Softball

BEREA, OHIO --  Baldwin-Wallace College Head Softball Coach Tom Spencer and his outstanding staff of assistant coaches, Joe Yocabet and Gary Saunders, have been named as the 2010-11 Ohio Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.  This is the second time that Spencer has been honored by the OAC. He was the 2001 OAC Coach of the Year.

Tom Spencer	Joe Yocabet
Gary Saunders

Spencer and his staff have led the Yellow Jackets to the 2011 OAC Tournament title, a 27-9 overall record and a possible NCAA Division III National Tournament berth. That announcement will come at 12:00 noon today (May 9, 2011).

Spencer in the midst of his fourth season of his second stint as the Head Softball Coach at Baldwin-Wallace College in 2011. Spencer also served as head coach from 2000-2002 and returned to B-W in 2007-08 as the head coach and a professor in the Division of Health and Physical Education. In seven total seasons at the College, Spencer has a record of 161-117 for a .579 winning percentage. In 13 total seasons as a head coach, he has a career record of 300-248-1 with a .547 winning percentage, including a 51-94-1 mark at NCAA Division I Butler (Ind.) University and an 88-37 mark in three seasons at NAIA Notre Dame College (Ohio).

This season's 27 victories are just one shy of the school-record of 28 which was set in 2000-2001 and during Spencer's first stint at B-W. A year ago, his Yellow Jackets finished 23-17 overall. The 23 victories are the fifth most in school history.

In Spencer's first stint at B-W, the Yellow Jackets won 20 games each year, including the school-record 28 in 2001. Overall, his teams were 70-52.

In addition to coaching softball at the College during his first stint, Spencer was the Head Women's Golf Coach and served as an assistant women’s basketball coach.

With the B-W women’s hoops team, Spencer served as Cheri Harrer’s main assistant and helped B-W  to five consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III National Tournament, including two straight “Elite Eight” finishes.

As women’s golf coach, Spencer began the program, led it to a No.3 regional ranking in its first season and then to consecutive appearances at the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

In 2002, Spencer left B-W to coach for three seasons at Butler (2002-2004) and helped to rebuild the Butler program into a winner before leaving the program on solid footing. Spencer’s intent was to come home to the Greater Cleveland area with his family and then coached at Notre Dame College (Ohio) for three seasons (2005-2007) and turned the Falcon program into a winner. When the opportunity to return to B-W presented itself in 2008, he returned to his roots in Berea.

Spencer earned a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University in 1984 and a teaching certificate from Cleveland State University in 1988. Prior to his first stint at B-W, he served as a teacher and softball and basketball coach at Fairview Park High School.

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