Head Coach: Rob Fournier

Rob Fournier is entering his 16th 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 16 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 15 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 nine 40+ win seasons. The Warriors have also been able to win 5 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. Fournier has won the GRAC Coach of the Year Award four times ('00, 03, 08, 10.).

More than wins and losses, Fournier 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 14 seasons the Warriors have been able to send players to schools 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 54 players 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, 37, is a native of Ojai, California. His wife, Jennifer, is from Ft. Branch, Indiana.
The couple resides in Fort Branch, IN.

Assistant Coach: Bobby Segal

Bobby Segal, a former catcher at Indiana University, is in his 6th year coaching collegiate baseball and first season at Wabash Valley College. He works with the Warrior hitters and catchers in addition to serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Segal spent the summer of 2012 with the Terre Haute Rex of the Prospect League, as the hitting coach and catching instructor.  Ranked as high as 19th in the country by Perfect Game USA, the club went on to win the Western Division, winning the second half of the season and having the best overall record of 38-23. 

During the 2011-12 season, Segal served as the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach at Tarleton State University.  The Texans were runner-up at the Lone Star Conference tournament and won 17 of their last 22 games, finishing the season with a 30-21 clip.

Eight Texans would go on to collect All-conference regular season recognition and four were notched on the All-tournament team.  The team maintained a 3.0 GPA over the course of the school year.       

Segal was at Iowa Western Community College in 2011.  He worked with the IWCC infielders and hitters in addition to coaching first base.

Iowa Western was ranked No. 1 in the national pre-season poll and finished fourth at the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, CO.  The Reivers won 27 of their final 31 games en route to a 43-20 overall record and 15-1 conference mark.

Segal coached three individuals at Iowa Western who earned All-Northern District honors and seven individuals who notched All-Region XI accolades.  Following the season, infielder Damek Tomscha was taken by the Florida Marlins in the Major League Baseball Draft.  He would be drafted a second time by the Chicago Cubs in the 2012 draft.  Pitcher/infielder Keaton Steele was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2012 draft as well. 

The Reivers also picked up National Junior College Athletic Association Academic Team of the Year laurels (3.05 GPA), while outfielder Adam Lavelle was named an NJCAA Academic All-American.

Segal spent the summer of 2010 with the North Adams SteepleCats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.  He led the club to its first regular-season Western Division Championship and served as the Western Division manager at the NECBL’s annual All-Star Game.  The team was ranked 14th in the country by Perfect Game and finished 29-19.

Six of Segal’s players – pitchers Guido Knudson (Detroit Tigers), Sean Albury (Milwaukee Brewers), Robert Nixon (Cleveland Indians), Corey Vogt (Boston Red Sox) and Tyler DeLoach (Los Angeles Angels), and outfielder Devin Shines (Los Angeles Dodgers) – went on to sign Minor League contracts.

Segal spent the spring of 2010 at Butler University, where he focused on offensive strategy, guided the catchers and coached first base.  The Bulldogs improved their win total by eight games (13 to 21) from the previous season and team batting average by 54 points (.253 to .307).

Two Bulldogs earned All-Horizon League second-team honors, three others landed on the conference’s All-Newcomer squad, and the team GPA was a 3.12.

Segal spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons as a graduate assistant at Union College (KY).  Segal, who instructed the outfielders, catchers and hitters in addition to coaching first base, helped the Bulldogs to a 92-30 overall record and 36-9 conference mark during those two campaigns.

Union made back-to-back national tournament appearances during Segal’s time with the program, including a fifth-place finish at the 2008 NAIA World Series in Lewiston, ID.

Segal coached outfielder Josh Ehringer and infielder Joe Grinstead, who were both two-time All-America honorable mention picks at UC.  He also worked with four members of the 2009 All-Appalachian Athletic Conference first team.

The 28-year-old Indianapolis native began his coaching career after seven months as a baseball operations intern for the Cincinnati Reds.  He also occupied several game-day roles for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians during high school and college.

Segal has served as an instructor at several college baseball camps and showcases across the nation.  The list includes stops at Butler, Dayton, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, TCU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Segal, a three-year letterwinner and Academic All-Big Ten selec­tion at Indiana, earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from IU in May 2006.  He then earned a master’s degree in health and physical education from Union in May 2009.

 

Assistant Coach: Dustin Coffman


Dustin Coffman is in his 2nd year as the Warriors hitting coach. Before coming to Wabash Valley College, Coffman was the Volunteer Assistant at Indiana University where he worked with outfielders, hitters, and over saw the Hoosiers strength & conditioning program. The 2010 Indiana Hoosiers offense hit 85 homeruns and had a team batting average of .328. The Hoosier offense was led by First Team All-American Alex Dickerson who won the Triple Crown in the Big Ten with a .419 batting average, 24 homeruns, and 75 RBI.

Coach Coffman spent last summer as the hitting coach for the Edenton Steamers in the Coastal Plains Summer Collegiate League. The Steamers were runners up in the 2010 Pettit Cup and finished with an overall record of 37-26. The Steamers offense finished in the top three in seven different offensive categories including batting average, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homeruns, and the team stole 109 bases. Coffman also coached Seton Hall shortstop AJ Rusbarsky who won the 2010 Coastal Plains batting title with a .345 batting average.

Coffman graduated from Indiana University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and currently resides in Mt. Carmel, IL.

Administrative Assistant: Steve Patberg

Steve Patberg begins his 12th 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. Patberg resides in Mt. Carmel with wife Megan and sons Stone (9), Satchel (7), and daughter Selby (3).

Head Groundskeeper: Bob Cunningham

Cunningham performs a variety of duties to the Warriors field and surrounding areas. He has been instrumental in general upkeep, building new structures, and making general improvements to the bleachers, press box, dugouts, BP platform, and maintenance shed. Bob holds a Masters degree from Miami(OH) University. He worked for the Navy for 6 years, and for Honeywell in Atlanta, GA for 12 years. He is married, has 3 daughters, and resides in Mt. Carmel. The Warrior baseball complex would not be the same without Cunningham's help!