Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

2017 ABCA National Coaches of the Year

July 6, 2017 – North Central College head baseball coach Ed Mathey was recently named 2017 Central Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), adding to his 2016 recognition by D3baseball.com.

Mathey has earned Central Region Coach of the Year honors in each of the last two seasons, guiding the Cardinals to consecutive NCAA Division III Regional appearances, while advancing to the semi-finals of the College World Series this past season, the highest finish in school history.

In his three years back at the helm at North Central, Mathey has led the program to three straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) regular season championships, while capturing the 2017 CCIW Tournament title.  The Cardinals have recorded back-to-back 30-win seasons for the second time in program history, finishing with 31 wins each of the last two seasons.

Mathey ranks second in program history with 293 career victories over his 12-year span at North Central, needing just 11 wins to tie legendary head coach Tom Purcell.  Over his 24 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Mathey has accumulated 587 wins and remains the all-time wins leader at NCAA Division I Northern Illinois University.

Two players have earned Central Region Player of the Year honors in the last three seasons under Mathey, as third baseman Michael Mateja was named Central Region Player of the Year in 2017, joining Bryan Polowy '16 who earned Central Region Pitcher of the Year in 2015.