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Career Record: 249-206-4 (1997-present)
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Jay Lewis was hired as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, Wittenberg University, in 1996, with his first season at the helm in 1997. Lewis, who previously served as an assistant coach for one year for the Tigers, has compiled an 249-206-4 record, breaking the school record for career baseball coaching victories during the 2006 season.
A 1994 Wittenberg graduate, Lewis excelled on the diamond for the Tigers in the early 1990s. Lewis was a three-year starting catcher for Wittenberg from 1991-1993 after spending his first season at West Virginia Wesleyan.
Prior to his time at Wittenberg, Lewis was an assistant coach at St. Paris Graham High School, where he helped lead the Falcons to a Division II State runner-up finish in 1995. In addition, he has helped coach perennial power Piqua in the American Legion League with Head Coach Rick Gold.
During his head coaching stint at Wittenberg, Lewis' teams have excelled, averaging more than 20 wins a season, and have finished second in the always competitive North Coast Athletic Conference tournament twice (1997 and 1998). His teams display a very aggressive style of baseball, with strong fundamentals being their basis for success. Several players, including Brent Parke, Ryan Born, Ryan Peters, Steve Less and Kurt Hartfelder, have gone on to play professional baseball after their careers at Wittenberg ended.
Tiger teams are always fighting to be the best and looking to compete in the NCAC, which has produced several NCAA Division III World Series participants in recent years. A native of St. Paris and a graduate of Graham High School, Lewis and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Lewis' hometown with their children, Megan and Josh.
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Rick Gold joined the Wittenberg baseball coaching staff in 2004 after a long and storied career in high school and youth league baseball around the Miami Valley. He is focused primarily on team defense and pitching.
Gold coached high school and American Legion baseball for 31 years. He won 191 games in 13 seasons at Miami East High School in Casstown, Ohio, and 314 in 18 seasons at Piqua High School, winning 10 league titles, nine sectional titles, four district titles and playing second in regional tournaments in his career. Gold also coached ACME baseball for 10 summers and was coach for Schnell-Westfall American Legion Post 184 for 14 summers, winning 9 district championships, plus State Legion Runner-Up in 1992 and State Connie Mack Championship in 1990. He was also chosen three times to coach in the All-Ohio Series. He was elected the Southwest District representative to the OHSBCA, before becoming an officer, serving as President in 1994.
Gold was named Miami Valley Coach of the Year in 1976 and 1987, coached in the Ohio All-Star Game in 1979, 1987 and 1995 and was inducted into the Miami Valley Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1992. In addition, Gold was selected to the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008.
"Coach Gold has experience turning out great talent, and molding and shaping it," Lewis said. "He has turned out some of the best offensive and defensive baseball players in the Miami Valley, as well as across the state of Ohio. He brings the intense attitude and focus on fundamentals that we already teach."
Gold sent many quality players on to college and professional baseball, including Bryan and Ken Magoteaux brothers, holders of most Wittenberg offensive records for a season and career.
Gold was a three-year letterwinner at Ohio Northern, and he was named the university's most outstanding senior athlete in 1972-73. He is a 1973 graduate of Ohio Northern University, where he lettered in baseball three years.
Gold, who earned a bachelor's degree from ONU in 1973 and a master's from Wright State in 1988, is a mathematics teacher at Piqua High School, where he has served as an assistant football coach for 23 years. He and his wife, Cindy, live in Piqua. They have three children and three grandchildren.
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Pat Schmidt joined the Wittenberg baseball coaching staff in 2005.
A 1997 graduate of nearby Bellefontaine High School, where he was a second-team All-Ohio honoree following his junior and senior seasons, Schmidt was a 22nd round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves. A left-handed pitcher, Schmidt played four years of professional baseball before returning to his home state and earning a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 2005.
Schmidt currently teaches at Hilliard Davidson High School and resides in Columbus. He has high school coaching experience after a three-year stint as an assistant at Olentangy Liberty High School.
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Coach Less is beginning his coaching career with the Tigers in 2008.
A 2006 Wittenberg graduate, Less started all four years on the mound and earned two all-conference awards in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Less played professionally in the Frontier League in 2007 with the Slippery Rock Sliders.
He will help Schmidt with the pitching staff and the overall conditioning of the team.
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