The community was hit with shocking news when former Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis and Clark softball head coach Mel Erickson announced he was resigning back in June of 2018. Now, over seven months later, DLBLC announced that Peggy Person will be taking over as head coach in the upcoming 2019 season.

Person is coming into the new role with a plethora of program knowledge after being assistant coach the two previous seasons and the athletic director of Lewis and Clark-Berthold for 19 years before that. Ever since DLB and LCB joined together to make the team, Pearson has been a part of it one way or another.

“One of the things I have an advantage about is that I’m not new to the program,” Person said. “I know the kids, they know me and that’s going to be an advantage for sure. I’m not going in there without some knowledge of some of the kids and their skills.”

Having helped Erickson for the past two seasons, Person has learned a lot about the program and the game of softball itself.

“I don’t know that you can fill Mel’s shoes, he’s a larger than life kind of guy and has been around the game forever,” she said. “He himself was a fast-pitch pitcher and played the game as a young man and all the way through so I don’t expect that I’m going to take his place.”

Person is hoping the program can keep building on the momentum and traditions that Erickson brought to it and keep pushing toward a state title.

Looking forward to the upcoming season, Person said DLBLC has a promising nucleus of athletes returning to the field that will be a plus for the team. Graduation has left the team with a few holes to fill, but Person in confident the team will improve every day.

“(DLBLC) has been a strong program over the past several years,” Person said. “I can see a lot of growth in the western part of the state as well so that’s really what I think is exciting about this is that we’re getting better out here and we’re growing the sport so it’s really exciting to be a part of that.”

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