Baseball Coaches

(Assistants not updated for 2009)

Head Coach Ed Cheff

Coach Ed Cheff enters his 33rd season at Lewis-Clark State College. He has built one of the most impressive collegiate athletic teams in the nation at any level, as the Warriors have won 16 national titles in the past 25 years.
 

From 1982 to 1992 the Warriors played in 11 consecutive National Championship games and won eight—a feat unequalled by a collegiate team at any level in any sport. Five of these titles were earned in the 1980’s, five more in the 1990’s, and six in the new millennium, including the last three. The Warriors’ overall win-loss record under Cheff, entering the 2008 season, is a remarkable 1,617 wins and 410 losses.

More than 100 of Cheff’s former Warrior players have gone on to play professional baseball and several have played in the major leagues. His teams at Lewis-Clark State College have been consistently recognized by peers and professional scouts as being well-prepared and aggressive.

Cheff has not only built successful collegiate baseball teams but has also worked to instill a sense of pride and work ethic in each Warrior that has come through his program. Warrior Baseball is valued by the local community for its dedication to active involvement with local events, fundraisers, and volunteer programs. The impact of the program is noteworthy both on and off the field.

Coach Cheff has been named NAIA Coach of the Year eight times and often addresses clinics outside of the Lewis-Clark Valley. He has addressed the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) on six occasions and was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1994.

Away from Lewis-Clark State College’s Harris Field Cheff has coached the Alaska League’s Anchorage Bucs and Fairbanks Gold Panners.  Cheff also coached Team USA in 1994 as its hitting and third base coach.

On May 11, 1996, Cheff captured his 1,000th career victory with a doubleheader sweep over Central Washington, becoming only the third coach in NAIA baseball history to win 1,000 games. He became only the fourth coach at any level to win 1,500 games during the 2006 NAIA World Series.

Assistant Coaches
 

Gus Knickrehm – Assistant coach Gus Knickrehm finds himself in a new position on the staff this year as he’s taking over as pitching coach from Gary Picone, who is now the college’s athletic director. Knickrehm has had a successful career at LCSC, both as a player and as an assistant coach. He played at LCSC for two seasons as a pitcher. During his senior year, he was a pitcher on the 1987 national championship team, which went undefeated in the Series. During his senior season, Knickrehm averaged one strikeout per inning pitched. After his playing career, Knickrehm joined the Warrior coaching staff for six seasons, working with the pitchers. He then left to work for a local business, but rejoined the Warrior staff in 2003. In all, Knickrehm has been a part of seven national titles.              Roberto Saenz  – Assistant coach Roberto is in his first year as a Warrior assistant coach. He previously spent the summer of 2007 as defensive and hitting coach for the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League. Last season, he was a graduate assistant at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Penn. Roberto spent two years starting in the outfield and Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, Calif., and graduated from there in 2002. He then started two seasons at the University of St. Mary, an NAIA school in Leavenworth, Kan., and graduated from there in 2005 with a degree in Business Administration. He earned a master’s in Business Administration in 2007 from Seton Hill.                   Allen Balmer – Assistant Coach   Bio coming soon...             Seth McCauley – Assistant Coach                               Bruce Madsen – strength and conditioning coach   Bruce is a certified strength and conditioning coach who has made a tremendous impact on the performance of Warrior baseball players during the past few years.