Head Coach Jeff Ditch

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Jeff Ditch is in his third season as the head coach at IUP after being named to the position in June 2005.  A year ago, he presided over a turnaround in the Crimson Hawk baseball program that has the team pointed toward the top of the PSAC and the North Atlantic Region.

IUP was 20-28 last season, doubling its win total from 2005, and 10-10 in the PSAC West.  The Crimson Hawks were in contention for their first berth in the PSAC playoffs since 1998 until the final weekend of the season.

IUP enjoyed its first 20-win season since 1998 and only its third in the past 15 years.  The .500 record in division play marked the first time the Crimson Hawks achieved that level since the 2003 campaign.  This came just one year after IUP was 10-41 overall and 3-17 in the PSAC West.

Ditch came to IUP after serving as an assistant coach for 11 seasons, including 10 on the Division I level.  He had stints at Penn State, Cincinnati and West Virginia before spending the 2005 season at junior college power Young Harris College (Ga.).

In 2005, Ditch helped lead Young Harris College to a final record of 51-11, the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association and National Junior College Athletic Association Region XVII titles and a No. 2 ranking in the final NJCAA poll.  Twelve of 13 players on the 2005 YHC squad have gone on to sign with Division I schools.

In addition to position on the staff at YHC, Ditch spent the summer of 2004 as an assistant coach under legendary former University of North Carolina head coach Mike Roberts with the Cotuit Kettleers of the prestigious Cape Cod League.  He was with the Kettleers for a second season when he was tabbed to direct the IUP baseball program.

Prior to taking the position at YHC, Ditch was on the staff at West Virginia University for one year (2004), working with the Mountaineer hitters and infielders.

Ditch began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at St. Cloud State in Minnesota (1993-94) before beginning a long run on the Division I level.  He moved on to Penn State and spent the 1995-98 campaigns as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator with the Nittany Lions.  With Ditch on the staff, Penn State won the Big Ten title in 1996.

During his tenure as hitting instructor, Penn State established new Big Ten records for total bases (529) and home runs (60) in conference games during the 1998 season.  Mike Campo and Shawn Fagan both earned All-America accolades and set school records under Ditch’s tutelage.

When Ditch arrived at Penn State, the school record for home runs in a season was 49, but that mark fell when the Nittany Lions smashed 72 in 1997 and 91 the following year.  He also assisted in the development of pitcher Nate Bump, a first round draft choice who reached the majors with the Florida Marlins and was a member of their 2003 world championship team.

Ditch moved on to the University of Cincinnati for the 1999-2003 seasons, serving as recruiting coordinator while working with Bearcat pitchers.  Cincinnati won 30 or more games three straight seasons for the first time in school history, while the pitching staff put up impressive numbers each year.

The 1999 staff set a school mark with 400 strikeouts.  In 2000, when Cincinnati was the runner-up to Houston in Conference USA, the Bearcats allowed opponents to hit just .274 while setting school marks with 35 wins and 16 saves.  The Cincinnati coaching staff was honored as the Ohio Staff of the Year that season by the Buckeye Scouting Report.

In 2001, the Bearcats won 16 games in Conference USA and finished third while the 2002 squad posted the school’s lowest team ERA in seven years.  The 2003 pitching staff allowed only 2.93 walks per game, a mark that was the lowest in the 40-year history of the Cincinnati program.

Under Ditch’s watchful eye, Curtus Moak developed into an All-America closer for the Bearcats and was drafted in the 25^th round by the Cincinnati Reds.  BJ Borsa is also a Reds farmhand while current Cincinnati players Tony Maynard and Kyle Markle have been recognized by Collegiate Baseball as Freshman All-Americans.

While coaching at Cincinnati, Ditch recruited and signed the highest draft pick (sixth round) in school history.  Later, former Bearcat great Kevin Youkilis was an eighth round selection by the Boston Red Sox and played on their 2004 World Series championship team. 

Through the identification of student-athletes who would be successful in the classroom as well as the baseball field, Ditch’s four incoming recruiting classes at Cincinnati averaged a 3.23 grade point average, a 22 on the ACT and over 1,000 on the SAT.

In all, Ditch has coached 35 All-Big Ten players, 25 All-Conference USA selections and four players who were named to the All-Big East squad.  A total of 68 players that Ditch has coached have been selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Ditch is a native of Wahpeton, N.D.  He earned his bachelor’s degree as a double major in math and physical education and a minor in athletic coaching at Valley City State (N.D.) in 1989.

Before entering the collegiate ranks, Ditch was a high school math teacher for three years.  He also has experience in the Northwoods Collegiate Summer League, spending the summer of 1997 as head coach of the St. Cloud River Bats, and was an American Legion head coach for nine seasons.

Ditch returned to graduate school at St. Cloud State following his high school coaching career and has 51 credits towards his master’s degree in athletic administration. 

Ditch and his wife Alison were married on September 2, 2005.  The couple resides in Indiana with Damien (6) and Aubree (3).

IUP is a member of the highly competitive PSAC.  The PSAC has been represented by one of its 12 baseball teams in the NCAA Division II College World Series an impressive 15 times in the past 17 years.  In 1992, Mansfield advanced all the way to the national championship game.

The PSAC sends its baseball teams to the North Atlantic Regional tournament at the conclusion of each season, with typically two or more conference schools having been included in the field of six.