.

“Everyone has been very generous to my family,” Baggs said. “We had received over 300 cards and letters when I finally stopped counting. There have been more than 40 meals that have been dropped off by friends, neighbors and families of Maddux's hockey teammates.”

Maddux's classmates at Holy Rosary even put together a schedule of people bringing over meals to assist the Baggs' family causing the ailing coach to smile.

“We don't know what's for dinner until it gets here, but we know we don't have to cook it.”
Baggs even received a Super Bowl surprise from St. Scholastica football coach Greg Carlson and his wife Laura.

“After church Greg and Laura just showed up with a nice ham dinner,” Baggs laughs. “We sat down with them and had a wonderful afternoon together.”

With the fatigue, though, Baggs' ability to enjoy anything as lengthy as the Super Bowl itself is unlikely these days. But the Baggs' house is still always busy, with relatives and friends checking in, something which has truly touched the ailing coach and his wife, Colleen.

“My wife has been really strong through all of this,” Baggs said. “She's trying to maintain her work schedule, all the while taking care of me and the kids, not to mention all the youth hockey stuff she has to do.”

Beyond family, friends and assistant coaches, The College of St. Scholastica itself has stepped up to help its baseball coach during his battle.

“Larry Goodwin and our Human Resources department have been a huge help,” Baggs said. “Larry himself has been key in helping us get everything we need from the healthcare providers, he's taken great care of us and he's exactly the type of president you would want to have if you were in my situation.”

Goodwin said that Baggs represents the finest aspects of St. Scholastica's athletic tradition.

“John is a good leader of his team and a good example for all of our students,” Goodwin said. “His players learn about much more than winning baseball games, as successful as they are on the field. They learn about values that The College of St. Scholastica holds dear. I'm thinking particularly of respect and community. We all support John and his family in this struggle, and wish him a full recovery.”

If anyone is up to the challenge of overcoming this illness, it is the man who was most important in building St. Scholastica baseball into a national powerhouse.

“When I look back on the history of our program, all those wins, all those championships and all of those great players, I know no one else could have turned St. Scholastica baseball into a national power but Coach Baggs,” Wicklund said. “If he can overcome those long odds, then who is to say he can't win this battle?”


TO DONATE
Send checks to:
Coach Baggs Fund
c/o Tom Simonson
North Shore Bank of Commerce
131 W Superior St.
Duluth, MN 55802