2012 Baseball
Record: 37-21 Home: 14-6 Away: 10-12 Neutral: 13-3 ICCAC: 14-10
2012 Baseball Coaches
Todd Rima Image
Todd Rima
Head Coach
11th Season
Inheriting a program that won just three games in 2000-2001, Rima has turned things around by winning 321 games in 10 seasons.
 
The Trojans set a school record with 39 wins in 2005 and acheived the school's first ever Iowa Community College Athletic Conference baseball regular season championship. The Trojans have also been a factor in the NJCAA Division II rankings, being rated as high as 4th in the country, finishing 9th in 2005, 10th in 2007 and 13th in 2008.
 
Coach Rima has produced 49 All-Region players in his tenure, including six NJCAA All-Americans and the Region IX Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007.
 
Rima, who works with the Trojan hitters and infielders, has guided the Trojan offense to the highest team batting averages in the ICCAC for several seasons, and the fourth best team average in the country in 2005, sixth in 2006, and tenth in 2007. Academics has also been a focal point in the baseball program with 88 Academic All-Region selections, including two Academic All-Americans in 2006.

Coach Rima came to NIACC after a three-year stint at the University of Northern Iowa where he coached 13 All-Conference players, six of which went on to be selected in the MLB Draft. As a player, Rima was a two-time captain and four-year starter at second base for the Panthers. He graduated holding UNI records in career hits, at-bats, doubles, and runs.
 
Todd and his wife, Molly, live in Mason City with their son Jalen and daughters, Bailey and Payton. Coach Rima is also employed as the Recreation Center Coordiator.

 
 
Travis Hergert
Assistant Coach
8th Season

Coach Hergert is the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at NIACC.

In 2011, the NIACC pitching staff posted the lowest ERA as a team since Hergert's arrival in 2005. The staff featured Northern Illinois signee Taylor Nawrocki, who became the sixth NIACC player to sign with the Huskies.

In seven seasons as the NIACC pitching coach, seven pitchers have been selected to the All-Region team and eight have signed with Division I schools.

In his first season as pitching coach, Hergert's pitching staff posted the lowest team ERA in the Rima coaching era. That staff also featured two All-Region XI selections, including Pitcher of the Year and Arizona State signee, Steve Salas. Salas was also a 22nd round pick by the Anaheim Angels in the 2006 draft.
 
In 2006, Hergert helped two more pitchers to All-region honors. Luke Kalb earned 2nd-team honors, while Brian Prusinski received honorable mention.

 

The 2007 season featured two pitchers from the NIACC pitching staff to sign with NCAA Division I schools. Tom Heithoff and Jared Koch signed with Evansville University and South Dakota State University, respectively.  Heithoff was named Region XI Player of the Year and earned 3rd-team All-American honors. Heithoff continued a very successful career at Evansville earning back-to-back 2nd team All-Missouri Valley honors as a utility player, and lead the MVC in saves for two consecutive seasons. Also that season, NIACC closer Zack Welter received 2nd-team All-Region as a reliever while racking up a school record eight saves. Welter went on to be NIACC's all-time saves leader with 16, eight in both the '06 and '07 seasons.

 

After his pitching career, Hergert spent the 2004 season as an assistant coach at his alma mater Mount Mercy College (IA). He is also employed as the Director of Housing. He and his wife Kim reside in Mason City with their son Brody, who was born this past fall.

 
 
Pete Lauritson
Assistant Coach
9th Season
Coach Lauritson is the program's hitting coach, serves as the team's outfield coach and assists with recruiting.
 
Lauritson has turned the NIACC baseball program into an offensive power. NIACC has led the ICCAC in team batting average for four conscutive seasons from 2004-07. In 2011, the Trojans were 2nd in the category. The Trojans were also ranked in the top ten three times from 2005 to 2008, with the 2005 team finishing 4th in the nation with a .357 average.
 

Lauritson helped two Trojans, Danny Reed and Tom Heithoff, to Region XI Player of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, Lauritson guided Trojan All-American shortstop Erik Smith to a .469 batting average and 2nd Team All-American honors.  In 2011, Northern Illinois signee Jordan Huffman lead the conference in RBI and was honored with 1st-team All-Region honors. Eleven of Lauritson's former NIACC hitters have gone on to play Division I baseball.

 
In 2008 and 2009, Lauritson served the Field Manager for the Waterloo Bucks in the Northwoods Collegiate Wood Bat League.  He also served as the teams bench coach in 2007.  This summer, Lauritson will be an assistant coach for the Eau Claire Express in the Northwoods League.
  

Lauritson is also employed in the Security Department for NIACC Housing.

 
 
Derek Drage
Assistant Coach
2nd Season

Coach Drage assists as a pitching coach, a recruiter, and as the team's academic coordinator. Drage pitched two years at Parkland College (IL), was a part of the 2002 National Championship team, and earned All-American honors in 2002 and 2003. After Parkland, Drage played at Missouri State University for one year before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004.

 

Drage is also employed in the NIACC Recreation Center.