ABCA Podcast

With Covid pushing our 2020 ABCA convention to a virtual, we felt like it would be beneficial to interview our Hall of Fame inductees for that year. We have continued that tradition since. At the Hall of Fame banquet, our inductees only get 3 to 5 minutes to talk so these podcasts allow them to tell their stories and get a few more thank-you’s in before the ABCA convention. These have been some of...

Next up on the ABCA podcast is our 2023 Dave Keiltiz Ethics in Coaching Award winner, Ball State head coach, Rich Maloney. Maloney has been a Div. I head coach for 27 seasons with stops at Ball State twice and Michigan. In 2022 he eclipsed the 900-win mark ranking him 16th among active Div. I coaches. Maloney is the winningest baseball coach in Ball State history. In his 10 seasons at Michigan, Ma...

We are honoring our 2023 award winners heading into the Nashville convention. Next up on the ABCA podcast is former Horizon High School head coach, Eric Kibler. Coach Kibler is being honored with the Dave Keilitz Ethics Award and also going into the ABCA Hall of Fame this year. In 1980, Kibler started the baseball program at Horizon High School. Kibler shaped the landscape of high school and youth...

This week on the ABCA podcast we sit down with ABCA Div. II Assistant Coach of the Year, Bob Mitcheltree. The 2022 season marked Mitcheltree’s 20th year overall as an assistant coach on Jeff Messer’s Slippery Rock staff. Slippery Rock had one of their most successful seasons going 33-18 and competed in the NCAA tournament. Mitcheltree has also been an assistant for Wilmington High School’s footbal...

We have a special edition of the ABCA Podcast this week on the road with Texas A&M Associate Head Coach, Nate Yeskie, during the Aggies pre-game. This is a must listen with one of the best pitching & baseball minds in the game. Yeskie led the Aggies to the 2022 College World Series in his first season in College Station. This was back to back trips for Yeskie in Omaha with Arizona competin...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year, Matt Saliba. The Webber International University recruiting coordinator guided the Warriors program to a 43-22 record and their first appearance at the NAIA World Series. Saliba is a Florida native attending Winter Haven High School where he was Polk County Player of the Year his senior season, playing for his Father. Saliba attended...

This week on the podcast is ABCA Div. III High School Assistant Coach of the Year, Tonganoxie’s Brad Shelton. Shelton has 20+ years of experience as a coach and special education teacher. Tonganoxie High School had their best season in school history with a 20-4 record and losing to McPherson in the Kansas High School State Championship. In this episode we discuss what has kept Coach Shelton going...

Next up on the ABCA podcast is Div. III Assistant Coach of the Year, Baldwin-Wallace’s Tom DeAngelis. Baldwin-Wallace had a phenomenal season going 32-11 and ended the year at the Div. III College World Series in Cedar Rapids, IA. DeAngelis finished his playing career at Seton Hill in 2011. He got his coaching start at Seton Hill and has been an assistant at Baldwin-Wallace since 2015. Success has...

Keeping with the USA Baseball theme, this week’s ABCA Podcast is with 15U National Team manager and Centre College head coach, Drew Briese. Briese led the 15U National team to a World Cup Championship. Team USA had a great tournament going 8-1 and beating Cuba in back to back games to win the championship. Briese brings a unique perspective coaching the 15u team coming from the college side. He ha...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is 12U National Team Manager, Orange Lutheran associate head coach and Coastal Empire Baseball owner, RJ Farrell. Coach Farrell had an exciting summer leading the USA team to a World Cup Championship. Team USA had a great tournament going 8-0. He has been a part of multiple championship teams with USA Baseball. Coach Farrell is also a part of one of the best high school...

Joining us next on the ABCA Podcast is Stow-Munroe head coach and Ohio Longhorns GM, Aaron Debord. Debord is another great example of someone who is positively affecting every level of baseball in their community. He has his footprint on youth, travel and high school baseball in Northeast Ohio. Debord has been the GM of the Ohio Longhorns since 2008 and head baseball coach at Stow-Munroe since 201...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Casteel High School head coach, Matt Denny. Casteel High School opened in 2016 and is on the Southeast side of Phoenix, AZ. Denny took over the Casteel program in the Spring of 2020. Denny was named the 2021 5A Co-Coach and Region Coach of the Year in his first full season with the Casteel program. Prior to Casteel, Denny was at Mountain Pointe. We had a chance to wa...

Joining us this week for the ABCA Podcast is Div. I Assistant Coach of the Year, Karl Nonemaker. The Auburn recruiting coordinator and the Tigers had a great season finishing up in Omaha at the College World Series. Auburn was consistent all year with a 43-22 overall and 16-13 SEC record. Nonemaker is in charge of the infielders and assists with the hitters. They were strong on both sides with a ....

Heading back into the training world on this week’s ABCA Podcast with Amplified Movement’s, Tracy Hayes. Tracy now works with 25 MLB teams on her mobility series. Tracy has a diverse background with a number of certifications and studied Neurolinguistics Programming, as well as Cognitive and Neurosciences studies at Northwestern University. She originally got her start in professional baseball tea...

Rounding out our ABCA/ATEC college coaching award winners, we sit down with Central Arizona head coach, Anthony Gilich. Gilich was honored with the NJCAA Div. I Coach of the Year Award. Gilich is heading into his 8th season as head coach and 15thoverall at Central Arizona. Gilich guided the 2022 Central Arizona squad to the NJCAA Div. I National Championship with a 59-13 record, which is best in s...

This week on the ABCA Podcast we check in with current Yale head coach and former Eastern Connecticut State head coach, Brian Hamm. Eastern Connecticut took home the 2022 Div. III National Championship. Hamm was honored with the ABCA/ATEC Coach of the Year Award and the College Baseball Foundation’s Skip Bertman Award. Eastern Connecticut has been a Div. III powerhouse but this is their first nati...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Div. II National Champion North Greenville head coach, Landon Powell. Powell was honored with the ABCA/ATEC Coach of the year award. Powell and the North Greenville program brought home their first national championship this year. The year before Coach Powell took over the program they were 8-35. North Greenville now has 4 regional appearances in a row. North Greenvi...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Division I National Champion Ole Miss head coach, Mike Bianco. This continues our series of ABCA Coaches that were National Champions this year. Bianco was honored with the ABCA/ATEC Coach of the year award. Bianco just finished his 22nd season at Ole Miss and is the longest tenured coach in the SEC. In 22 seasons leading the program, Bianco has led Ole Miss to 18 po...

This week on the ABCA Podcast we check in with ABCA/ATEC Pacific Association Regional Coach of the Year, Riverside CC head coach, Rudy Arguelles. Riverside CC is now in elite company having won their 5th CCCAA championship. Arguelles has been a part of all 5 championships as either a player, assistant or head coach. This year’s state championship moves Riverside into 3rd place and one win away fro...

This week on the ABCA Podcast we check in with another ABCA/ATEC National Coach of the Year award recipient with Herkimer’s Jason Rathbun. Herkimer won this year’s NJCAA Div. III National Championship with a 41-7 record. Herkimer made their 7th world series appearance this year. The Generals had three ABCA/Rawlings All-American’s in Greg Farone, Ryan Packard, and Dakota Britt. Rathbun took over th...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is NAIA National Champion Southeastern University head coach, Adrian Dinkel. Dinkel was honored with the ABCA/ATEC NAIA Coach of the Year Award. Southeastern broke the school record for wins with a 59-4 record. The Fire had big time numbers on offense and pitching with a .360 team batting average and a 3.25 team era. Gary Lora, Robb Adams, Brian Fuentes and Abdel Guadal...

Next up on the ABCA Podcast is Div. II NJCAA National Champion Pearl River College head coach, Michael Avalon. This kicks off our series of ABCA/ ATEC championship coaches. Avalon was honored with the ABCA/ATEC NJCAA Div. II Coach of the Year Award. Pearl River was 45-11, winning 11 of their last 12 games and advanced to Enid after winning the extremely competitive Region 23 tournament. Pearl Rive...

The final on location episode takes us to Cedar Rapids, IA for the Div. III National Championship. We had a chance to sit down with American’s Ross Natoli, Marietta’s Brian Brewer, Trinity’s Tim Scannell, Eastern Connecticut State’s Brian Hamm, Salisbury’s Troy Brohawn, Baldwin Wallaces’ Brian Harrison, and American Rivers Commissioner Dan Hammes. Congrats to Brian Hamm and the Eastern Connecticut...

Two more weeks of on location episodes. This week we head to Enid, OK for the NJCAA Divi. II Championship. Enid does a phenomenal job of hosting this tournament. It is truly a mini-Omaha. The NJCAA and the town of Enid provide a phenomenal student-athlete experience. In this episode we will hear from Murray State’s Sam Bjorling, Lansing’s Steven Cutter, Heartland’s Chris Razo and Enid Sports Direc...

The next 3 weeks podcasts will be on location episodes. This week we got a chance to sit down with coaches at the California junior college championship in Folsom, CA. In this episode we will hear from Palomar’s Ben Adams, Ohlone’s Mike Curran, Riverside’s Rudy Arguelles, Folsom Lake’s Rich Gregory and CCCBCA President Chris Pedretti. This is a great time of the year with college championships goi...