Head
Coach: Josh Bailey
Josh Bailey begins his fourth season at the helm for the Lancers. Bailey was hired in June of 2007 and became the 16th head coach in program history. When Bailey was hired, he expressed a vision of what the future of Grace College Baseball would be.
As year four approaches it looks as though those visions are starting to take shape. The Lancers have improved under Bailey in each of his past three seasons, including a 21-win season in 2010, which tied the most wins in program history.
Prior to taking over at Grace, Bailey was the top assistant coach at Grace for three seasons.
Bailey played for the Lancers from 1995-1999, enjoying a stellar career. Bailey had a career batting average of .329 over his four-year career, which ranks eighth in program history.
In 1998, he captured the program's single season record for hits. Bailey also finished the 1999 season with the sixth best record for hits in a season. He also ranks high in other categories:
- Career Hits (10th)
- Career RBI (10th)
- Career Home Runs (8th)
- Career Stolen Bases (7th)
- Single Season Home Runs (8th)
- Single Season Stolen Bases (2nd)
Bailey earned a Bachelor's Degree from Grace in Accounting and Business and is also the Controller at Grace, a position he has held since 2002. Bailey lives in Winona Lake, Ind., and is married to Gretchen. The couple has two sons, Kellan and Rogan.
Pitching Coach: Adam Augustine
Adam Augustine enters his fourth year at Grace College, and his sixth year coaching. Augustine will continue his role as pitching coach on Josh Bailey's staff. Prior to coming to Grace, Augustine coached two seasons at Warsaw Community High School.
Augustine had a stellar playing career while attending Manchester College. At Manchester he was a part of one regular season Heartland Conference Championship (2004), three conference tournament championships (2002, 2004, 2005), and one regional championship (2004), which gave them a birth into the 2004 NCAA Div. III College World Series. In 2005, he was named to the NCAA Division III All-American Baseball Team, Mideast Regional Pitcher of the Year, and was a member of the All-Region Team.
Augustine's 2010 pitching staff continued to make strides, recording 74 more strikeouts than 2009 in a similar number of innings. Lancer pitchers also grabbed seven more victories.
Augustine is a 2005 graduate of Manchester College where he earned a B.S. in Exercise Science. He currently lives in Winona Lake, Ind., with his wife, Elizabeth.
Hitting Coach: Deon Dittmar
Deon Dittmar enters his third season as an assistant coach. Dittmar serves as the team's hitting coach and third base coach but will assist in all phases of Lancer Baseball including recruiting and player development.
Prior to joining the Lancer staff, Dittmar coached at Mishawka High School after a stint at NAIA powerhouse Indiana Tech. During that time Dittmar coached one NAIA 1st team All-American, one NAIA 2nd team All-American, eight Honorable Mention All-Americans and three players who went on to play professional baseball.
Dittmar began his coaching career at Wapahani High School where the team was a constant in the state's top 25 rankings despite being one of the smallest schools in the state.
Dittmar has also made coaching stops at Illinois Central College and NCAA Div. I Western Illinois University. As the hitting coach at ICC, Dittmar's 1998 team finished in the top 5 nationally in team batting average at .350 and placed two players on the All-Region 24 team and a 2nd team All-American selection.
Besides coaching at the high school and collegiate levels, Dittmar has participated as an instructor or clinician at numerous camps and clinics. Overall, Dittmar has coached or privately instructed over 20 players who have played at some level of professional baseball including three first-round selections. He has also coached 20 players who were named Indiana All-State selections and has landed several top rated recruits.
Dittmar, a 1998 graduate of Western Illinois University, and his wife Teresa reside in Warsaw, Ind., with their two daughters, Bailey (11) and Isabelle (8).