Joe Hudak Head Baseball Coach

    Ten years of persistent, dedicated hard work has paid big dividends for Winthrop head coach Joe Hudak. He has achieved two of the goals he set for the Eagles when he first took the job--build the program into a Big South Conference contender and earn an NCAA tournament berth. Winthrop captured its first Big South Conference championship in 1995 and finished third in the NCAA East Regional at Clemson, SC. The Eagles just missed a return trip to the NCAAs in 1996 and then earned their way back in 1999 with another Big South title and a trip to the Auburn Regional.

    You don't need to be around Joe Hudak for long to know he loves the game of baseball. He takes it seriously, especially when it comes to Winthrop baseball.

    It is often said that the little things make the difference between winning and losing. Hudak-coached teams learn how to do the little things. His players are taught the fundamentals and are drilled in the basics that make the difference between success and failure. There are few coaches who will work harder at coaching than Winthrop's head man and probably none that want a championship program any more than Hudak.

    After blending a group of leftovers and newcomers into a .500 club his first year and being named the Big South Conference Co-Coach of the Year for 1992, Hudak has built a stronger team each season. The 50-year-old Pennsylvania native is goal driven so it is only natural for him to set his goals each year of winning the Big South Conference and earning the automtic bid to a NCAA Regional. His 1995 team reached that goal and the 1996 team came up just short missing out on an at-large invitation. Both the 1997 and 1998 teams had the talent and were preseason favorites to win the BSC crown, but the Eagles were eliminated early in the conference tournament.  His 1999 squad had all the right ingredients to win the championship and earn the school's second trip to the NCAA tournament.

    Baseball has been at the forefront of Hudak's life. It is no mystery why success has followed him wherever his career has taken him, from a high school head coach to a small college head coach to a prominent assistant at a national powerhouse program, to his current head coaching job at Winthrop. Before coming to Winthrop Hudak served as pitching coach of the Mississippi State University Bulldog program for two seasons.

    He previously served under MSU head coach Ron Polk as a graduate assistant in 1988 following four years as a head coach on the high school level and eight seasons at the helm of Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA. Hudak earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Malone College in Canton, OH, in 1972 and received his master's degree in physical education and athletic administration from Kent State University in 1979.

    The New Castle, PA, product and avid Pittsburgh Pirate follower began his coaching career in his hometown in 1976 at Union High School. He compiled a four-year record of 62-30 and led that school to one section championship. Following graduate school at Kent State, he accepted the post of head coach at Geneva where he directed that program for seven years before attending graduate school at Mississippi State.

    After grad school, he returned for one more season at Geneva before accepting the assistant coaching position at MSU. Overall, in eight years at Geneva, Hudak built a 203-137 record with two district championships and four district runner-up finishes. He produced 16 All-Americans and two professional draft picks while there. Hudak earned collegiate coaching victory No. 100 on April 2, 1985, reached No. 200 on April 28, 1989, No. 300 on March 4, 1995, and No. 400 on May 11, 1997, and No. 500 on May He is entering his 18th year as a collegiate head coach. His career record stands at 505-357-4. In his nine years at Winthrop, Hudak is 302-220-4.

    In his previous 17 years as a college head coach, Hudak has led seven teams to 30 or more wins and two teams (the 1995 and 1996 Winthrop teams) to 41 victories. During his three years as an assistant at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs won 136 games, including 50 in 1990 when MSU advanced to the College World Series.

    As any coach will admit, it takes good players to achieve the kind of success Hudak has enjoyed as a coach. In his 18 years on the college level, Hudak has coached 31 players who have gone on to play professionally. Two of his pitchers at Mississippi State–Jay Powell and B.J. Wallace were first-round draft picks in the Major League Draft. Bobby Reed, another MSU standout hurler, was a third-round pick, while former Winthrop standout Carl Dale was a high second-round pick in 1996 and has been invited to the Oakland Athletics spring training camp as a member of their 40-man roster.

    In addition to his coaching experience, Hudak was a collegiate shortstop and All-Mid Ohio Conference pitcher while at Malone. He helped lead that school to two NAIA district championships in his four-year playing career.

    He is married to the former Rhonda Parrish of Rock Hill and they are the parents of a daughter, Logan Elizabeth, age 6, and a son, Joseph Preston, age 5.  The Hudak's are expecting their third child in March.