Baseball 2024 Media Guide

Message from the President

Welcome to Wallace State Community College, and thank you for supporting Wallace State athletics!

We have a long and storied history of excelling at athletics and we are exceedingly proud of all our teams - with nine national championships, numerous conference championships, and national team and individual honors among them. Our scholar-athletes go on to successful careers, whether they plan to enter the workforce, transfer to a university, or go professional.

Your support is so important to our college and to our teams. We look forward to having you on campus this semester to watch these talented athletes compete, and we hope you will return again and again to take advantage of the many opportunities Wallace State offers.

Sincerely,

Vicki P. Karolewics, Ed.D. President

Kristen Holmes Vice President for Students/ Chief

Dr. Vicki P. Karolewics President

Paul Bailey Athletic Director

#1 Mykell Murrah #2 Tucker Burns #3 Elijah Smith

#7 Jacob Fernandez

#4 Raul Diaz

#13 JT Kelly

#14 Brayden Heaps #15 Juan Pablo Morales

#16 Eli Jackson

WALLACE STATE LIONS BASEBALL

#17 Matthew Rhodes

#18 Cole Lowe

#22 Cole Peasley

#20 Nash Rippen

#24 Colton Payton

#25 Connor Cosby

#33 Landon Carroll

#35 Cole Molina

27 Luke Fernandez

#28 JW Hopkins

#29 Colton Dempsey

WALLACE STATE LIONS BASEBALL

2024 WALLACE STATE TEAM

STUDENT MANAGERS

Austin Marsh Blaise Lee

Brian Giles

Jonah Nolen

#44 Grant Gage

#99 David Riggs

MEET THE COACHING STAFF

Head Coach Randy Putman

Randy Putman embarks on his 35th season with the Lions. Putman has amassed a remarkable 1,204-560 career record (.685 winning percentage) at Wallace State, including 31 winning seasons. Putman’s teams have missed the postseason only once.

Putman has led his teams to seven Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) championships, six Southeastern Regional Championships and six NJCAA Division I World Series appearances.

Putman, who surpassed the 1,200-win milestone during the 2023 season, was named a NJCAA Hall of Fame coach in 2006 and is a seven-time ACCC Coach of the Year. He has also been named to the Alabama Junior College Hall of Fame (1991), the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (2006), the Alabama Coaches Hall of Fame (2009), and the Cullman County Hall of Fame (2013).

Originally from Birmingham, Putman has coached 36 Wallace State players who have continued their careers professionally, including eight-time All-Star and World Series champion Craig Kimbrel of the Chicago White Sox and free agent left-hander Derek Holland. Former Wallace State players Jake Elmore, Zelous Wheeler and Graham Godfrey have also cracked the major leagues over the past 10 years.

Before coaching in Hanceville, Putman compiled a 152-28 career record at Tate High School in Pensacola, FL., where he won two Class 4A state championships and coached former big leaguers Jay Bell and Travis Fryman. Putman played collegiately at Jacksonville State, earning All-Conference honors, and played professionally for three years with the Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres.

Assistant Coach Ryan Sadler

Ryan Sadler is an experienced coach who has been actively involved in baseball for over a decade. Sadler holds a bachelor’s degree in child development and is working on his master’s degree in sports management from The United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama. Sadler has been coaching in various positions since 2007.

Sadler started his collegiate coaching career at Miles College where he served as Assistant Coach from 2011 to 2016. During that time, he coached seven AllConference players for his team, a school and conference record at the time. In 2016, the Golden Bears finished the season as the sixth ranked team in the nation for Division II with a record of 32-17.

In 2017, Sadler started as a volunteer assistant coach at Lawson State before taking over as the pitching coach in 2018. In 2018, they finished fifth in the north division and fifth overall in the confer the best finish in school history. Sadler continued coaching at Lawson State before accepting the Assistant Coach position at Wallace State.

Volunteer Assistant Coach Daniel Howard

iel Howard is an experienced coach who has been actively involved in coaching baseball, football, basketball, and track and field from youth to high schools. He also serves as Wallace State Athletics Coordinator. This marks the start of his first season with the Wallace State Lions. Howard holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in sports management from Waldorf University.

Learn more at athletics.wallacestate.edu/baseball