Wittenberg University Baseball Program Announces New Assistant Coaches

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg University baseball program is looking forward to a great 2004 - a year in which the team will move into one of the best facilities in all of college baseball. Head Coach Jay Lewis has kicked things off by announcing the addition of four individuals - Rick Gold, Bill Colopy, Lance Dill and Ryan Born - to his coaching staff.

"The addition of these coaches will help our staff in so many different ways," said Lewis, who has a 147-121-4 record as head coach at Wittenberg. "This will help our total team defense because we are able to cover every position with quality coaches who were also very successful players in those positions."

Gold joins the program as an assistant coach after 31 years as a high school and American Legion head coach. He will focus primarily on team defense and pitching. Colopy will serve as a volunteer assistant coach, working primarily with middle infielders. Lance Dill, one of the finest outfielders to patrol the Municipal Stadium turf for Wittenberg, is joining the staff as a volunteer assistant coach, working primarily with outfielders on their defense and footwork. Ryan Born, who concluded his outstanding career by gaining first-team All-NCAC and third-team All-Mideast Region honors in 2003, is returning to the program this spring as a student assistant coach, working primarily with the first baseman.

Gold won 191 games in 13 seasons at Miami East High School in Casstown, Ohio, and 314 in the last 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. In addition, he enjoyed tremendous success as a youth baseball coach, primarily with Piqua Post 184 of the American Legion Baseball League.

Gold, who coached Lewis in the 1980s with Piqua Post 184, 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 1982. He is a 1973 graduate of Ohio Northern University, where he lettered in baseball three years, and he has taught high school mathematics the last 31 years.

"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."

A 1998 graduate of Otterbein College with a degree in education, Colopy earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors three times and All-Mideast Region in 1997 while playing for legendary Head Coach Dick Fishbaugh. Colopy earned a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Dayton in 2003, and he presently teaches at Baker Junior High School in the Fairborn City School District.

Dill was a three-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection and a third-team All-Mideast Region choice as a senior in 2002 after batting .397 and finishing his career ranked among the top five in school history in career hits and runs batted in. A 2002 Wittenberg graduate, Dill is currently employed by Huntington Bank in Springfield. Born, who batted a team-best .411 in 40 starts in 2003, ranks in the top 10 in school history in several offensive categories and holds the school record for career putouts. Born is on course to graduate in May 2004 with a degree in history.

"I was always told to be successful in coaching in college you have to surround yourself with great people, and that includes both coaches and players," Lewis said. "With these additions to our coaching staff, I think we have taken a huge step in that direction. We have a lot of positive things happening to our program with the new stadium opening this spring, and these additions are icing on the cake."

The new coaches replace Mark Henninger, who departed his position as assistant football and baseball coach in December to take a position at North Carolina Wesleyan University, and Mike DeMassimo, who handled the pitching staff the last three years before taking a high school head coaching position.

001-04