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Every spring, the St. Scholastica baseball team comes together with the goal of winning a Division III national title. Every fall, however, the team divides and sets its sights on a much different championship.

In early October this year, clouds and cold weather had already settled in over Duluth's Wade Stadium, but that didn't stop the Gold Hawks from holding a raucous celebration on the infield after winning the coveted Saints Fall League Championship.

The series was sold as the Gold Hawks against the Black Sox, but, really, it was the Saints against the Saints. The championship was part of SFL, which has been a staple of St. Scholastica baseball since 1996.

"The NCAA allows us one outside competition per fall and we do that against our alumni," head coach Corey Kemp explained. "So, we do the fall league in order to create competition for our guys. We're out there for 16 days, four or five hours each day, and it's a combination of practices and games. We have three teams: the Gold Hawks, the Black Sox, and the Blues."

It sounds simple, but senior third baseman Steve Gerten said the SFL goes far beyond basic intra-squad scrimmages.

"We have a pro day to start it off," Gerten said. "The coaches grade us on five tools: how fast you are, how good your arm is, how you hit, how you field, and overall baseball smarts. Then the next night they'll have a draft."

Draft day is when the fall league truly begins to take an interesting shape. The three SFL teams are managed by the program's assistant coaches, who are responsible for drafting the incoming players.

"We draft our players each year and there is a salary cap so the teams are competitive," Kemp said. "For example, one of our seniors may get $9 million in imaginary money, where a freshman who we're still developing may get only $1 million."

This year the coaching staff published the draft results live in an online chat room for the players to see.

"Every time there was a selection it would pop up on the computer, just like Major League Baseball," Athletic Director Don Olson said. "So you have all the players sitting at their own homes watching the draft. That just adds to the flavor of it."

After draft day, the players donned their new uniforms and took to the field in pursuit of the SFL Cup, the trophy given to the winning team.

"We play close to 30 games in the fall, and they are mini-games," Kemp said. "They are usually three or four innings, and we start with one ball and one strike counts."

The shortened format of the SFL allows for plenty of dramatic moments and game-changing plays.

"That's what it's for," senior first baseman Sean Claugherty said. "People get chances every day to win or lose it for their team."

While those chances may come more often, Gerten said taking advantage of them in the fall is just as important as in the spring.

"We had a couple walk-off wins this year when everyone would storm the field and that's really just the end of a practice," Gerten said. "So it's really cool to have that atmosphere and it gets really competitive."

The competitive nature of the SFL is by design and its ultimate goal is to prepare players for the spring season.

"It gets our players, especially our freshmen, better faster," assistant coach Joe Wicklund said. "So, when that really talented freshman gets his chance right away in the Dome against a nationally-ranked opponent, he's already played dozens and dozens of college baseball games against great players."

Kemp said that while the SFL is an essential part of freshmen development, he and the other coaches expect the newcomers to struggle in the fall.

"Freshmen usually struggle right away, but we let them know what they need to work on. So they're forced to get better, and they do," Kemp said. "They are going to fail before they succeed."

That failure as a freshman does not exclude players from future stardom at St. Scholastica, as in the case of senior Steve Gerten.

"I had two hits, maybe three, my freshman fall because I was facing guys who were ridiculously good," Gerten said. "They throw 90 miles an hour with movement and they're basically All-Americans. It's a little overwhelming."

Now, Gerten is the Saints starting third baseman and also a top pitcher for the club. Even Wicklund, now an assistant coach, struggled as a freshman in the SFL.

"I remember getting thrown in and having to get out Ben Sickler. I mean, the guy's jersey is retired here," Wicklund said of his freshman fall season. "This guy's a man and I'm a kid, and I've got to figure out a way to get him out."

Despite the initial shock of the SFL, Wicklund said the coaching staff tries to manage the expectations of incoming players.

"When we tell guys that they will have a chance to come in right away and contribute in the spring, it's not because they're good enough now," Wicklund said. "It's because we will get them better through our fall league."

The SFL gives freshmen an early taste of college baseball, but it also provides them with plenty of time to bond with their new teammates.

"The fall is a big part of our cohesiveness," Kemp said. "They are out there for 16 days with their teammates building those relationships. It's very important for us to develop not only that talent, but also those relationships within our team."

That off-the-field education during the fall is nearly as important as developing baseball skills, Olson explained.

"The fall is a time when they're not only teaching but the freshmen are starting to learn the discipline of the program, what the expectations are, and how they should conduct themselves on the field," Olson said.

Of course, the time spent in fall ball gives players a chance to have a little fun with one another as well.

"We get to play some jokes and pull some pranks," senior catcher Paul Kolodge said with a smile. "During practice we'll tell the freshmen to go get the box of curveballs and they'll all look around for it, but it doesn't exist. Or a left-handed bat. So that makes it fun and we get to know the guys."

Fun and games aside, the prospect of winning the SFL Championship excites each and every St. Scholastica player.

"When we won it, gloves were thrown, hats were thrown, we dog piled," Kolodge said of the first Gold Hawks title since 2000.

Senior pitcher Jeff Adams said, "It was really exciting. It was like we won the World Series. Definitely. Dog piled and everything."

The Gold Hawks upperclassmen now own the SFL Cup, but winning the best-of-three championship series against the number one seed Black Sox was not an easy task.

"The level of the talent that was on that field and even some of the bad blood, I guess you could say, between those two teams was very evident," Kemp said. "It was pretty exciting for our guys."

Win or lose in the fall, each and every Saints player knows that the SFL is something special and unique in the college baseball world.

"No one else does it. You look at some of the bigger programs and no one does what we do," Gerten said. "I think that makes it that much more special."

Wicklund said the things separating good programs from great programs are pretty small, so the SFL has had a positive impact for the Saints.

"It's a huge separator from what other college baseball programs do," Wicklund said. "It's huge in recruiting and huge in development."

It's clear how the SFL fosters individual development, but players said it helps the team develop and grow as well.

"Fall ball is where it all starts, that trust," Kolodge said. "When it comes time, you know that guy is going to make a play because you've been around him that whole month."

Sophomore shortstop Chad Peterson said the chance to play meaningful games against teammates only increases the effect of fall ball.

"We can go through the practice routines and fundamentals we work on daily," Peterson said, "but the live action really brings out the players in us."

The Saints lineup is full of players, to be sure, but Gerten said St. Scholastica baseball is about more than that.

"We want good people on our team, not just great players," Gerten said.

That attitude comes mainly from late head coach John Baggs and his message has spread to everyone associated with Saints baseball.

"Those values that they have, their commitment to what they believe in, their caring about it, their executing it, and their holding each other accountable for it is what makes them successful," Olson said.

It's nice to have that reputation on campus, Kolodge said, but the credit for the culture of the program goes back a long ways.

"We learned from the guys before us. We could all name off the guys we looked up to, who taught us how were supposed to approach things," Kolodge said. "The formula has just been set up for people to succeed. It's crazy. I've never seen anything like it."

That winning formula has led the Saints to 13 straight Upper Midwest Athletic Conference titles and, according to Claugherty, is fairly simple.

"Just relax and play ball," Claugherty said.

The SFL definitely helps the Saints do just that, but Kolodge said it's love for the sport of baseball that ultimately drives a lot of players.

"We treat our summers and winters opposite than everyone else," Kolodge said. "When school's here, it's like summer for us because we have 40 best friends on campus. Then when it's summer, we just want to be back in school because we want to play fall ball."

This year, fall ball ended as members of the Gold Hawks celebrated their SFL championship as their Saints teammates watched. As St. Scholastica now sets its sights on yet another UMAC title and possibly a national championship, the team hopes they can celebrate again this spring. Together.