| Title: | Head Baseball Coach/Strength and Conditioning |
| Phone: | 323 259 2683 |
| Email: | wetmorel@oxy.edu |
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Luke Wetmore enters his second season as the Occidental College head baseball coach in 2012-13.
During his first season as the interim head coach in 2012, Wetmore led Oxy to its first winning season in 22 years and best overall season since the last Oxy baseball team won the SCIAC championship in 1982. The Tigers went 23-16 overall and 18-10 in SCIAC play.
Oxy is successful in the classroom and in the community under Wetmore's leadership. The Tigers organize an annual holiday toy drive for the Violence Intervention Program in the Oxy athletic department and dedicate the month of March to cancer research awareness and fundraising by inviting cancer survivors to throw a strike against cancer as part of the team's first pitch ceremony at home games.
The Tigers also boasted a 3.21 grade point average in the Spring of 2012.
"Luke proved last year that he is not only the right guy for the job between the lines, but that he has thorough knowledge of Occidental as a highly selective and competitive liberal arts institution, academically and athletically," Occidental College athletic director Jaime Hoffman said. "Luke's committed to our goal of recruiting talented student-athletes that will be leaders in the Occidental community and we're committed to him."
Wetmore spent three years as Oxy's hitting coach before taking control of the team last summer following former head coach Jason Hawkin's departure for UC Santa Barbara. During his trial 2012 season, the Tigers went 23-16 overall, and 18-10 in SCIAC play — Oxy baseball's first winning season in 22 years and best winning percentage since the last Oxy team won a SCIAC championship in 1982.
For Wetmore and his staff, the vote of confidence won't mean much change, but they'll continue to work with some peace of mind.
"I couldn't be happier and more excited to go back to work with a great group of young men," Wetmore said. "We had some success this year and we're looking forward to instilling a championship culture on the field, in the classroom and in the community."
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Strength and Conditioning: Wetmore also serves as the athletic department's strength and conditioning coordinator and coach. During their respective offseasons, all 21 intercollegiate varsity sports spend time working with Wetmore in the weight room.
Personal: Wetmore grew up in Santa Cruz and was a multi-sport standout in football, baseball and wrestling at Santa Cruz High School. Later, Wetmore played baseball and football at the University of Redlands from 2004-08. During his tenure with the Bulldogs, Wetmore won three SCIAC championships, one as a baseball player and two as a football player. He finished his career as an outfielder with a .317 batting average, a .516 slugging percentage, a .412 on-base percentage and 13 home runs.
Wetmore lives in Eagle Rock with his wife Courtney.
Education: After graduating from Santa Cruz High School, Luke moved to Southern California to work on his undergraduate degree at the University of Redlands. After earning his BA in Studio Art from Redlands in 2008, Luke completed Multiple Subject, Single Subject Physical Education and Single Subject Art Teaching Credentials at the University of Redlands School of Education.
Background: Born in Santa Rosa, CA, Luke grew up in Santa Cruz where he played baseball, football and wrestled at Santa Cruz High School. At SCHS Luke was a 2nd Team All League linebacker and tight end, a two time league champion in wrestling (172 and 189 lbs) and played on three Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Championship teams in baseball.
After high school Luke played both football and baseball at the University of Redland. Luke was a linebacker on two SCIAC championship football teams and played outfield for a SCIAC championship baseball team. After a season ending injury his junior year during the football season, Luke played three more seasons of baseball, accumulating a .317 career batting average, slugging .516 and posted a .412 OB%. Out of his 108 career hits, Luke totaled 176 bases with 29 doubles and 13 homeruns while driving in 91 runs. During the four years Luke played at Redlands the Bulldogs posted a 99-61 record
Coaching
Experience:
Occidental College 2008-
Cheyenne Grizzlies 2010
Luke enters his third year of coaching at Occidental College after playing outfield for the Bulldogs for four years. In his first season as Oxy's hitting coach the Tiger's hit .283 and were ranked fifth in the nation in stolen bases (134 of 171) and HBP (80). On the year the Tigers drove in 245 and hit 93 extra base hits and posted a .380 OB% and .396 SLG%.
This past season as Oxy's hitting coach the Tiger's hit .302, a twenty point improvement from the previous year, stole 115 bases and posted a .383 OB% and .390 SLG%. In his third year Luke will continue his work with the offense and is excited about the maturation of a young line-up from a season ago and the incoming talent. He will also be taking over additional responsibilities for the Tigers program, stepping up as the Head Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.
Luke is coming off a Mountain Collegiate Baseball League championship as an assistant coach for the Cheyenne Grizzles. The Grizzlies finished their summer schedule 22-18 with a playoff birth and swept the regular season champs in a three game series. The Grizzlies hit .292, slugged .381 and had an OB% of .401.
Playing
Experience:
University of Redlands: (2004-08)