Subtle.

That’s how Eastern softball head coach Kim Schuette is trying to keep the news about her pregnancy.

Schuette, who is due on August 15, first told her team she was pregnant before the season, started in January.

“It’s exciting,” Schuette said. “Otherwise I’m just another person out there having an extra load. It’ll be fun.”

Schuette said she wants to get through the season and get some wins.

She has plenty of family members for support. Her husband Jason Dorey is an assistant coach with the team. Her father Al is also a volunteer coach and lives with her mom in Mattoon. Her brother Jeff lives in Charleston and attends softball games.

“We waited a long time to tell anybody,” Schuette said. “Hopefully, everyone will be healthy and more importantly, have a good season. The baby will be an addition to that.”

She and Dorey waited until the end of the first trimester to tell the team.

“At first, we all really didn’t know what to expect,” junior second baseman Megan Nelson said. “I’ve never played for a coach who has been pregnant, especially at the college level.”

Schuette coaches third base and still goes out in the field.

“Really, nothing has changed too much except, you know, we kind of all just get those gasps when we got those line shots down the third base line,” Nelson said.

“I’m sure toward the end, she might be sitting in the dugout,” Dorey said.

The players are more sympathetic toward Schuette and have taken on the persona of older sisters to the baby.

“She’s always rubbing her belly,” senior pitcher Kathleen Jacoby said. “Coach J gets a little bit cautious, telling her to back down a little farther.”

But Schuette isn’t concerned about baby showers quite yet.

And the team thinks she’s hasn’t let up yet.

“She hasn’t skipped a beat,” Nelson said.

To celebrate, the players decorated her office and listed their names, so Schuette can name the child after one of them.

“Everybody’s just trying to pull to have her name the baby after everybody,” Nelson said. “We’re all excited.”

However, any disputes about the baby name will not be contested if it’s a boy, and no one will know because Schuette and Dorey have decided to not find out the sex of the baby until the day of delivery.

Dorey is excited and can’t wait to teach him everything he knows.

“I don’t want (the baby) to distract the team,” Schuette said. “I want (the baby) to be a good addition. We’re just saying our prayers. 10 fingers, 10 toes.”

Eastern Illinois vs. Eastern Kentucky

The Panthers return to action this weekend when it travels to Eastern Kentucky for a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series.

The Panthers play EKU at noon Saturday in a doubleheader in Richmond, Ky. They conclude the series with a noon game on Sunday.

The Panthers (17-11, 4-2 OVC) lost two of three games last season against the Colonels (10-14, 1-3). EKU is coming off a split with Kent State on Wednesday.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].