Rich Sorensen brings a lot of enthusiasm to the table for the Moose Jaw Miller Express.

Sorensen is getting set to open his first season as head coach of the Miller Express when they hit the field on Wednesday night against the Melville Millionaires at Ross Wells Park.

"You can't imagine how blessed I am and how excited I am to have the honour to come here and coach this team," said Sorensen, who comes to Moose Jaw from Porterville College in California.

Sorensen has only been in the Friendly City for a few days, but he's pleased about the decision he made to join the club for the summer. "I see the camaraderie and the community getting together here and that’s awesome, that's what I really like," he said.

Rich Sorensen throws during batting practice on Tuesday evening at Ross Wells Park. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Sorensen was a late replacement for Tanner Spencer, who recruited much of the team but was forced to step down as head coach just a few months before the season due to a new opportunity with his college team.

While Sorensen is learning about his players and the Western Canadian Baseball League on the fly, he brings with him a wealth of experience in baseball having played college ball at Fresno State and has been coaching at every level from little league to college since 1992. 

"It's good baseball and I'm looking forward to that," said Sorensen on coming to Moose Jaw.

"This is the first time that I've seen most of these guys, but the first week or two, you get a feel for what position they play, pitchers get slotted into starter and reliever, but that's the fun part of it too, everybody is on a clean slate."

Sorensen said he’s going to put a lot of trust in his players during in-game situations.

"I want to see if they know the game of baseball, I'm not an ego guy, I'm not a guy that puts his thumb down on them. Come on time, play the game the right and don't embarrass the town," said Sorensen, who added that he lets his catchers call the game for the pitcher instead of signalling in calls from the dugout.

"I want them to learn the game, a lot of coaches want to just tell them what to do, I want them to learn to play this game."

The Millers went 23-25 last season and lost out of the playoffs in four games to the Weyburn Beavers. This year's team has seven returning players from last season's squad, including team MVP Blake Gallagher.

"I'm really looking forward to Opening Night and getting to know the guys," said Sorensen. "This is about the camaraderie that these guys build, the relationships that they have and also seeing them progress, to see them from the start of the summer to the end and hopefully we can get to the point where we make the playoffs."

 The Millers starting working towards the post-season as they kick-off the new 56-game schedule against the Millionaires at Ross Wells Park. First pitch is at 7 p.m.