2011 Coaching Staff

Head Coach
Matt Palm Head Coach Director of Athletics (419) 448-2009 mpalm@heidelberg.edu
Assistant Coaches
Chad Fitzgerald Assistant Coach (419) 448-2967 cfitzger@heidelberg.edu	Shaun Pfeil Assistant Coach (419) 448-2188 spfeil@heidelberg.edu	Keith Theis Assistant Coach

Matt Palm

Head Coach
Director of Athletics
(419) 448-2009
mpalm@heidelberg.edu

 
Heidelberg University has been a mainstay among the leaders of the Ohio Athletic Conference and the nationally ranked since Matt Palm took over the program in 2000. Success comes from hard work and dedication, all of which Palm has instilled into the program over the course of his tenure.
 
The spring of 2011 will mark Palm’s 12th season guiding the Berg and expectations will continue to be at an all-time high.
 
Heidelberg is coming off a record-setting 42-8 season, in which it claimed its fifth overall, fourth straight, OAC Regular Season crown and its fourth overall, third consecutive, OAC Tournament title. Heidelberg closed out the year winnings its first ever Mideast Regional Championship to earn its first trip to the NCAA Division III World Series.
 
The record breaking season was highlighted by eight All-Americans, eight ABCA Mideast Region honorees and eight All-OAC picks. Picking up Mideast Region and OAC player and pitcher of the year honors was Ricardo Lizcano and Andy Lowe. Palm was also tabbed the OAC Coach of the Year for the fifth time of his career and was named the Mideast Region Coach of the Year.
 
Its accomplishments were even more impressive in the classroom, as Nathan James won the inaugural NCAA Elite 88 Award, which honored the student-athlete with the highest grade point average of all the teams competing in the World Series. Heidelberg also had six Academic All-OAC selections and five academic all-district honorees.
 
Under Palm’s guidance, the Berg has posted a 20-win season every year since 2000, including six 30-win campaigns and two 40-win outings. Heidelberg has made 11 appearances in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with 10 coming with Palm’s direction, including seven consecutive.
 
In 11 seasons, Palm boasts an overall record of 345-146-2 for a .702 winning percentage. Prior to Palm’s arrival the program owned just a .387 winning percentage. He became the college's career win leader in 2002 and reached the 100-win mark midway through the 2003 season. In 2007, Palm reached the 200-win plateau during Heidelberg’s annual trip south to open the season and he eclipsed 250 wins in 2008. He continued to add to his career win total in 2009, topping 300 during the OAC Tournament.
 
Palm has brought a tradition of championship caliber teams to Heidelberg since day one which includes the following highlights:

• Five OAC Regular Season Titles (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Four OAC Tournament Titles (2004, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• Four NCAA Regional Appearances (2004, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• One Mideast Regional Championship (2010)
• One World Series Appearance (2010)
• 15 All-Americans
• One Mideast Region Player of the Year (2010)
• One Mideast Region Pitcher of the Year (2010)
• One Mideast Region Coach of the Year (2010)
• 36 All-Mideast Region honorees (14 First Teamers)
• Four OAC Players of the Year (2000, 2003, 2006, 2010)
• Three OAC Pitchers of the Year (2002, 2009, 2010)
• Five-Time OAC Coach of the Year (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010)
• 89 All-OAC honorees (41 First Teamers)
• One Academic All-American (2000)
• One NCAA Elite 88 Award winner (2010)
• 14 CoSIDA Academic All-District IV (Five First Teamers)
• 29 Academic All-OAC honorees (22 First Teamers)

 
He joined Heidelberg after spending one year as an assistant baseball coach at Indiana University in Bloomington. Palm earned his master's degree from Georgia State University in Atlanta. During that time, Palm was an assistant coach with Emory University. The Eagles advanced into the NCAA Regional’s every season he was with the program.
 
During his undergraduate career at The College of Wooster, Palm was a catcher. Throughout his four seasons with the Scots, Wooster posted a 112-55 mark. He had a career batting average of .332 with eight homeruns, 101 RBI and 29 doubles. In his senior year of 1995, he hit .352 with 40 RBI.
 
Aside from his coaching duties, Palm was named director of athletics at Heidelberg on June 1, 2008 after serving as the associate director of athletics during the 2007-08 academic year. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the athletic department, with a strong emphasis on the overall experience that a student-athlete receives while at the Berg. Palm oversees the “H” Association, which raises funds for all student-athletes, as well as continually generates enthusiasm for all athletic teams through the Berg Pride program.
 
Palm is a native of Orrville, Ohio and is a graduate of Smithville High School. He resides in Tiffin with his wife, Michelle, three sons, Samuel, Nicholas and Charlie, and their daughter, Cecilia.
 
Palm Year-By-Year

Chad Fitzgerald

 
Returning for his fourth season with the Heidelberg coaching staff is assistant coach Chad Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald assists will all facets of the program, working closing with the Berg pitching staff.
 
Fitzgerald has guided one of the top pitching staffs in the Ohio Athletic Conference and the nation during his stint at the Berg. In just three years, Fitzgerald had led three All-Americans, the 2010 Mideast Region Pitcher of Year and the 2009 and 2010 OAC Pitcher of the Year. Along the way five hurlers have picked up Mideast Region honors and eight have been All-OAC selections.
 
In the classroom, Heidelberg’s pitching contingent has excelled, as Nathan James earned the inaugural Elite 88 Award in 2010, to highlight four Academic All-OAC honorees and one all-district pick under Fitzgerald’s mentoring.
 
Fitzgerald has assisted with the continued success of the program over the course of the last three years which has seen Heidelberg set the top-two single season records for wins, highlighted by 42 wins in 2010. The Berg has won both the OAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in each of his three years, while earning the number one seed in the NCAA Championships Mideast Regional every year as well. The Berg claimed its first regional championship and made its first trip to the NCAA Division III World Series in 2010.
 
Members of his staff sit atop the single season record book in four categories and are the leaders in three career record book columns. Since 2008, Heidelberg has set four team single season pitching marks.
 
Fitzgerald was a pitcher and two-time Academic All-American at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. Seton Hill racked up 124 victories over the course of his four-year career, including a 45-20 season in 2006. In 2006, Seton Hill also claimed the American Mideast Conference Championship and went on to win the NAIA Region IX and the East Coast Super Regional’s, earning a bid to the NAIA World Series. Fitzgerald posted a 4-1 record on the mound in 10 appearances, with a 3.69 earned run average during the Griffins’ championship season in 2006.
 
Fitzgerald is a native of Hermitage, Pa. and a 2003 graduate of Hickory High School and a 2007 graduate of Seton Hill with a degree in marketing and human resource management. He received his master of business administration from Heidelberg in 2009.

Shaun Pfeil

Joining the Heidelberg coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2010 is Shaun Pfeil. Pfeil will assist with all facets of the program, with an emphasis on the Berg hitters and infielders.
 
Pfeil joins the staff after spending three seasons at his alma mater, Washington & Jefferson in Washington, Pa.  While with the Presidents he worked with the infielders, hitters and catchers and helped guide the team to the President’s Athletic Conference championship in 2009 and 2010. W&J also made an appearance in the 2009 and 2010 NCAA Regionals.
 
Pfeil played four years at third base for W&J and graduated with his named scattered all over the record books. He owns the career records for games played (175) and at bats (591), as well as the single season record for games started (175). Pfeil was a three-time All-PAC and Mideast Region honoree, as well as an All-American and the PAC Player of the Year in his senior campaign. He helped lead the President’s to the PAC Championship in 2004, 2006 and 2007, along with an appearance in the ECAC Championships on three occasions, winning the title in his final two seasons.
 
A native of Sandusky, Ohio, Pfeil graduated from Perkins High School in 2003. He completed his undergraduate studies at W&J in 2007, earning a degree in business administration. Pfeil is currently pursuing his MBA at Heidelberg.

 
Joining the Heidelberg coaching staff for his first season in 2010 is Keith Theis. Theis is a native of nearby New Riegel, Ohio and is set to embark on his inaugural campaign in collegiate coaching.
 
Theis brings valuable coaching experience from the high school ranks after serving as an assistant varsity baseball coach for New Riegel High School for the past three seasons. He was responsible for working with the pitchers, catchers and hitters.
 
During the summer, Theis has volunteered his time to assist with the Titans traveling baseball team based out of Seneca County.
 
A 1992 graduate of New Reigel, Theis is employed by Westfield Insurance as an Auto Physical Damage Leader. His wife, Jennifer, along with their sons, Alex and Drew, and daughter, Allison, reside in New Reigel, Ohio.