Earlham Baseball Camps

Head Coach Steve Sakosits

Steve Sakosits has rewritten the record books in his 11 seasons as Earlham’s head baseball coach, as he heads into a 2021-22 year that will mark his 12th campaign at the helm of the Quakers.

Sakosits is the program’s all-time winningest coach having amassed 192 victories in 10 seasons at the helm. He has coached 52 All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) performers.

Under Sakosits’ tutelage, Earlham baseball recorded its fifth-straight 20-win season in 2018 with a 23-14 overall record. The Quakers opened with a 12-game winning streak and received votes in the D3baseball.com poll.

Earlham made history during the 2017 season, winning the program’s first HCAC regular season title while becoming just the second program in the last seven years to win 20 conference games (21-6). The Quakers, who tallied a program-best 30 victories, won the HCAC Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time. At the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional hosted by Washington & Jefferson College, Sakosits led the Quakers to their first NCAA Division III Tournament win, defeating the College of Wooster 6-2. The victory was the College’s first NCAA Division III Tournament win in any sport. In addition, Earlham broke eight career records and six single season records while leading all of NCAA Division III in stolen bases (155) during the 2017 campaign.

Sakosits was named HCAC Coach of the Year in 2017 while leading Nate Lynch and Howie Smith to HCAC Most Valuable Player and Most Outstanding Pitcher honors respectively. Lynch, Smith, and Eric Elkus earned postseason honores from both D3Baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches’ Association.

The Quakers finished the 2016 season with a 29-14 record after falling in the HCAC Tournament championship round. Sakosits, also the pitching coach for the Quakers, mentored Walter Talcott to HCAC Freshman of the Year and D3baseball.com Mideast Region Rookie of the Year honors.

Earlham broke eight single season records during the 2016 season. In addition, the Quakers led the HCAC in home runs, walks, stolen bases, slugging percentage, walks allowed, and earned run average.

The Quakers tallied 26 wins in 2015, and qualified for the HCAC Tournament for the first time in school history after finishing fourth in the regular season with a 15-11 mark. Earlham led the league in triples, doubles, walks, and strikeouts per nine innings.

Earlham posted a 21-18 record in 2014, which was the third most victories in school history at the time. It was also the first winning season for the Quakers since 1971. Earlham posted nine more wins than the Quakers had in 2013. Earlham also set several school records as a team in 2014. They led the HCAC and were in the top 50 in the nation in the following pitching statistics: least hits allowed (35th) runs, WHIP, hits/nine innings (35th), earned runs, ERA (48th) and opponents’ batting average.

The Quakers ended the 2013 season with a five-game winning streak, while establishing new school team records in at-bats, hits, doubles, triples and homers.

Sakosits served as an assistant coach for the Quakers from 2008-10. Before coming to Earlham, Sakosits served as an assistant coach at fellow HCAC member Defiance College. At Defiance, he served as interim head coach while coaching 10 All-HCAC performances.

A four-year letterwinner for Xavier, Sakosits ended his career ranked fourth all-time among Musketeer pitchers in appearances and saves.

Sakosits earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Xavier and a master’s degree from Defiance. He and his wife, Ashley, and their daughter Adriana, born November 2018, reside in Richmond.