Grinder

OTTAWA, Kan. — Gabe Grinder has just landed at his sixth stop in the world of collegiate baseball coaching.

It may be his last for a while.

Grinder, 29, a 2007 Seneca Valley graduate and member of the Raiders' state championship baseball team, was recently named head baseball coach at Ottawa University, an NAIA school in Kansas.

“This is what my goal has always been, to become a college head coach,” Grinder said. “You don't see many guys my age get an opportunity like this.”

He's certainly earned it.

Since graduating from Southeastern University in Florida in 2011 — where he was a stellar relief pitcher — Grinder has served as pitching coach at Johnson University in Florida, Southeastern, Morningside College, West Virginia Wesleyan and most recently, Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Oklahoma Wesleyan plays in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, the same league as Ottawa.

“When their coach retired to spend more time with family, our coach asked me if that was a position I'd be interested in,” Grinder said. “He knew I had aspirations of being a head coach.

“He put in a good word for me and it all worked out.”

Arabie Conner, athletic director at Ottawa, said in a prepared statement that the search committee “worked diligently through a very deep and highly qualified pool of baseball applicants.

“Coach Grinder's preparedness, philosophy, commitment to excellence, past coaching and recruiting success was evident and impressive to all,” Conner added.

Grinder also served as recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma Wesleyan, West Virginia Wesleyan and Morningside He helped Oklahoma Wesleyan reach the NAIA World Series last season.

The OKWU pitching staff won 145 games in three seasons under Grinder's guidance.

“Reaching the World Series was definitely one of the biggest highlights of my career,” Grinder said.

Now he's taking over an Ottawa program that last had a winning season in 2010. The Braves were 28-18 that season.

Ottawa was 17-28 this season and has won fewer than 20 games five times in the last eight years.

“The cupboard isn't bare there,” Grinder said. “I'm not walking into a program that hasn't won a game in a year orc anything like that.

“The goal is to recruit tough, mean players, not necessarily the most talented ones. If we can get the tough players I want, we will win our share of games and do so rather quickly.”

Grinder has no aspirations of leaving the NAIA level.

“You run across a lot of Christ-centered universities at this level and I like that,” he said. “The pressure to win doesn't come from the school, but as a competitive coach, I'll put plenty of pressure like that on myself.

“At this level, the experrience of building character is foremost. Character development is huge here. You have a chance to positively influence kids' lives and I love that.”

Since 2013, Grinder has coached seven players who have been drafted by Major League Baseball. Four others signed free agent contracts with MLB or independent league professional teams.