ABILENE - Head baseball coach Rick McCarty is excited to announce his coaching staff for the 2024-25 season. The staff includes a combination of familiar faces and a new addition, all bringing a wealth of experience and a commitment to the success of the Wildcats program.
"We are excited to get another year started this week," said head coach Rick McCarty. "Our staff is excited about the diversity and depth of our roster and looking forward to getting everyone back on the field.
"I'm grateful to have the majority of our staff returning for the upcoming year. I'm surrounded by a lot of good people, guys who are hungry, growth-minded and focused on player development. Anytime you can keep continuity on staff, it helps each new player transition quicker and allows our program to build on the momentum from the previous year."
Blaze Lambert, who has been with the Wildcats since 2019, will now serve as associate head coach. Lambert has been an integral part of the team's development and success over the past five seasons. His leadership and extensive knowledge of the game have been crucial in guiding ACU's players both on and off the field.
"Blaze brings stability to the program in so many areas, which is becoming more important each year," McCarty said. "Each coach brings a different skill stack to the office each day, which I believe is very valuable to help us find a variety of ways to teach the game."
To read more about Lambert's promotion, visit the ACU Baseball page.
Assistant coaches Daniel Furuto and Casey Demko are returning for another year on McCarty's staff.
Zach Smith joined the support staff in 2024, becoming the Director of Pitching Performance/Analytics. Smith, now for the 2025 season, has been promoted to the Director of Pitching Development.
"Zach did a great job transitioning from a player to a coach last year," said McCarty. "He was instrumental in helping our guys have a better understanding of who they needed to be from an identity standpoint on the mound.
"He can connect data, and technology, as well as a really good feel for pitching which is critical in coaching today's athletes. He has a very bright future ahead of him as a coach and leader. I'm looking forward to watching him jump in with our staff this year and work to make each guy better."
Matthew Frappier continues as the Director of Operations in the 2025 season. Frappier took the position in February 2024 after the prior director, Luke Marbach, departed to join the University of Kansas's staff.
Jackson Finney joins the support staff in 2025 as the Director of Player Development. Before his hire at ACU, Finney was at Austin Peay University, serving as Director of Video and Analytics.
Finney was able to get his start at his alma mater, Oklahoma State, managing the BATS! camera and tracking system as well as Trackman system during baseball home games and practices.
"We are excited to welcome Jackson to ACU," McCarty said. "He has an impressive resume and comes highly recommended by some people I respect. We utilize our director of player development to pull data and leverage our technology to present a package to help each player have a real understanding of where they are currently, but more importantly how we can close the gap to who they want to become.
"Jackson's skill set will allow him to do a great job assisting with the development of our position players and pitchers development to help them reach their ceiling. He has a unique skill stack that tells me he has a very bright future ahead of him."
ACU baseball attributes part of their success to the dedication and hard work of their support staff, whose behind-the-scenes efforts play a crucial role in the team's achievements.
"Our support staff does a great job of pushing each one of our guys to reach their ceiling," McCarty said. "To win a championship, it takes everyone to be in alignment— I really like where we are in regard to our academic support, athletic performance, & our training staff. They do so much to help us put a well rounded player on the field."
Alexis Fosmer will be with the baseball program's support staff for her second season.Before her time at ACU, she studied at the University of Nebraska where she studied and worked in athletic training.
Cole Woodruff is now joined by Jonathan Olsson with athletic performance. This will be Olsson's first year working with baseball, while Woodruff is seasoned with the team.
Cade Varrichio works on the academic side of the team. Varrichio has helped the team reach academic heights, as they received the Team Academic Excellence Award in 2024, as well as 19 baseball players making the Academic All-Western Athletic Conference.
Kaylee Kahn will join the support staff again as a full-time staff member. Khan was recently hired by ACU as the Creative Media Coordinator of Athletics, working with all 15 of the Wildcats' athletic programs.
Andrew Stovall is a student manager for his senior year at ACU. Stovall has been with the team since 2023 and will finish out his time at ACU with the team.
