SEMO Baseball Prospect Camp -Morning Session
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The 2023 season marks Andy Sawyers’ seventh as Southeast Missouri’s head coach.
In the last two years alone, Sawyers led SEMO to one Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title, back-to-back OVC Tournament crowns and two NCAA Tournament appearances. For the first time in program history, the Redhawks claimed the league’s OVC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns.
During the 2022 season, SEMO compiled a 37-22 overall record and finished second in the OVC with a 16-8 mark. The Redhawks, after dropping their first game of the conference tournament, won three-straight elimination games to secure their second-straight OVC Tournament championship. SEMO outlasted top-seeded Belmont, 5-4, in 10 innings to get the title.
The Redhawks later represented the OVC at the NCAA Regional in Louisville, Kentucky. That trip came a year after SEMO advanced to the NCAA Regional in Oxford, Mississippi.
SEMO was nearly unbeatable at home in 2022, where it led the nation with a 23-2 record. The Redhawks won their first 14 games at Capaha Field en route to their best home record in program history. In addition, the Redhawks finished the year with 24 come-from-behind victories.
The Redhawks hit a program record 97 home runs with five players getting 10 or more. SEMO also had seven All-OVC selections, two American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-South Region picks and one draft pick (Andrew Keck, 10th round, Atlanta Braves) in 2022.
Academically, SEMO’s baseball team recently recorded a 3.45 grade point average for its best fall term GPA in program history. During the 2021-22 academic year, the Redhawks had two OVC Medal of Honor recipients and 20 Commissioner’s Honor Roll selections.
In terms of winning percentage, Sawyers’ baseball program is the second-winningest in SEMO’s Department of Athletics with a .546 percentage over the last seven seasons. The Redhawks accumulated a total of 194 wins and won at a .592 rate in OVC play (103-71). SEMO won 30 or more games each of the last two years and Sawyers is in position to become the third head coach in program history to post three-consecutive 30-win seasons.
Sawyers was named OVC Coach of the Year after leading SEMO to a sweep of league’s regular-season and tournament titles in 2021. The Redhawks finished that championship season with an overall 30-22 record and 17-10 in the OVC. SEMO recorded 30 wins in a season for the first time with Sawyers at the helm and posted series wins in eight of its nine series against league foes in 2021.
Sawyers coached his first OVC Specialty Award-Winner when left-hander Dylan Dodd was tabbed the league’s Pitcher of the Year.
Dodd later became the highest draft pick in program history when he was selected in the third round by the Atlanta Braves in the 2021 Major League Draft. Additionally, Dodd wrapped up his final college season as a Second-Team Collegiate Baseball All-American.
Statistically, SEMO led the OVC with 14 saves and a .967 fielding percentage after committing just 49 errors in 52 contests. The Redhawks were also second in the conference in wins as their 30 victories marked the most in a season in five years.
In 2020, SEMO had an overall record of 9-8 and a 2-1 mark in OVC play when its season abruptly ended due to a global COVID-19 pandemic. The Redhawks heated up to win seven of nine contests prior to the end of competition.
The Redhawks led the OVC in batting average (.314), hits (188), triples (9), plate appearances (707), at-bats (598), hit by pitch (26), stolen bases (36), fewest walks allowed (54) and fielding percentage (.976), and rated second in slugging percentage (.503), on-base percentage (.404), runs (129), RBI (121) and home runs (21) at the time their 2020 campaign came to a close. SEMO also ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in hits (6th) and triples (8th).
Individually, Justin Dirden led the conference in slugging percentage (.900), RBI (26), home runs (9), hits (29), total bases (63) and stolen bases (9) before signing as an undrafted free agent with the Houston Astros.
Shortstop Tyler Wilber topped the OVC in runs (26) and center fielder Danny Wright tied a league-high with 29 hits when play was suspended.
Pitching wise, left-handers Dylan Dodd (2-1, 36 Ks) and Noah Niznik (3-0, 15 Ks) were a combined 5-1 with 51 strikeouts and two complete game shutouts through four starts in 2020.
Before they took the field in 2019, the Redhawks ushered in a state-of-the-art hitting facility adjacent to Capaha Field. The 4,000-square foot facility can fit up to four batting cages and is equipped with portable pitching mounds. It also had HitTrax Rapsodo technology which is used to enhance overall player performance through real-tiem stats and performance metrics.
SEMO went 23-32 during an injury-riddled 2019 campaign. The Redhawks played without five of their position starters for much of the season.
Despite the misfortune with injuries, SEMO had a pair of All-OVC performers in Wilber and Niznik.
A First-Team selection, Wilber led the OVC with a .383 batting average and was the Redhawks leader in hits (80) doubles (19), triples (3), RBI (40), slugging percentage (.531) and on-base percentage (.480).
Niznik, who landed a spot on the All-Newcomer Team, started 13 games as a freshman. He led the team with a 3.63 ERA, ranked second in innings (62) and third in both strikeouts (49) and wins (3).
The year before that, Sawyers guided the 2018 squad to the program’s 13th consecutive OVC Tournament berth as the Redhawks finished 27-30 overall and second in the conference with a 20-10 record.
That team produced three First-Team All-OVC performers, including Carlos Vega, Trevor Ezell and Dirden.
Sawyers was hired as the sixth head coach in program history on July 29, 2016.
In his first year as an NCAA Division I head coach in 2017, Sawyers led the Redhawks to a winning season (29-26 overall, 16-14 OVC). He also picked up his first career OVC Tournament win along the way.
First-Team pick Dan Holst, Second-Team selections Brian Lees, Chris Osborne, Justin Murphy and Clay Chandler, and All-Newcomer Team member Danny Wright formed a group of six All-OVC players in Sawyers’ debut season as a Division I head coach.
In all, Sawyers has over two decades worth of collegiate coaching experience.
Prior to arriving in Cape Girardeau, he worked two seasons as the Associate Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator at Big 12 Conference member Kansas State. There, Sawyers oversaw the hitters and catchers, while helping coordinate recruiting efforts.
Sawyers has coached in two College World Series, two NCAA Super Regionals and nine NCAA Tournaments during his coaching tenure. He has mentored 40 Major League Baseball draft picks, including two first-round selections and nine top-10 round picks.
The Wildcats ranked fourth in the Big 12 offensively with a .284 team batting average in 2016. K-State’s offense registered a .400 slugging percentage and .372 on-base percentage, scored 335 runs, had 550 hits, belted 100 doubles, notched 17 triples, and finished with 30 home runs and 300 RBI.
Sawyers coached freshman Josh Rolette who garnered Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors in 2016. He also helped mentor Jake Scudder who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. The Wildcats had three student-athletes on the All-Big 12 Teams that season.
The 2015 and 2016 campaigns were Sawyers’ second stint at K-State.
He previously served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats in 2009 and 2010. Sawyers helped lead K-State to an 80-30-1 record and the first two NCAA Regional appearances in school history over that span.
The 2009 season was a year of power for the Wildcats under Sawyers. The team hit 22 triples and 58 home runs, most in both categories since 1997. The offense shined when it came to stolen bases as the 149 steals were second-most in the nation and just two shy of breaking the Big 12 record. Overall, the team finished among Big 12 leaders in on-base percentage (2nd, .399), runs scored (2nd, 458), hits (2nd, 675), RBI (2nd, 420), doubles (3rd, 123), and fewest strikeouts (4th, 393).
Six Wildcats claimed All-Big 12 honors in 2009, including outfielder Nick Martini, who also garnered Louisville Slugger Freshman All America honors, and Justin Bloxom and Carter Jurica, who finished fourth and eighth, respectively, in the Big 12 in batting average.
The 2010 squad matched the success of 2009 by also reaching the NCAA postseason, and the offense topped the previous season totals in batting average (.323 in 2010; .317 in 2009), runs per game (7.6 vs. 7.4) and OBP (.426 vs. .399).
Before K-State, Sawyers spent four seasons as Associate Head Coach at Texas A&M (2011-14). Those four seasons at Texas A&M represented the end of Sawyers’ five-year stint with the Aggies after he spent 2008 as a volunteer assistant coach.
In each of those five seasons, Sawyers helped Texas A&M reach an NCAA Regional while also winning a pair of Big 12 championships. In addition, he coached standouts Tyler Naquin – 2011 Big 12 Player of the Year, All-American and a first round pick by the Cleveland Indians in 2012 – and Krey Bratson, a 2011 Freshman All-American.
Before his appointment at Texas A&M in 2008, Sawyers worked with current Aggie head coach Rob Childress as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska from 2003-07.
While in Lincoln, he helped the Huskers earn four trips to the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance at the 2005 College World Series. Sawyers, who lettered two years at Nebraska, worked with 12 Huskers who were selected in the MLB Draft, including Alex Collegiate Baseball.
After working as the volunteer assistant at Nebraska in 2000, Sawyers worked the 2001 and 2002 seasons as head coach at Hutchinson Community College, compiling an 87-30 record and two postseason berths. In 2001, the Dragons went 40-16 and won the Jayhawk West Sub-Regional, while the 2002 squad set a school record with 47 wins and was ranked as high as seventh by the NJCAA.
Sawyers’ coaching career began at Northwestern (La.) State in 1999 as a volunteer assistant coach, helping the Demons finish second in the Southland Conference.
He first played collegiately at Point Loma (Calif.) Nazarene College in 1994. Following a year off, he played at Mendocino (Calif.) Junior College in 1996 before finishing up his playing career at Nebraska.
A native of Willits, California, Sawyers received his bachelor (1998) and master’s (2000) degrees from Nebraska. He is married to the former Dena Lindeblad and the couple have two sons, Andrew James (A.J.) and Alex.
Trevor Ezell was elevated to Associate Head Coach for Southeast Missouri’s baseball program on Dec. 6, 2022.
In his first year as SEMO’s full-time hitting coach in 2022, Ezell led the Ohio Valley Conference Champion Redhawks to a program record 97 home runs in 2022. Four different players hit .317 or better with 10 or more home runs that year. Additionally, SEMO hitters had over 400 (405) RBI in a season for the first time since 2016.
Before taking over as hitting coach, Ezell worked as the Redhawks Director of Offensive Player Development, where he handled various administrative duties and assisted with stat compilation, analytical breakdown, video analysis and scouting.
A native of Bryant, Arkansas, Ezell returned to Cape Girardeau following a two-year stint in Minor League Baseball. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Rays during the summer of 2019 after making a trip to the College World Series at the University of Arkansas.
Ezell wrapped up his college career with the Razorbacks after spending four years at SEMO. He earned both First-Team and Second-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors. Ezell started 181 games and accumulated 251 hits, 194 runs, 128 RBI, 48 stolen bases and 45 doubles in his career. He also hit .336, boasted a .495 slugging percentage and held a .967 fielding percentage during his time as a Redhawk.
In his final college season, Ezell hit .329 with a team-high 25 doubles and 72 runs scored en route to Second-Team All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive Team accolades at Arkansas in 2019. His 72 runs also ranked fourth in the SEC and 11th in the nation. Additionally, Ezell was the Razorbacks top hitter in the 2019 NCAA Tournament hitting .459 with 17 hits, six doubles, two home runs and eight RBI in eight contests.
Matthew Kinney in his second stint as Southeast MIssouri’s pitching coach.
Kinney spent last fall at Davidson and one year at Army West Point as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
Prior to those moves, Kinney was with the Redhawks from 2016-21 working first as a volunteer assistant before taking over as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He helped SEMO win the 2021 OVC regular-season and tournament titles, and advance to the NCAA Oxford Regional hosted by Ole Miss. Two of his SEMO pitchers were drafted by Major League Baseball teams.
At Army, Kinney oversaw a pitching staff that led the Patriot League that led the Patriot League in ERA, shutouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio, hits allowed per nine innings and batting average against. The staff featured Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Connelly Early and two all-conference honorees.
Kinney earned his finance degree from Belmont and his master’s in sport management from Florida State in 2016.
As a player at Belmont, he helped the Bruins to the 2012 Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament championships and a berth in the Baton Rouge Regional. He split time as a pitcher and outfielder before pitching full-time in 2015, when he posted a 1.80 ERA and struck out 62 in 35 relief appearances.
Kinney played the 2016 season at Florida State and reached the Gainesville Super Regional with the Seminoles. That year, he was 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA in 27 relief appearances.
He also played for and coached with the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod League.
Kinney is married to the former Allyson Bradshaw, who played basketball at SEMO.
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