Office Phone: (937) 327-6494
E-Mail
Career Record: 168-136-4 (1997-present)

Postal Address: Wittenberg University P.O. Box 720 Springfield, Ohio 45501

Package Shipping Address: Wittenberg University 225 Fountain Ave. Springfield, Ohio 45504

Jay Lewis was hired as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, Wittenberg University, in 1996, with his first season at the helm in 1997. Lewis, who previously served as an assistant coach for one year for the Tigers, has compiled an 168-134-4 record.

A 1994 Wittenberg graduate, Lewis excelled on the diamond for the Tigers in the early 1990s. Lewis was a three-year starting catcher for Wittenberg from 1991-1993 after spending his first season at West Virginia Wesleyan.

Prior to his time at Wittenberg, Lewis was an assistant coach at St. Paris Graham High School, where he helped lead the Falcons to a Division II State runner-up finish in 1995. In addition, he has helped coach perennial power Piqua in the American Legion League with Head Coach Rick Gold.

During his head coaching stint at Wittenberg, Lewis' teams have excelled, averaging 21 wins a season, and have finished second in the always-competitive North Coast Athletic Conference tournament twice (1997 and 1998). His teams display a very aggressive style of baseball, with strong fundamentals being their basis for success. Several players, including Brent Parke, Ryan Born and Ryan Peters, have gone on to play professional baseball after their careers at Wittenberg ended.

Tiger teams are always fighting to be the best and looking to compete in the NCAC, which has produced several NCAA Division III World Series participants in recent years. A native of St. Paris and a graduate of Graham High School, Lewis and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Lewis' hometown with their children, Megan and Josh.

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Rick Gold joined the Wittenberg baseball coaching staff in 2004 after a long and storied career in high school and youth league baseball around the Miami Valley. He is focused primarily on team defense and pitching.

Gold coached high school and American Legion baseball for 31 years. He won 191 games in 13 seasons at Miami East High School in Casstown, Ohio, and 314 in 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 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."

Gold sent many quality players on to college and professional baseball, including Bryan and Ken Magoteaux brothers, holders of most Wittenberg offensive records for a season and career.

Gold remains a mathematics teacher at Piqua High School. He and his wife, Cindy, live in Piqua.

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Bill Colopy joined the Tiger baseball coaching staff in 2004. He is charged primarily with the middle infielders, helping them with defense, positioning, techniques and other fine points of the game.

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 Hadley E. Watts Middle School in the Centerville City School District. He resides in Washington Township with his wife, Cherie, and their son, Morgan, and daughter, Allison.

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