Head Baseball Coach:Rob Fournier
Head Baseball Coach: Rob Fournier is entering his 13th season as the Wabash Valley College Head Baseball Coach. A 1994 graduate of MacMurray College (B.S. Psychology and Physical Education) and a 1992 graduate of Ventura Community College (Associates of Arts), Fournier is looking forward to continued success with the Warrior team.
Under his 12 years as Head Coach at WVC, Fournier's teams have experienced a lot of success on the field and in the classroom. In his first year, he helped turn around a 12 - 34 team in 1996 to a 37 - 16 mark in 1997. Since then the standard of winning has remained intact. In the past 12 seasons the Warriors have been ranked consistently in the top 25 in the country. His teams have won 30 or more games every year with eight 40+ win seasons. The Warriors have also been able to win 4 regular season Great Rivers Athletic Conference titles, and have consistently finished among the top 3 teams in the highly competitive GRAC Division One NJCAA Conference. Rob has won the GRAC Coach of the Year Award three times ('00, 03, 08.).
More than wins and losses, Rob has stood by the importance of moving kids on to the next level. "That doesn't happen without pushing kids to do well in the classroom," Fournier says. "We push all of our players to earn an A.A. (Associate of Arts) degree so they have the opportunity to move on to the 4 year college level, and/or to professional baseball." In the past 12 seasons the Warriors have been able to send players to major Division One conferences such as the SEC, Big 12, MVC, C-USA, Sun Belt, Big 10, A-Sun, OVC and many other 4 year colleges. Sending players to the professional level has been just as successful as Fournier has had the opportunity to help 50players be drafted or signed professionally.
Other coaching experience for Fournier includes two years as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for MacMurray College in 1995 and 1996. In those two seasons MacMurray had a record of 62 - 22 with 2 regional appearances. Fournier spent two years as a shortstop for Ventura Community College (CA) in 1991 and 1992. He then became an All-Conference centerfielder for MacMurray College in 1993 and 1994.
Fournier,
36, is a native of Ojai, California. His wife, Jennifer, is from Ft. Branch,
Indiana.
The
couple resides in Mt.
Carmel, IL.
Assistant
Coach:
Andrew is currently in his 3rd season at Wabash Valley College
as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. Bartman's pitchers were
successful in leading the Warriors to 42 wins last year (including the conference
championship) and 3 pitchers were drafted in the June Major League Baseball
Amateur Draft. Pitchers from 2008 signed scholarships to the SEC, Big East,
Missouri Valley, and MEAC conferences. Bartman is confident in this year's
staff stating, "This
has the potential to be a special group. They all work hard towards a common
goal
and
embrace
the challenges we give them as a staff."
In addition to coaching duties, Bartman recently re-started the Intramural
program at WVC as the Director of Intramurals.
Andrew graduated from Lincoln Community High School in Lincoln, Illinois in
2001 where
he was
the
starting
catcher
and
captain.
He went on to play at Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois where he obtained
a AA Degree
and graduated in 2003. After graduation, he went on to MacMurray College in
Jacksonville, IL. where he finished his playing career and graduated
in December 2007 with a BS in Physical Education. Bartman began his Masters
Degree program in Physical Education this spring through the University of
Central
Missouri. He coached at Springfield College in Illinois in 2006. Bartman has
also coached with the
Lincoln, IL
Junior Legion
and Legion
teams.
"Wabash Valley is a great place to call home. The outstanding coaching staff
and talented players make every day around this program enjoyable."
Andrew, 25, is engaged to Nicole Tucker originally from Buffalo, IL and they
reside in Mt. Carmel.
Assistant
Coach:
Miles is currently in his first season as the hitting and outfield
coach for the Warriors. He directs the strength and conditioning program and
actively recruits. He is a 2001 graduate of Tates Creek High School in Lexington,
KY. He played four years at Hanover College and graduated in 2005 with a teaching
certificate in Physical Education and Health.. He was a graduate assistant
at the University of Kentucky in 2006 and 2007. He
was
a
part of
Kentucky's first ever SEC championship team and worked under John Cohen, who
was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2006.. In his two years at Kentucky 15 players
went to play professional baseball. Noland graduated from UK in 2007 with a
Masters in Kinesiology/Health Promotion. Noland is currently a part-time instructor
in the P.E. department and assists with intramurals at Wabash.
Noland has numerous summer ball experiences, including playing in the Great
Lakes League in 2004, coaching with the Petersburg Generals of the Coastal
Plain League in 2006, and coaching with the Athletes in Action Fire in 2008
in the
Alaskan
League. One of his outfielders, Brint Hardy from UAB, was named MVP of the
Alaskan League.
Noland has helped direct the University of Kentucky baseball camps, and worked
at TPX, Top Gun, and other colleges baseball camps over the years.
Noland, 26, is single and resides in Mt. Carmel.
Administrative Assistant:
Steve Patberg
Steve
Patberg begins his eleventh season with WVC baseball. Patberg was an Assistant
Coach for the Warriors for four seasons (1997-2001) and has handled academic
advising and scheduling for the Warrior players since 2000.
Prior to WVC,
he coached two seasons (97-98) with the Dubois County Dragons, a professional
independent team in the Frontier League. Patberg has also been an assistant
at Oakland
City
University for one year (97) and managed Ferdinand, Indiana's American Legion
Post for six seasons (91-96). While at Ferdinand, he coached the New York Yankees
3rd round pick
Alex Graman (their fifth best prospect by Baseball America-now playing in the
Japanese Professional Baseball League), left-handed pitcher Brian Partenheimer,
a 19th round pick of the Boston Red
Sox, and outfielder Andy Rohleder (23rd round Marlins).
Patberg also was the varsity baseball coach for Mt. Carmel High school from
2002-05. He guided the Aces to their first regional title in 18 years in 2004.
He ended his four year stint with a 62-53 record and the final 3 seasons with
a winning record.
Patberg, is a Huntingburg, Indiana native and graduate of Southridge High School,
where he earned 14 varsity letters in baseball, football, basketball and track.
He played under Coaches Bob Snyder and Scott Rendel at WVC. Steve resides in
Mt. Carmel with wife Megan
and sons Stone (9), Satchel (7), and daughter Selby (3).