warrenm@bartonccc.edu

Mike Warren enters his 24th year as head baseball coach at Barton County Community College. Through 23 seasons at Barton, Warren has accumulated an overall record of 696 wins to just 454 losses. His teams have won five Jayhawk Conference Western Division championships and two Western Sub-Regional championships. Warren has also surpassed his 700th win standing at 793-564 all-time as a skipper.

Over the past few summers, Warren has seen three of his former pitchers find their way into Major League Baseball as Nate Field (breaking in with the Kansas City Royals and now with the Colorado Rockies), David Sanders (Chicago White Sox), and Jason Stanford (Cleveland Indians) were all called up. On the heels of that came 3 Cougars selected in the 1st 8 rounds of the 2006 MLB Draft. Chad Lee (P, 4th round, Oakland A's), Jeff Christy (C, 6th, Minnesota Twins), and Nate Hedrick (P, 8th, New York Mets) were selected. Lee and Hedrick played with Barton last season. Another former player, pitcher Ryan Phillips, is currently in the Boston Red Sox organization.

Last season his Cougars finished 2nd in the tough Jayhawk West, going 20-12 in confernce play. During the 2002 season, Barton County set a school record for wins, going 44-14 for the season, beating the previous school record for wins of 38 set in 1996. Warren was tabbed as Coach of the Year in the conference for the third time in his 18 seasons with the Cougars that sesaon.

Barton won the Western Sub-Regional championship in 1996, compiling a 38-16 record. Afterward, Warren was named Western Conference Coach of the Year.

The team also won the Sub-Regional title in 1987. Under Warren’s direction, the Cougars have racked up 20 or more wins each of his 22 seasons, and the average number of victories for a Barton County team through that time span is 31 wins a season.

In 1993, Warren served as the NJCAA All-Star pitching coach in Mexico, helping to guide the USA All-Stars to third place in the Tournament of Americans. At the time, it was USA’s best finish ever in the international tourney. The NJCAA All-Stars were victorious over El Salvador, Antiles, Argentina, Equidor and the Dominican Republic. USA gave 1992 Olympic-champion Cuba all it could handle before losing 5-3, and lost an 8-6 contest against second-place Mexico.

Active among Region VI coaches, Warren was the first president of the Jayhawk Conference Baseball Coaches Association 14 years ago. He initiated the development of the Region VI East/West All-Star Game, which takes place each fall. The All-Star Game is a weekend event which provides national exposure for sophomores who compete in the presence of university and professional scouts.

A 1977 graduate of Emporia State University with a degree in business administration, Warren was a four-year letterman for the Hornets and helped lead his team to third place in the NAIA World Series in 1976. In his senior season, Emporia finished the season ranked second in the nation. Warren was awarded All-America Second Team, All-America Honorable Mention, and All-Area III honors through his final two seasons. He was also an All-District 10 player for three years.

The Warren Record