By Brady Extin | The Times-Post
MUNCIE — Ball State baseball head coach Rich Maloney announced the addition of former Pendleton Heights star Justin Wechsler as an assistant coach on Wednesday. Wechsler will be the team’s pitching coach.
Wechsler is no stranger to Ball State, as he was a pitcher for the Cardinals from 1999-2001. During his time at Ball State, he was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and was tabbed to the Baseball America Freshman All-American Second Team. He earned the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year award in 1999. He was a two-time All-MAC Second Team honoree.
During his 1999 season, Wechsler recorded the most wins by a freshman with 10. His first career win came against Butler on Feb. 27, 1999. He recorded 219 strikeouts across his three-year career at Ball State. He produced a career record of 23-13.
“Justin pitched on two of our championship teams. Justin made major contributions to our success in the time he was here,” Maloney said in the university’s press release. “Justin was a fierce competitor and driven to be his best. Justin has always dreamed of becoming the pitching coach at Ball State, and finally the timing was right.”
After Ball State, he spent five seasons in the minor leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system.
His best season came in 2004 with Lancaster, where he posted a 4-1 record to go along with 18 saves. During the same season, he tallied 96 strikeouts and finished with a 2.48 ERA in 80 innings of work.
He has spent the last seven years as an area scout for the Chicago White Sox. He drafted former Cardinals Alex Call in the third round in 2016 and Tyler Schweitzer in the 5th round in 2022.
“Our players are lucky to have someone with Justin’s experience both at Ball State and in professional baseball,” Maloney said. “I am elated to name him our new pitching coach and am excited to have him join our outstanding staff. It is a great day to be a Ball State Cardinal.”
Wechsler holds multiple Pendleton Heights season and career pitching records.
In the 1997 season, he set the individual season school record for innings pitched (87.2) and strikeouts (128).
He leads the school in career strikeouts with 266, is tied for the career school record with four saves, is third in career innings pitched (172) and is fourth in career wins (20).