Bloom Named UW-Stevens Point Head Baseball
Coach
Pat Bloom, a former pitcher and assistant
coach at UW-Stevens Point, has been named the school�s head baseball
coach.
Bloom, a 2001 graduate of UW-Stevens Point,
takes over for Brian Nelson, who accepted the head coaching position at
Rockford College. Bloom has a psychology degree from UW-Stevens Point and
recently completed a Master�s Degree in Sports Sciences at Miami
University (Ohio).
A Tomah native, Bloom played two seasons at
Carthage College before completing his final two seasons at UW-Stevens
Point. A relief pitcher, he was a member of two conference championship
teams at Carthage and one Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
title team at UW-Stevens Point. Bloom also played on Carthage�s 1997
Division III World Series team that defeated UW-Stevens Point in the second
round.
Following his playing career, Bloom spent
one season under Nelson as the Pointers� pitching coach as UW-Stevens
Point won the WIAC tournament and advanced to the Division III tournament.
He spent the past year as a graduate
assistant in the Miami athletic department, working closely with the
CHAMPS/Life Skills program and teaching two classes designed for freshman
student-athletes. Bloom was also in charge of community service and
leadership programming for Miami athletics.
�I�m very excited to be back in Point
and closer to family and friends,� Bloom said. �To come home and take
care of a program that has flourished recently is a great honor. I hope to
carry on what Brian has done and instill a few new things to take the
program to the top.�
UW-Stevens Point has one of the nation�s
winningest Division III programs over the past seven years with a 212-82-1
record (.720 winning pct.), including three WIAC titles and five NCAA
tournament appearances.
�Pat is out of the same mold as our
previous two coaches,� said UW-Stevens Point Athletic Director Frank
O�Brien, noting that both Nelson and Scott Pritchard were former Pointer
players and assistant coaches before taking the head coaching position.
�He has tremendous enthusiasm and knows the effort it takes to continue
the success we�ve had here in recent years.�
�It�s always been a dream of mine to
have my own program,� Bloom said. �I have a tremendous passion for
coaching, baseball, and working with people.�
Nelson leaves UW-Stevens Point ranked
second on the school�s all-time wins list with a 121-49-1 record in just
four seasons. He is the third UW-Stevens Point staff member to take a
Division III head coaching job in the past five months. Football assistant
Jeff Judge landed the head job at Anderson (Ind.) in February and men�s
basketball assistant Ken Koelbl was hired at UW-La Crosse in May.
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