University of St. Thomas Athletics
Chris Olean gets Midwest Region Coach of the Year award
7/1/2021 3:45:00 PM | Baseball
ABCA Coach of the Year news release
--
Tommie Baseball coach Chris Olean has been selected as the 2021 Division III Midwest Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) after guiding St. Thomas to an NCAA runner-up finish.
It's the second such honor for Olean – he received this award in 2012 after his Tommie team placed third in the national tournament in just his third season.
Olean was also named MIAC Coach of the Year this May, adding to his previous league awards received in 2012 and 2013.
After a 3-3 start, Olean's 2021 Tommies reeled off 10 victories in a row. They edged Gustavus by percentage points to win the MIAC regular-season crown with a 17-2 slate. They also ran off 13 consecutive wins in late April and into May.
Unranked most of the season and ranked at No. 19 in the final regular-season poll, Olean's team won 11 of its first 14 postseason games and reached the College World Series for the third time in 10 years. That postseason run run was highlighted by seven comeback wins and two other walk-off victories, including a 2-0 slate against No. 1-ranked Washington (Mo.). The Purple reached the two-team Division III best-of-three championship round before losing twice to champion Salisbury to close the season at 37-10.
It was St. Thomas' seventh top-three national finish in baseball, all since Olean was an All-America pitcher on the Toms' 1999 NCAA runner-up squad as a senior.
He's mentored seven pitchers who have received All-America honors, and his Tommie teams ranked among Division III's top 10 most seasons in ERA. His St. Thomas teams won eight of a possible 11 MIAC regular-season titles and made seven NCAA playoff appearances in the last 11 full seasons.
Olean's 338 coaching victories in his 12-year St. Thomas career includes an average of 30 wins a season (not counting his 6-1 mark in a Covid-halted 2020 campaign). He's on pace to coach his 500th game here in 2022 as he leads the Purple into Division I play, including competition with six other teams in the Summit League.
