By: Annie Gerdes
Clark, a 2009 Knox College graduate, joined the Prairie Fire coaching staff in the fall of 2013.
Clark was named Sports Information Director in the fall of 2015 after serving as Sports Visual and Social Media Director and Assistant Sports Information Director for the previous two years. Clark previously served as the head baseball coach at Eureka College in 2012 and Spoon River College in 2010 and 2011. Clark worked as a student assistant in the sports information department for four years while a student at Knox.
While at Spoon River College, Clark was in charge of compiling all statistics for the men’s and women’s basketball teams until the programs were disbanded after the 2010 season.
Clark was a member of the 2008 Midwest Conference Championship baseball team and was a two-time Academic All-Midwest Conference honoree.
He also assisted on the Quincy Gems staff in the summer of 2011. The Gems took home the Prospect League Championship with a record of 40-18. In 2014, Clark managed the Laramie Colts Baseball Club in their inaugural season in the Rocky Mountain Baseball League. The Colts finished with a record of 24-15 (23-10 in the RMBL). He returned in 2015 to lead the team to a 21-17 record.
Starting in the summer of 2006 Clark assisted his father, the late John Clark, with the Oneida American Legion Post 727 baseball program in Oneida, IL. He now manages the senior legion team and they won their first District Championship since 2000 in the summer of 2017.
Clark earned a master’s degree in sport management from Western Illinois University.
1. What is your favorite Knox memory?
I have two separate memories that are both very important to me.
I met my fiancé, Erin Rutledge, at Knox. She is the Head Softball Coach. I proposed on August 6, 2019 at a Chicago Bandits game. I cut out a softball to make a ring box and had the Bandits put a graphic on their video board. She said yes and her parents were at the game with us so it made it even more special.
The 2008 Midwest Conference Baseball Tournament. The four south division teams all tied at 6-6 in the regular season so we had to play Illinois College in a one-game playoff to get into the MWC Tournament. Monmouth beat Grinnell, so we had to turn around and play Monmouth to see who would be hosting the tournament. We beat them for the fourth time that season to earn the #1 seed in the South Division and host the tournament. We lost the opening game to Ripon and ended up playing Monmouth again. We beat Monmouth again and were set to play St. Norbert, a team who had beat us 14-0 and 16-4 about a month prior. We won in extra innings to make it to the Championship Series where we would have to beat Ripon twice. Ripon and St. Norbert were both in the discussion as top-25 teams in the nation at the time. We won the first game against Ripon and the momentum shifted, Ripon realized that we weren’t going away. We went on to win 5-4 and got to celebrate on our own field. Our fans charged the field and joined us.
2. What is your favorite all-time memory coaching/at your job? (if not the same as Knox
memory)
Winning the 2017 District Tournament while coaching the Oneida Legion team. We won the opening game of the tournament against Abingdon with a late 4-run inning to break a 4-4 tie. The second game we held an early lead, but Canton worked their way back into the game and forced extra innings. In the 11 th inning, one of our players who was mainly just a pitcher hit a game-winning triple. Abingdon beat us in the first game of the championship series, forcing a winner-take-all game. We took an early lead, but fell behind 4-3 in the fifth inning. We tied the game in the top of the eighth inning, but Abingdon scored in the bottom half to send us into the final inning down by one run. After a leadoff double, the next two guys made outs and we were down to our final out. We ended up scoring two runs and held on for the victory. The win was even more meaningful because my father John, who passed away in 2015, had founded the team in the mid-90’s. My brother was on the team and my mom took our scorebook. It was a great moment for our entire family and the many players that my father had coached over the years.
3. How has your experience coaching/ job changed over time?
My coaching career started out sort of backwards, I was a head coach for three years before coming back to Knox to be an assistant coach and assistant SID. I coached at local junior college Spoon River for two years right out of college and then at Eureka College for a year. Each place has been different, especially in terms of recruiting and the academic structure. I think one of the biggest changes in the last 10 years with baseball has been the increase in amount of travel ball and more focus on playing one sport earlier. We have fewer dual sport student-athletes at Knox than we used to, which brings with it a different set of challenges. It is nice that we have more student-athletes during the non-traditional season in the fall. When I played about half of our team played other sports.
In terms of Sports Information, the changes have been immense since I worked as a Student Worker for four years in college. Graphics, Social Media, Live Streaming, Live Stats, and even the modern version of the Athletics Website have all been new additions to the more traditional role of taking stats at home games, sending press releases, and managing the archives. Video and pictures have become vitally important to tell our stories. Even in the past five years, the amount of games that we live stream has risen exponentially. Our social media platforms for all the teams have probably at least tripled in the last three years.
4. Why did you choose Knox?
Growing up coming to Knox College for Kids and baseball camps with Coach Isaacson gave me an early introduction to Knox. My grandparents also played a major role in my decision, they both valued the kind of education that Knox has to offer. After I decided to attend Knox out of high school, I fell in love with it. Coming back to Knox was the best thing I have ever done. The chance to work with student-athletes with a similar mindset to my own and hopefully give them the same experience that I got is so rewarding. The added bonus of getting to work with coaches, staff, and student-athletes outside of just baseball is also gratifying. Now it is even more meaningful because my brother is a sophomore at Knox on the football and baseball teams, so I get to coach him.
5. How has your experience coaching/ job changed over time?
My coaching career started out sort of backwards, I was a head coach for three years before coming back to Knox to be an assistant coach and assistant SID. I coached at local junior college Spoon River for two years right out of college and then at Eureka College for a year. Each place has been different, especially in terms of recruiting and the academic structure. I think one of the biggest changes in the last 10 years with baseball has been the increase in amount of travel ball and more focus on playing one sport earlier. We have fewer dual sport student-athletes at Knox than we used to, which brings with it a different set of challenges. It is nice that we have more student-athletes during the non-traditional season in the fall. When I played about half of our team played other sports.
In terms of Sports Information, the changes have been immense since I worked as a Student Worker for four years in college. Graphics, Social Media, Live Streaming, Live Stats, and even the modern version of the Athletics Website have all been new additions to the more traditional role of taking stats at home games, sending press releases, and managing the archives. Video and pictures have become vitally important to tell our stories. Even in the past five years, the amount of games that we live stream has risen exponentially. Our social media platforms for all the teams have probably at least tripled in the last three years.
6. Why did you get into athletics?
My mom and dad both coached multiple sports growing up and I basically grew up on the field/court. My dad coached Babe Ruth baseball and later Legion and High School baseball and coached for over 40 years. He also coached basketball and softball. My mom has coached Jr. High volleyball for over 25 years and has also coached softball, basketball and track. My grandpa played basketball for Phog Allen at Kansas and drove me to many of my youth games. The level of commitment and selflessness that each of them showed has really stuck with me.
7. What do you love about Knox?
I love the fact that Knox allows you to explore yourself through the commitment to a well-rounded education. Knox challenges you to see the world through different lenses and make your own opinions. The professors facilitate an environment of learning that focuses on the individual rather than a cookie-cutter approach. The student to teacher ratio and class sizes allow the professors to actually teach and allow their students to be heard. The amount of resources Knox puts into athletics, choir, theater, student senate and all the clubs and organizations provides students a myriad of options. The study abroad programs, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the programs like Startup Term, all of these things give our students the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom as well.
8. If you could coach/work anywhere in the world where would it be?
I spent two summers coaching a college summer team, the Laramie Colts, in Laramie, Wyoming. I would love to go back and do that every summer. The people I met are amazing and I still talk to some of them periodically. We played in the Rocky Mountain Baseball League with most of the teams being in the Denver, Colorado area. The summers in that part of the country are amazing and it is so beautiful with the Rocky Mountains in the background. I also got to see Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Garden of the Gods, Vedauwoo, The Snowy Range, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, The Little Bighorn Battlefield, and Devil’s Tower. I really believe that coaching in the offseason is one of the best things a coach can do. I think that’s a wonderful part of college baseball that these leagues exist to have the baseball players continue playing and developing over the summer.
***Story courtesy of Knox College***
