Seth VonBehren
VonBehren will enter his fifth year as the head coach in 2017. Building and changing culture have been the focus since walking in the door at Maryville University. Winning Championships on the field, in the classroom and in the community, while growing as individuals are the programs focus and the four seniors who make up the very first recruiting class under the current staff have come full circle and are ready to continue taking Maryville baseball to new heights. In the last four years the program has won more games in a four year period than any other point in school history, had 10 All-Conference members, three pitch/player of the week honorees and had the first ever player drafted in program history, maintained an 3.2 GPA in the classroom and continues to do over 300 hours of community service each of the last four years.
2016 saw the Saints reach the 20 win mark for only the second time in Maryville baseball history since becoming a division II program. Three more players earned All- Conference honors and Robbie Gordon became the first pitcher to throw a perfect game in program history and earning National Pitcher of the Week. The Saints picked up their first four game sweep of a conference opponent since 2013. Program records were set with runs scored, homeruns, RBI, slugging percentage stolen bases and fielding percentage.
2015 saw four Saints players earn all-conference honors which set a new program high after having two year prior. The Saints won 2 out 3 at then ranked #27 Trevecca Nazarene in February. Following a two game sweep of Lincoln and a win at Bellermine the program was off to its best start in program history after 13 games with a 7-6 record. The Saints would finish the year splitting a four game series at College World Series participant Truman St.
2014 was a year that saw many new faces start their college careers as the Saints won a stretch of six out of seven in the middle of the conference season while two players, Kyle Kinyon and Sean Murphy earned all-conference honors.
In 2013 the Saints took the GLVC by surprise and earned the programs first conference tournament appearance after sweeping four games at Illinois Springfield on the last weekend of conference play. They would continue playing well into the conference tournament before eventually losing to tournament champion Drury in the Semi-finals. Mike Wilkinson picked up all-conference honors for the Saints. A program record 22 wins was set by a large group of seniors.
Prior to coming to Maryville, VonBehren had stops at South Alabama, College of Charleston and West Chester University. At all schools he worked with hitters, catchers and coached third base while serving as a recruiting coordinator at South Alabama.
From 2007-2011 while at South Alabama, VonBehren saw the program set a school record for batting average at .328. He also worked with 18 different players who would go on to sign professional contracts with major league baseball teams. Three of those players would earn All-American honors and eight would earn All-Conference honors. During his time at South Alabama the Jaguars earned a spot in the conference tournament each year. Four of the years saw a recruiting classes recognized by collegiate baseball as a top 50 recruiting class in the country.
In 2004 VonBehren was named as an assistant coach at The College of Charleston where he remained through the 2006 season. The Cougars enjoyed three trips to the NCAA postseason where they played in the finals at Louisiana State University, competed in the Clemson Regional and in 2006 won the Kentucky Regional advancing to play Georgia Tech in the Super Regional. The Cougars would finish in the top 25 each year including being ranked 12th in the country in 2006. During his time at Charleston the led the NCAA in hitting with a .355 team batting average in 2006, saw 14 players drafted, worked with 5 All-Americans and 22 All- Conference performers. The program would set a record for wins in a season with 48, and either won the regular season or tournament championship each of the three years.
2002 was the start of VonBehren’s coaching career as he was named the assistant coach at West Chester University in West Chester, PA. The program set record for wins in a season in 2003 and in two years would have three players earn All-Conference honors.
Seth played collegiately at Illinois State University. He is a member of the Vandalia High School Hall of Fame and the Waterloo Bucks baseball Hall of Fame.
VonBehren and his wife Meredith reside in Troy, Ill., and have two daughters Alayna and Reese
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