CHASING 1,000
Colorado Mesa head coach Chris Hanks is on the verge of a monumental milestone. With the sweep of Colorado School of Mines, coach Hanks now has 999 wins in his career as the head coach of Colorado Mesa.
With his next win, he will become the 22nd coach in NCAA Division II to reach 1,000 wins all-time and the eighth active head coach to accomplish the feat.
There are currently 18 head coaches in NCAA Baseball that have amassed 1,000 wins led by Danny Hall of Georgia Tech who is in his 36th year of the Yellow Jackets. He would also become the fastest coach to win 1,000 games of any of the active current coaches and all of the coaches at the Division II level reaching the mark in his 25th year.
He entered the year ranked 23rd in NCAA Division II all-time in wins and has since moved up to No. 22 on the list. Once he reaches 1,070 wins in his career, he would move into the NCAA Baseball all-time wins list at No. 49.
There are approximately 60 NCAA coaches to reach 1,000 wins in their career across the three levels led by recently retired Florida State head coach Mike Martin who amassed 2,029 wins in his 40 year career at Florida State. Mike Metheny of Southeastern Oklahoma holds the NCAA Division II mark at 1,324 wins.
THICK AS THIEVES
Much has been made about the Mavericks new approach to offense this year with fewer home run threats and a return to the small ball tactics. One of the added offensive weapons is stealing bases.
Colorado Mesa has 41 stolen bases this season which ranks second in the conference (No. 59 nationally) behind Regis' 49 stolen bases. At this exact point a year ago, the Mavericks had 33 stolen bases and ranked No. 78 in NCAA Division II.
Julian Boyd leads the Mavericks and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 16 stolen bases and is on pace to become the program's single season stolen base leader. He would have to eclipse Trask Munoz' 36 stolen bases in 2004.
STILL LEADING THE WAY
Maverick staff ace Kannon Handy will likely tell you he isnt having the year he had hoped for so far. He is 3-0 with a 7.18 ERA which is nothing to shake a stick at. Despite being the ace of the staff, he is pitching in the No. 2 slot in the first game of the doubleheader, in an effort to conserve some of the bullpen.
He currently leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in strikeouts at 41 in 26 and a third innings pitched and has allowed 34 hits for a .296 opponents batting average.
PRO MAVS
The Mavericks had three players drafted last season with Andrew Morris, Haydn McGeary and Spencer Bramwell all getting selected in the MLB Amateur Draft. Since 2003, Colorado Mesa leads all Colorado state colleges with 18 MLB Draft picks in that time.
1. Colorado Mesa 18
2. Air Force 10
3. Lamar CC 9
4. Regis 8
5. Northern Colorado 7
6. CSU Pueblo 5
7. MSU Denver 5
8. Trinidad State 4
9. Northeastern JC 4
10. Mines 3
Andrew Morris was the highest selection during that time as he went in the fourth round to the Minnesota Twins this past June while Bligh Madris was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth round in 2017 as the only top ten round selections. Madris was recently dealt to the Houston Astros after making his MLB debut last June.
Probably the most famous Maverick that is included in the list is Sergio Romo who was selected in the 28th round of the 2005 draft by the San Francisco Giants. Romo went on to win three World Series rings with the Giants.
NOT ONLY TEAM OF THE DECADE
The Mavericks were deemed the team of the decade after finishing the decade with the best record in all of NCAA Division II Baseball. But they have also been the best in DII over the last five years. Colorado Mesa has a .792 winning percentage (243-64) in the last five seasons which tops 2022 National Champion North Greenville (.784), South Central Region rival Angelo State (.773), Central Missouri (.763) and Tampa (.762).
Since 2017:
Colorado Mesa 243-64 (.792)
North Greenville 236-64-1 (.784)
Angelo State 235-69 (.773)
Central Missouri 229-71 (.763)
Tampa 208-65 (.762)
Minnesota State 202-65 (.757)
Illinois-Springfield 213-68-1 (.755)
Southern New Hampshire 210-68 (.755)
Augustana 224-77-1 (.742)
Azusa Pacific 204-77 (.726)
RMAC DOMINATION
Colorado Mesa has won ten straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles and are the conference coach's selection to win it for an 11th season. Since 2009, Colorado Mesa has won nearly 81 percent of their games against RMAC competition as they have a 389-92 record in that span.
