Coach John Szefc 2003-2008

[CajunProud]

_ we'll do it again today at 2:15-ish.. szefc answers all questions on the sportsnote _

As a fan, I have seen no improvement from the beginning of the season until now. What is being done at practice to get the team out of this hitting funk? Are we now looking to juco players to give us added experience and power at the plate for next year since we will be losing all of our veteran hitters from this year, i.e. Hawkins, Gisclair, Hatfield etc...?

[NewsCopy]

 
John Szefc enters his sixth season as head assistant coach for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns. In that capacity, he is responsible for overseeing the Cajuns recruiting efforts, instructing hitters and infielders and coaching third base. Szefc also handles scheduling for the program. Since arriving in Lafayette, his work with the offense has produced steady results.

After finishing with a .267 team batting average in 2002, the Cajuns jumped to .277 in Szefc’s first season (2003) and followed that with a dramatic 32-point jump in leading the Sun Belt in 2004 with a .309 team mark. During the 2004 season, the Cajuns also led the conference in doubles (130) and triples (19) and were second in home runs (78) and stolen bases (79).

During the Cajuns’ Sun Belt Championship season in 2005, the offense dominated most of the conference and showed up nationally in major statistical categories. Louisiana finished eighth in the nation in hitting (.327), 10th in runs scored (551), 17th in slugging percentage (.495) and 23rd in doubles (155). In the conference, the Cajuns led the Sun Belt in hitting, runs scored, hits, doubles, and triples. Freshman catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit .379 and was named to the 2005 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team.

Louisiana had three hitters drafted in 2005: third baseman Dallas Morris (24th round, Anaheim Angels); first baseman Phillip Hawke (29th round, Texas Rangers); and catcher Justin Morgan (39th round, Chicago Cubs).

The Cajuns recruiting efforts have also been productive with the 2007 signing class being top-ranked in the Lower Midwest Region as well as the Sun Belt by Baseball America. The 2007 SBC championship season was also impressive for the Cajuns as they finished at .310 as a team with three hitters going to the pro ranks (Jonathan Lucroy, Jefferies Tatford, Devery Van De Keere). The 2004-05 class was ranked 55th in the nation by Collegiate Baseball and tops in the Sun Belt Conference.


Prior to Louisiana
Before arriving in Lafayette, Szefc was the head coach at Marist College for seven seasons.Szefc posted a 212-137-1 record as the skipper for the Red Foxes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including a school-record 41 wins in 2002. His team also won the 2002 MAAC regular season crown that season. In just his second season, Szefc led Marist to its first baseball title in 1997 as a member of the Northeast Conference. His team went 32-19, winning both the regular season and tournament titles. For his efforts, Szefc was named NEC Coach of the Year.

In 2001, he was named ABCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year, after leading the Red Foxes to their second-straight NCAA appearance and a 33-21-1 record. That season, Marist was ranked 15th in the nation in batting average (.329). Also, Anthony Bocchino’s .430 batting average was good enough for 12th in the nation.

In 2002, Szefc’s team hit a collective .313, with Bocchino leading the club again and ranking fifth in the nation, with a .444 batting average.

In 1998, following their title run from the previous season, Szefc led the Red Foxes to the tournament final, before losing to LeMoyne in its first year as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. After missing the 1999 MAAC Tournament, Marist returned with a vengeneance in the 21st century. The Red Foxes posted a 33-win campaign and swept through the MAAC Tournament earning an automatic bid to its second NCAA Tournament appearance. Before his arrival at Marist, Szefc spent one season with Sacred Heart University and four years as an assistant coach with his alma mater, Drexel, from 1990-94.


Pro Connection
He also managed the New York Generals in the Atlantic College Baseball League (ACBL) during the summers of 1995 and 1996, guiding the club to a 47-28 record in two seasons, two consecutive Kaiser Division championships and the ACBL championship game in 1996. During those two seasons, Szefc’s Generals produced eleven professional players, including Matt Morris, the 1997 National League Rookie of the Year runner-up. Szefc has seen nine of his players drafted, including five in the last two years. Two players have gone as high as the 10th and 11th rounds of the Major League Baseball draft. Szefc recently had his second player on a major league roster when left-handed pitcher Tim Bittner (Marist, 2001) was added to the 40-man roster of the Anahiem Angels in 2003.


Off the Field
Szefc graduated from Drexel University in 1989. He played his first two years of college baseball at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., before transferring in 1987. During his senior campaign with the Dragons, he was tabbed an All-East Coast Conference outfielder.

Szefc also holds a master’s degree in Sports Administration from Temple University. He and his wife Barbara reside in Lafayette with their daughter, Anna (2), and son, John Michael (1).

RaginCajuns.com

[Turner]

I guess the email rumor was true. Have a great career coach.

[CajunCherokee]

_ I guess the email rumor was true. Have a great career coach. _

What does that mean? I wasn't able to listen. Is he staying at UL or going to KU?

[lancecajun21]

According to Bird's Eye View, He is Leaving UL and going to KU.

[Cajunsmike]

_ According to Bird's Eye View, He is Leaving UL and going to KU. _

Is he going to be the head coach at Kansas or an assistant?

[Hammer58]

Good luck, Coach. Thanks for your contributions to UL baseball.

[HelmutVII]

_ Is he going to be the head coach at Kansas or an assistant? _

Assistant according to Jay.

[Zeebart21]

_ Good luck, Coach. Thanks for your contributions to UL baseball. _

Absolutely! Thanks Coach for being Cajun!

Z

[Parrott]

Szefc said he will serve as the head assistant coach - the same position he held here. Only difference is he'll work with the infielders, not the outfielders.

[NewsCopy]

  John Szefc decided the opportunity the University of Kansas offered was too good to pass up.

After six seasons as UL's head assistant baseball coach, Szefc recently accepted the same position with the Jayhawks. Szefc will oversee the program's recruiting efforts, instruct hitters and outfielders and serve as the third-base coach.

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • August 19, 2008

[CajunKahouna]

This is a tough loss for UL baseball, but well deserved recognition for coach Szefc.

Best wishes to him and his family.