Baseball Adds Fresh Faces to Coaching Lineup
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA
Iowa Western Baseball Head Coach Marc Rardin has added a pair of new names to his coaching roster for the upcoming season. The Reivers have welcomed Dillon Napoleon and Jake Ratz to the staff for the 19-20 campaign.
Napoleon spent the past two seasons at Northwestern University, serving as the Wildcats video coordinator, camp coordinator, and assistant coach. Helping to assist three Northwestern student-athletes get drafted in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. They included Nick Paciorek (Yankees, 7th Rd.), Alex Erro (Red Sox, 17th Rd.), Jack Dunn (Nationals, 20th Rd.).
Before working in Evanston, Napoleon spent five seasons in Mount Berry, Georgia, at Berry College, serving as the program's pitching and strength and conditioning coach, and video coordinator. One of his former pitcher's was also selected in the 2019 MLB Draft, Dylan Beasley (Nationals, 32nd Rd.).
As a student-athlete, Napoleon was a standout pitcher at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Earning 2nd team All-Conference USA honors in 2011 and becoming the first player in UAB history to be named Conference USA's Newcomer of the Year. As a senior at UAB, Napoleon put together a 5-4 mark on the mound and earned victories over three nationally-ranked teams, including No. 5 Rice, No. 14 Central Florida and No. 16 Clemson.
Napoleon transferred to the Blazers after an All-American career at Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois. In addition to earning NJCAA All-America honors at Heartland, he was named the Midwest Athletic Conference's Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore, earning a career record at HCC of 19-1.
Coach Napoleon has his master's degree in Sports Leadership from Concordia-Chicago ('18), his bachelor's degree in Communication Management from the University of Alabama-Birmingham ('12) and his associate's degree from Heartland Community College ('10).
Dillon and his wife, Bethany, reside in Omaha, with their daughters, Evelyn and Cora.
Coach Jake Ratz enters his 1st season with the Reivers and 5th overall in coaching. His duties for Coach Rardin will include working with hitters and outfielders while assisting with recruiting. Additionally, Ratz will be the Reivers new 1st base coach and will coordinate travel plans, assist with camps, the Reivers 'Gray Squad' JV program and strength training program.
Prior to Iowa Western, Ratz coached at ICCAC opponent Southwestern Community College in Creston, Iowa and Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Along with being familiar with the ICCAC, Coach Ratz is also familiar with the summer circuit where he has spent two summers coaching with the Lakeshore Chinooks in the prestigious Northwoods League, one summer in the Prospect League with the Lafayette Aviators and one summer in the MINK League with the Joplin Outlaws as their Field Manager.
A native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jake graduated from Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids ('10) before playing in Iowa Falls for Ellsworth CC. After earning his associates degree with ECC, Ratz transferred to South Dakota State where he was a part of the 2013 Coyotes squad that won the Summit League Conference tournament and competed in the NCAA Baseball regionals in Eugene, Oregon. Ratz earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in Sports Management from South Dakota State University and currently resides on campus in Council Bluffs.