Warhawk baseball coach John Vodenlich knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a catcher at the Division III level. Vodenlich was UW-Whitewater’s catcher during his playing days at Whitewater (1989-91) and was the first two-time All-American is school history.
Rob Coe is just the latest outstanding catcher for the Warhawks.
An All-WIAC selection last year, Coe took “over the reigns” for Billy Johnson who was a major component in UW-Whitewater’s third place finish in the 2008 Division III World Series.
Shortly after learning that UW-Whitewater would have to play doubleheaders Friday, Saturday and Sunday I thought of two things. No. 1 was how the Warhawks would utilize their pitching staff when playing six games in three days. The other aspect of the situation that I was curious about was how catcher Rob Coe would handle the situation behind the plate.
Coe admits it is a lot of baseball for a catcher in a three day period.
“You have to make sure you take care of yourself both on and off the field,” Coe said following Saturday’s doubleheader sweep over UW-Stout. “You got to go home, get a good night’s sleep and prepare yourself mentally for the following day’s games.”
The junior from Appleton is hitting .392 while playing in 16 of the Hawks 17 games so far this season.
Another guy that knows baseball is former UWW coach Jim Miller who watches plenty of baseball these days flipping burgers and brats on his grill located adjacent to the Warhawk dugout at James B. Miller Stadium.
“He (Coe) is one of the single biggest reasons the Warhawks had the success they had last year getting to the regional final,” Miller tells the Royal Purple.
With his leadership ability (a must for a successful catcher), just pencil Coe's name into the line-up for the vast majority of games again this season.
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