Concordia University - 2008 Baseball Coaches

2008 Baseball

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Baseball Coaches

Karl Kling - Head Coach

Karl Kling enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Concordia Baseball Team as the second winningest coach in Concordia history with 74 wins (trailing only Chuck Boerger's eight-year total of 76).

Last season, the Cardinals finished with a 19-29 mark, the first time in the Kling era the team didn't finish with more wins than the season prior. In 2006, the Cards set a school record with 23 wins, being the only team in school history to win more than 20 games. In the history of the program, three of the four top seasons in regard to win total have been coached by Kling.

In 2005, Kling guided the Cardinals to their first-ever postseason appearance. The team was one win away from the NAIA Regionals, but fell 5-4 in 16 innings to fall a game short. The 2006 season featured the Cardinals making the second straight playoff appearance, and ended again with Concordia a mere win away from the first-ever Regional appearance. The 2006 squad fell to Indiana Tech 7-5, leaving the bases loaded in the top of the ninth.

In his four seasons, the Cardinals have won 74 games. From 1993 through 2003, an 11-year stretch, Concordia baseball amassed only 75 wins.

Prior to being hired as Head Coach in the summer of 2003, Kling served as an assistant coach to Tim Taylor for two seasons working primarily with the Cardinal outfield and catching corps.

Recently Kling has served as the Director of the Midwest Baseball Academy Camp, hosted by Concordia; was a guest instructor for the independent league Traverse City Beach Bum winter camp, served as the Capital City Classic All-Star game coach held at Oldsmobile Park in Lansing; worked as a instructor for Triple Crown Sports at their Omaha and Myrtle Beach national showcases and has recently agreed to serve as the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference baseball chair for the 2008 season.

In addition to serving as the baseball coach, Kling will return as Sports Information Director for a third season after spending the two previous years as the University's Athletic Director. Wanting to focus more on the development of the baseball team, Kling stepped down as AD in June of 2005.

Prior to joining the Concordia family, Kling was the pitching and catching coach at South Lyon High School for two seasons. Prior to that, he coached at Pontiac Notre Dame Prepatory High School for five years, as an assistant coach. During that time, the Fighting Irish won the Catholic League C-D championship in 1997. Overall, Kling has been a coach for the past 17 years.

Kling has had a vast and varying career in addition to athletics. Before joining Concordia on a full-time basis in 2003, Kling was editor of The Milford Times, which was named Michigan's Newspaper of the Year in 2002, as well as being awarded First Place in General Excellence from the Michigan Press Association for the year 2001, and Third Place in General Excellence from the Suburban Newspapers of America, also in 2001.

Kling has also served as a Chief of Staff for a state Senator in Lansing, as well as Executive Director of the Oakland County Republican Party for three years in the 1990's. Kling has worked on many political campaigns, most notably serving as the Michigan Director for the Alan Keyes for President campaign in 1996.

Kling currently resides in Howell with his wife Debra. They have four sons, Brandon, Hayden, Dawson and Ethan.

KARL KLING COACHING RECORD

YEAR	SCHOOL	OVERALL	CONFERENCE	PLAYOFFS
2003-04	Concordia	14-42	2-18	Did not qualify
2004-05	Concordia	18-28	5-11	WHAC Semifinals
2005-06	Concordia	23-28	7-9	WHAC Semifinals
2006-07	Concordia	19-29	9-13	Did not qualify
2007-08	Concordia	0-0	0-0
CAREER TOTAL		74-127	23-51

Ryan McCosky - Assistant Coach

Ryan McCosky will coach the outfielders as well as coordinate the strength and conditioning programs in this his first year of coaching. He completed his playing career with the Cardinals last spring, earning All-Conference honors as an outfielder. McCosky also earned Academic All-Conference honors during his playing career as a Cardinal.

McCosky started his collegiate career on the west side of the state where he walked on and played for two seasons at Kalamazoo Valley Community College under Coach Bernie Vallier. McCosky transferred to Concordia University in 2005 and played in 90 games over two seasons, starting all 45 games last year.

McCosky is supported by parents Sue and Mike Ross and Chris McCosky. McCosky plans to graduate in May of 2009 with a degree in Physical Education and English. McCosky plans to teach at the secondary level.

McCosky is grateful for the opportunity to be apart of this program and to continue to help the young men and the program to grow. McCosky’s philosophy embodies hard work and character.

McCosky resides in Ypsilanti and can be reached at mccosr@cuaa.edu.

Rob Baker - Assistant Coach

Coach Rob Baker enters his first season as an assistant on the Concordia staff. He is the infield and base running coach. Baker finished his baseball career last season as an All-Conference second baseman for the Cardinals, making him an All-Conference selection in all four years of his college baseball career.

Baker started his career “out west” as he is a graduate of both Muskegon Mona Shores High School and Muskegon Community College. He played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Muskegon racking up numerous awards, including Academic All-American. While at Muskegon he lead his team to a school record 38 wins in his sophomore season and set a new single season school hit record of 75 in the same season.

Baker continued his playing career the following season at Concordia and made an immediate impact as he was an integral part in the school record 23 win season his junior year. In addition to helping his team to 23 wins, Baker also set the single season record for most singles (67) and tied the school record for stolen bases (17). He again was an Academic All-American while at Concordia.

While he is proud of these accomplishments, Baker is most proud of making a life-long impact on his teammates and those around him. He enjoys passing on his love of the game to anyone who is eager to learn and willing to work hard.

Baker will graduate from Concordia in May with a degree in Business Administration.

He currently resides in Ypsilanti. He can be reached at bakerr@cuaa.edu