Wake up.

It’s 7:30 a.m., and NIU assistant softball coach Kevin Welch is heading the early-morning batting practice for the Huskies. Like clockwork, Welch is up at the crack of dawn working out the players.

“In order to be the best, you have to put in more hours than the next team,” Welch said.

Five days a week, NIU softball players roll out of bed and trudge to the batting cages at the Student Recreation Center to work on their offense with Welch.

Welch works on the fundamentals with his players while he tosses fastballs, change-ups and rise balls during batting practice.

Freshman Kara Schuur, while working with Welch on Wednesday morning before the team left for Western Illinois, said she likes that Welch reinforces the basics.

Standing behind the pitching screen in the batting cage, Welch tells his hitters to keep their weight and hands back, and to drive the ball to the opposite field.

“There’s only 43 feet from the plate to the mound,” Welch said. “If you don’t wait back, then you’ll have a tough time adjusting to the change.”

A former outfielder and catcher, Welch has spent years watching batters and their reactions to pitches.

To be successful at the plate, Welch thinks a hitter must keep her hands on top of the ball when swinging at the pitch and have her elbows bent while driving through the ball.

After coming in as the hitting coach in 2000, Welch moved to pitching coach in 2001.

The 34-year-old Welch was moved back to hitting coach in 2002 and became the reason NIU raised its batting average by .48 as a team from 2001 when it hit .226.

With NIU carrying a batting average of .265 this season, the ladies in red are proving last year’s .274 performance at the plate was not a fluke.

The Pittsfield, Mass., native turns all the credit over to his players, citing their blue-collar work ethic as the reason for their continued success at the plate.

“These guys make you want to work hard as a coach,” said Welch, as he pointed to a couple of Huskies he was working out.

Becoming a softball coach wasn’t a hard decision for Welch, even though his boyhood dream was to become a professional baseball player.

“I had a lot of connections and took lessons from my wife,” Welch said.

Turning to his wife, Michelle, an Academic All-district pitcher for Indiana State Sycamores’ softball squad in 1996, Welch said he had an easy time adapting to the motion of throwing a softball pitch.

Welch coached at Assumption and West High Schools in 1996 and 1997 in Davenport, Iowa. He helped lead Davenport West to come within one strike from winning a state championship. Then Welch looked to move to the next level.

“Butler University was the first school that bid,” Welch said.

After spending a year at Butler, Welch transferred to Loyola-Chicago for two years before sending his resume to NIU Athletics Director Cary Groth.

NIU was looking for a hitting coach, and Welch earned the job with a little help from former Huskies’ hurler Christy Dalton.

Dalton’s former high school coach Dennis Johnson recommended Welch for the job, and the rest is history.

Welch’s connections with scouts throughout the nation allow him to prepare his sluggers for the next days’ competition.

“The great thing about our team is they always want to know more,” Welch said.

The players and Welch have come to respect one another, and Schuur and senior shortstop Shelby Bernard both agreed Welch is one who likes to joke around.

“He helps us remember the game’s suppose to be fun,” Bernard said.