LEXINGTON, KY. – As the University of Kentucky Baseball team’s 2003 season came to the end, so ended the Madison Era. Keith Madison had become a fixture in UK Baseball. Madison completed his 25-year coaching career as the winningest head coach in the 108 years of UK Baseball. The record of 737 wins- 634 losses- 5 ties that he massed is a record that will be hard to beat. The university recognized his fantastic record as they bestowed the ultimate honor of retiring his jersey. Keith Madison’s jersey has the distinct honor of being the first jersey retired in UK’s long history.
As one chapter closes, another opens. On June 24, 2003, John Cohen became Kentucky’s 24th skipper and UK’s Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart is looking forward to big things from the new coach. “John Cohen has a wonderful blend of competing and coaching in this conference, combined with a successful track record as a head coach at Northwestern State. He has a great passion for the job and a vision for Kentucky baseball. His desire to grow our program into an NCAA Tournament team with an eye on Omaha (the College World Series) is exciting for our staff and players.”
Cohen is very familiar with SEC Baseball, beginning with his playing for Mississippi State from 1987 through 1990. The Mississippi State team had at least a share of three SEC Championships while Cohen was on the team. As a senior, he was selected to the All-SEC first team in the outfield and he played on four NCAA regional teams, one College World Series team. His college baseball career has him ranked among Mississippi States all-time leaders. He holds the school record for most games played (71 games in 1990). His 285 at-bats, also in 1990, is second in team history and his career 785 at-bats ranks him third. He completed his career ranked third in doubles with 53; sixth in hits with 248 and total bases with 390; seventh in runs scored with 180; and tenth on the all-time RBI list with 168. In the 1990 Major League Baseball Draft, the Minnesota Twins drafted him. He played Class A baseball for the Twins organization with Visalia in the California League, where his team won the League Title.
John Cohen began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Missouri. After five years as Missouri’s assistant coach, he became the head coach for Northwestern State College (La.). At Northwestern State, he massed a record of 146 and 84 overall and 66 and 38 in the Southland Conference. With Cohen at the helm, Northwestern State won two SLC Championships and set 18 offensive records, ten pitching records and several defensive records. Off the field performance has been just as important as on field. Eighteen of Northwestern State’s players posted a 3.0 grade point average and two of his four teams had a 3.0 or better GPA. From Northwestern State, Cohen returned to the SEC, as an assistant coach for Florida. With Florida, he took on the duties of hitting coach. In 2002, his offense led the Southeastern Conference in nine offensive categories and was ranked first nationally in hits (825) and second in batting average (.346), runs per game (9.74) and home runs per game (1.71). The new ‘Top Cat’ brings that offensive minder philosophy here to Kentucky. “I want Kentucky to be a much more aggressive club, especially on the base paths”, said Coach Cohen. He stated the one of his main goals for the season was for Kentucky to “ be a lot more aggressive offensively.”
In the first nine games of the Cohen Era, UK has compiled a record of 7 wins and 2 loses. Already, his aggressive offensive style of play has been evident. The team has posted eight or more runs in six games. The Wildcats have combined for a team batting average of .320, a slugging percentage of .467 and an on-base percentage of .435. Kentucky has seven players that currently have a batting average over .300. Senior Spencer Graeter leads the team with an outstanding .483 batting average. Graeter also leads the team in walks with 11, hit-by-pitch (4), runs (14), and tied for the team lead with 11 RBI’s. The second baseman has down a fine job in the field and has a .960 fielding percentage. Caleb Stewart, another member of the UK senior class, has the next highest batting average (.395). The right fielder leads the team in hits with 15. Casey Gilvin has shone the early power on the team. He leads the ‘Cats with six doubles, two Home Runs, 26 total bases, and is tied with Graeter for the RBI lead with eleven. His .318 batting average speaks loudly when you take into consideration that the outfield also has a team high 44 official at-bats. The other four UK players that are currently batting .300 are: Jesse Barber (360), J. B. Schmitt (.333), Mike Breyman (.333) and Billy Grace (.333).
On the mound, Matt Scott has had the hot hand to start the season. He has appeared in six games and in the 16 2/3rds innings that he has pitched, he has allowed only ONE earned run. His minuscule ERA of 0.54 leads the team. Matt has only allowed two walks and has given up 14 hits, to go along with his 14 strikeouts on way to his 3-0 record. On UK’s ERA list, Kalen Gibson is next. He has two starts, so far, but his 2.92 ERA is not indicative of his 0-0 record. Seth Stanley is tied with Scott for the team lead three wins and leads the team in strikeouts with 22.
According to the team’s record and the individual stats, it is evident that the players have bought into Cohen’s aggressive offensive philosophy. John Cohen summed it up best. “Our player will really have a pretty good understanding of \exactly what we are trying to get done. I think that some numbers will get better than they’ve been in recent years. We also have some players that have been in the league for a while and deserve to have better numbers.”