Albany, NY — Russell Sage College's head baseball coach Nick Pontari (Troy, NY/Troy) announced his staff for the Gators as they continue recruiting and preparing for the team's first year of varsity play in 2020-2021. Joining the program at Russell Sage College are Karl Steffen, Shawn Gibson, Lenny Kies, and Wayne Baker.
Russell Sage College, an NCAA Division III institution, competes as a member of the Empire 8 conference and will commence varsity baseball play during the 2021-2022 academic year. The Gator baseball team will open their first varsity campaign in the spring of 2022.
"It is with great excitement that we finally make the announcement of the rest of our coaching staff for our baseball program here at Russell Sage College," noted head coach Nick Pontari. He added, "Each member of the staff brings a proven record of high character, while demonstrating the ability to teach and educate young men. The goal when choosing these men to get our program off of the ground in our inaugural stage was finding people who could enhance the student-athlete experience here at Russell Sage by demonstrating the ability to be strong role-models both on and off of the field, and who align with our core values, which are to prep these young men to make a positive contribution to society over the duration of their lifetime, take the education they get here and help translate that to the professional workforce through internship and real-world experience, and provide a competitive environment for our student-athletes day in and day out by bringing a certain level of passion, and teaching with a blend of constructive criticism and positive feedback to ensure growth both on and off of the field."
Pontari added, "The ability to bring on a man like Coach Steff, who has experience starting the program at RPI, and has demonstrated decades of success, is invaluable, and everyone in our program benefits immediately the day he steps on campus." He continued, "His versatility to work with any position on the field, specifically with pitching staffs will help ensure that our guys are ready to pitch on day one, day in and day out. With over 1,000 games coached as a Head Coach, Coach Steffan sits in the Top 20 at the Division III level in wins, and will bring that winning culture here to Russell Sage."
"Coach Gibson brings an impressive resume as well," noted Pontari. As a standout player at Schenectady Country Community College, he helped lead his team to a Top 15 national ranking at the junior college level. "He brings an "old school" mentality and toughness to our program, and specifically our infielders. With a teaching degree from Brockport, Coach Gibson is a teacher at heart, with high IQ of the game, but the most impressive part is his ability to relate to his student-athletes, and make sure his students or athletes learn what he is teaching," noted Pontari.
"Coach Kies will be adding years of experience to our staff," commented Pontari. Kies has spent his whole life in athletics, most recently as the Director of Athletics in the Bethlehem School District. "His day in and day out interaction with both students and student-athletes over the past decades will bring a level of knowledge and relate-ability to our young men that is rare. His plating experience as an outfielder at both St. John's University and Oneonta State will help build a foundation for our young outfielders here at Russell Sage. In addition to his playing experience, his connections in not only Section 2, but downstate and in NYC will help our recruiting efforts tremendously in our early years."
"Wayne Baker will join our staff and have the primary responsibility of working with catchers," added Pontari. "Having the opportunity to play against Baker in college, when he was at Oneonta State was an honor," remarked Pontari. "He always demonstrated high character, and extreme level of competitiveness, and a determination to make his teammates around him better. His knowledge behind the dish will help our catchers succeed early in their career. Baker's most recent stop in athletics has been him working with Prep Baseball Report, one of the top recruiting organizations nationally. With these career experiences, he will help find future Gators for our program in the upcoming years."
Karl Steffen
Karl Steffen joins the coaching staff at Russell Sage College for the program's inaugural campaign in 2021-2022. Steffen is no stranger to baseball in the Capital District having enjoyed a distinguished 34-year career as the head baseball coach at nearby RPI. During that time, Steffen led the Rensselaer baseball program that included 30 winning seasons, 852 victories, 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 Regional Championship games and two trips to the NCAA Division III Championship.
Hired by RPI in 1985, he posted an 852-470-3 (.644) record over 1,325 games with his teams winning at least 20 games in 28 seasons and earning 30 victories seven times, including a school-record 37 wins in 2009. The Engineers established new school single-season records for wins nine times under Steffen, who guided the team to 13 Liberty League regular-season titles since the conference was established 23 years ago.
Steffen's teams rewrote the school's record book, including all of the team's batting records and the majority of fielding and pitching standards. In addition, players coached by Steffen hold nearly all of the school's individual marks while six were individual champions in NCAA statistical categories. He mentored more than 20 National All-Americas, nearly 100 NCAA All-Region Team selections, almost 150 All-League honorees and a dozen who were CoSIDA National Academic All-Americas. A dozen players who went on to play professionally, including four who were drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Nine of his former student-athletes have been inducted into the Rensselaer Athletics Hall of Fame.
Steffen was induction into the RPI Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019. He had 30 winning seasons in 34 years as head coach of the Engineers, while during that same time frame also won at least 20 games in 28 of 29 seasons beginning in 1987. He also coached his squads to 10 NCAA Regional Championship games, while also making two appearances in the College World Series. His 2009 team established the school record with 37 victories. His first NCAA Tournament appearance came in 1990, the first in school history and he backed that season up with a 23-13-1 record and earned an ECAC Tournament berth in 1991.
Steffen also guided the team to 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament bids spanning from 1992 to 2004. His team also eight consecutive conference championships, while the team also led the nation garnering back-to-back NCAA earned run average statistical championships, marking the only time in NCAA history at any level a team has earned the honor. Under his guidance, has mentored more than 20 National All-Americas, nearly 100 NCAA All-Region Team selections, almost 150 All-League honorees, 12 CoSIDA National Academic All-Americas, 12 professional players, four Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft selections and nine Rensselaer Athletics Hall of Fame inductees. A four-time Liberty League Coach of the Year honoree, he also earned two Regional Coach of the Year citations. During his outstanding career at RPI, he was recognized five times with the Marvin T. Anderson Award, given to the coach who most exemplifies the spirit of RPI Athletics. He is also a member of the Albany Twilight Baseball League Hall of Fame.
A 1978 graduate of Ithaca College, Steffen was a three-time All-Conference selection and was twice named All-District. After college the Troy, NY, native continued his career in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League, where he compiled a 7-0 record in 1977 en route to winning Most Valuable Player honors.
The New York Yankees selected Steffen in the 19th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft. He played Class A ball for the Oneonta Yankees for one year before being promoted to Class AA the following campaign.
Shawn Gibson
Shawn Gibson joins the Gator coaching staff as the program's first graduate assistant coach. A 2016 graduate of Brockport State, Gibson is a 2011 graduate of Columbia High School. Scholastically, Gibson competed for one of the top high school baseball programs in the state before attending Schenectady Community College. At SCCC, he established himself as the everyday first baseman for the Royals, helping lead them to a top-15 national ranking his sophomore year. He earned his bachelor of science degree in physical education from Brockport State.
Gibson is currently a physical education teacher in the East Greenbush Central School District. Formerly, he worked as a teaching assistant in the Cohoes Central School district. A second generation teacher and coach, Gibson has helped reshape and rebuilt what Cohoes athletics have looked like over the past three years by involving himself in numerous different sports in the district.
His relatability and honesty in addition to the knowledge of the game and passion will help the Gators for their inaugural season in 2021-2022. He will serve the program as the graduate assistant coach and his primary responsibilities will be working with the Gator infielders and hitters.
Lenny Kies
Len Kies joins the staff as an assistant coach whose primary responsibilities will be working with the outfielders, hitters and assisting with recruiting.
Kies is currently the Director of Athletics for the Bethlehem Central School District and has been an athletic administrator for the past 16 years. He brings a wealth of experience to the Gators as he has held assistant coaching positions at Division III SUNY-Old Westbury and Division I Manhattan College in addition to serving as a member of the Athletic Director's Advisory Council at Stony Brook University.
In the summer, Kies has also worked as a member of the coaching staff for the Sag Harbor Whalers of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League as well as for the LI Shamrocks of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.
As a player, Kies played for St. John's University before finishing his career at Oneonta State, where he earned a B.S. in business economics. He also holds master's degrees in both elementary education and school district administration from Long Island University.
Wayne Baker
Wayne Baker arrives at Russell Sage College this year and will serve as a volunteer assistant coach with the Gator baseball program. A 2017 graduate of Oneonta State, the Port Washington, NY native, appeared in 62 games with the Red Dragons. A starter in 40 games at catcher, Baker had a .972 field percentage behind the dish and following his graduation from Oneonta State, he served as an assistant coach with his alma mater for the 2017-2018 campaign.
Since departing Oneonta State, Baker has returned home to work for Prep Baseball Report, one of the top recruiting organizations in New York State. While at Russell Sage, Baker will continue his studies pursuing a graduate degree in physical therapy.
