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Kalamazoo College Baseball Coaching
Staff
 Matt
Rix
Head
Coach
 Matt Rix was promoted
to head baseball coach on Aug. 4, 2006. Rix, a 2000 graduate
of Kalamazoo College, served as an assistant coach the previous
two seasons.
In 2011, Rix guided the Hornets to 17 wins, the second highest win total in school history. The team had the third most hits, doubles and stolen bases in school history, and fourth most runs and RBIs. The team also set a school record by taking 148 bases on balls.
Rix's 2010 team posted 14 wins, the third highest total in school history. Four Hornets set single season records while the team set records for hits, home runs and RBIs in a season. The team's .308 batting average is second best in school history.
Rix led the Hornets to 12 wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach. Including his
two years as assistant coach, the Hornets have posted double-digit
wins during six of his seven years on staff. Several players have earned All-MIAA honors during Rix's tenure. Senior Ryan Benjamin earned All-MIAA first-team honors in 2009. Two players earned All-MIAA honors in 2008 -- junior Ryan Benjamin earned first-team honors as catcher while sophomore Brandon Luczak earned second-team honors as Utility Player. Two players earned All-MIAA
honors in 2007 -- senior Charlie Mackinnon
earned first-team honors as DH/Utility Player and freshman
Brandon Luczak earned second-team honors as a pitcher.
In addition to coaching several single-season record holders, Rix has coached Kalamazoo's career leaders in hits, runs, doubles, RBIs, games played and complete games. As an assistant coach in 2005, Rix was instrumental
in helping guide the Hornets to 11 wins as he directed the
offense and the pitching staff. The Hornets tied a school
record for most hits in a season, had the school's second-highest
batting average (.301), and produced the third-highest run
total.
 Rix followed up with a school-record 20 wins
in his second season on staff. He helped guide the Hornets
to school records for hits, runs, RBIs and complete games. The team went from 3-32 before his arrival to 20-20 during his second year on staff, marking the second-best turnaround in NCAA Division III over that span.
Rix was a four-year
letter winner on the mound for the Hornets. He was team captain
in 2000. In 1998 he earned team most valuable player and team
most improved player honors. He also earned coaches honorable
mention honors in 1998. Rix was on the Dean's List and the
MIAA Academic Honor Roll all four years.
As a student at Kalamazoo College, Rix studied
abroad in Bonn, Germany during the fall of his junior year.
He also interned at a travel agency during his time in Bonn.
Rix, who holds a degree in philosophy and history from Kalamazoo,
earned a law degree from Michigan State University College of Law in May
of 2004. He passed the Michigan Bar exam and currently runs a solo practice.
Rix served as the head coach of the Kalamazoo
Vipers Travel Baseball Club from 2002-05, leading the team
to first-place finishes in the Kalamazoo Amateur Baseball
Association (2002 and 2003) and the Southwest Michigan Men's
League (2004 and 2005). The Kalamazoo Vipers compiled an overall record of 92-34 under Rix. In 2001 he served as head coach of
the jayvee baseball team at Mattawan High School, leading
the Wildcats to a 19-3 record and a first-place finish in
the Kalamazoo Valley Association. He also assisted on the
varsity team in their run as district champions and regional
semifinalists.
Matt and his wife, Melissa, reside in Kalamazoo.
 Steve
Wideen
Assistant Coach
 Steve
Wideen completed his fifth season as head coach of the Hornet
baseball team in 2006. He stepped down as head coach in August
of 2006 to work as an assistant coach while refocusing his efforts
as Kalamazoo College's sports information director, a position he has held since
1998.
As head coach, Wideen guided the
Hornets to an overall record of 20-20 in his final season (2006). The team was 3-32 just two seasons before, marking the second-best turnaround in NCAA Division III during that span. The team set school
records for most wins, hits, runs, RBIs, and complete games.
In 2005, the baseball team finished 11-20, a
10-game improvement over the previous season and the 14th-best turnaround in NCAA Division III. The 11 wins
were the fifth-highest total in school history. Charlie Mackinnon
was selected to the All-MIAA First Team as a utility player
(pitcher/first base), and was Kalamazoo's first All-MIAA player
since 1999.
The
baseball program began rebuilding in 2002 under Wideen, with seven
incoming freshmen each of his first two recruiting years.
Three-to-five freshmen started every game in 2003. The 2004
squad was also young, as 13 of the 19 players were freshmen
or sophomores. The Hornets started freshmen pitchers in all
conference games in 2004.
Wideen
is a 1998 graduate of Cornerstone University where he earned
a degree in business administration. He was a four-year starter
at third base and pitcher while serving as co-captain for
two years. He earned team most valuable player honors and
was selected as the College's male athlete of the year following
his senior season.
Wideen earned a
master's degree in athletic administration from Western Michigan
University in December of 2004.
Steve and his wife, Katie, reside in Kalamazoo.
 Brennan Davis
Assistant Coach
Brennan Davis enters his first season as an assistant coach with the Kalamazoo College baseball program after working with the women’s basketball program for the past two seasons (2009-11). Davis will assist primarily with recruiting and player development.
Davis is from Flint, Mich. and prepped at Kearsley High School (2000-2004), playing both basketball and baseball for the Hornets. Davis assisted in the development and expansion of the Kearsley Little League and Kearsley Youth Basketball League. As part of the Kearsley Little League program, Davis served as the assistant umpire director and lead umpire for the program. He also developed and worked numerous camps as an instructor for players and umpires.
Davis earned his bachelor’s degree in behavioral science from Grand Valley State University in 2008 and will graduate from Western Michigan University in the springo of 2012 with a master’s degree in health-physical education and recreation with an emphasis in sports management.
In 2009, Davis was head coach for the junior varsity baseball team at Grand Rapids Christian High School, taking a class that went 8-18 as freshmen to 20-9 the next year and a first place tie in the OK-White Conference.
Davis has coached 24 teams in his eight-year coaching career (baseball, basketball, and soccer), spanning the youth, middle school, high school, travel/AAU, and collegegiate levels.
Davis currently works at Western Michigan University as the Online Student Services Coordinator for Extended University Programs. He also serves as the freshman boys basketball coach at Kalamazoo Christian High School.
Brennan and his wife, Cara, currently reside in Portage, Mich.
 Alan Farnquist
Assistant Coach
Alan Farnquist begins his first season as an assistant coach with the Hornet baseball program in 2011-12, working in all areas of the program.
Farnquist is a graduate of Sault Ste. Marie Area High School and a four-year letterman for the Blue Devil varsity baseball program. He attended Missouri Valley College to play baseball before earning his bachelor's degree in physical education at Western Michigan University. He is also a graduate of the United States Marine Corps' Officer Candidates School, and is currently working towards a master's degree in educational leadership through Grand Valley State University.
Farnquist is a physical education teacher at Bloomingdale High School where he also coached varsity baseball the past seven seasons. The Cardinal baseball program had won only three games in two seasons prior to Farnquist taking over, and improved upon double-digit win totals every year during his tenure, peaking to a 20-14 overall record in 2010.
Farnquist joined the Around the Horn Stampede coaching staff during the summer of 2011. Working with the 16U program, the team was 35-8 overall while finishing first in the league and advancing to the AABC Regionals.
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Ryan Benjamin