2021 Manager Senior Spotlight
As the days at Duane Banks Field dwindle down for many players and managers in the Iowa Baseball program, we want to highlight the accomplishments of a remarkable group of graduating seniors. We’ve greatly enjoyed the continued success of the players on the field this season, and we cannot wait to share the field with them before Sunday’s game. This weekend is the last home series for twelve student managers, each of which have left their mark on this program. Coach Heller always challenges his senior class to leave the program in a better place than it was when they arrived on campus. I believe this same message applies to the manager program and can confidently say that Adam, Madeline, Ryan, Ryley, Richard, Michael, Al, Luke, Sam, Paul, Brooke, and Kitae accomplished this goal. These seniors and graduate students will be leaving the program in a better place and in a position for continued success for years to come.
While the final home game of the season is just a few days away, there is still so much for this team and the manager staff to accomplish. These graduating seniors are extremely dedicated to helping this program succeed and will not stop their hard work until the season is over (and even then, some of them won’t stop). However, our manager program has accomplished a great amount throughout this school year, much of which was due to the hard work of these seniors. On the field, bringing back four senior managers from the 2020 season ensured a sense of normalcy at practice in such an interesting time in the world of sports due to various COVID-19 protocols. The four seniors who were at practice every day played a vital role in the success of the team and allowed practices to run smoothly for the players and coaches.
It was an extremely successful year for the analytics department. Various projects were implemented to aid in the development of the players that has led to success on the field. The analysts developed pitcher similarity scores, quantified batter swing decisions, projected pitcher vs batter matchups, built an advance scouting application, and much more. All in all, there will be some big shoes to fill next year when the new class of managers are ushered in. These seniors have truly been part of something special in their time as managers.
To the seniors, thank you so much for all of your time and effort put into bettering this program and helping produce a winning team on the field. Your hard work and incredible accomplishments will be remembered and carried on by future managers in the years to come. Congratulations on completing another chapter of life; the sky is the limit for each and every one of you!
December 2020 Graduates
These two managers graduated in December 2020 and did not have the chance to be recognized due to the season being cut short. It is only right that Adam and Madeline are recognized for their impact on the program.
Adam Schuck
Nothing we say here will fully capture the impact that Adam had on the manager staff and the entire Iowa baseball program. His bulldog mentality made everyone around him a better person. He shaped the manager program into the self-operating beast it is today and we are forever grateful for his innovative ideas that have moved the needle forward. His four and a half years as an Iowa baseball manager were the most impressive of anyone who’s ever step foot in our program.
Adam has been away from Iowa City for a couple months now as he’s started his new position with the Baltimore Orioles as a Minor League Development Coach.
Madeline Hoswell
Madeline joined the manager program in 2018 and has helped the Iowa baseball program in every way possible. From creating pitch calling cards to running evaluation camps to helping with social media during practices and games, she has been a manager that has faced every task head on with success. She has been a great leader in the administrative assistant department, while being a constant helping hand to Director of Operations, Nic Ungs. Madeline has always brought a hard-working mentality and a great energy to the program that will be hard to replace.
After graduation, Madeline will be moving back home to Colorado and will be seeking a full-time position in the baseball industry. Specifically, she will be pursuing a career as a director of baseball operations for a collegiate baseball team.
May 2021 Graduates
Ryan Gorman
Since coming in as a freshman, Ryan has made his way to the top of our manager program. After being lead on-field manager last year and having his time in a lead role cut short due to COVID-19, Ryan stepped into the role of head manager this season. Ryan was able to hit the ground running and successfully managed a group of over 20 managers by forming connections with each and every one of them. Ryan brought a great attitude to practice every day and knew how to make things that aren’t always the most glamorous a blast for all managers on staff. Since day one, Ryan has had an incredible impact on the program and his presence will be greatly missed in the future.
After he graduates, Ryan will be pursuing a full-time job in the baseball industry. In the future, he hopes to achieve his dreams of working in collegiate or professional baseball. Ryan will also continue to travel with the team until the season is completed.
Ryley Kozisek
Ryley joined our manager staff in the fall of 2019 and had an immediate impact on the program. While primarily working with the infielders during practice, he became Coach Heller’s right-hand man when it came time to shoot groundballs to the infielders. Ryley always showed up to practice ready to go and loved hitting fungos to other managers after everything was set up. Ryley and his contributions to the program will be missed in the future.
This summer, Ryley will be the head varsity baseball coach at Garner Ventura Hayfield High School in North-Central Iowa. He has had his sights set on coaching baseball all throughout college and after several years as an assistant coach he is now in his first year as a head coach. After the season, he will be moving to Ames, Iowa where he will be exploring different opportunities in the sports industry.
Richard Stockton
Richard also joined the staff in the fall of 2019 as one of the 11 new managers on staff. From the beginning, Richard was ready to help out in any area possible. Whether that was feeding a machine before practice so players could get some extra swings in, or working with the catchers, infields, and outfielders. This year, Richard has settled into mainly working with the catchers but is always ready to help with anything that is needed. His growth mindset and willingness to learn will be missed greatly.
Following graduation, Richard will be moving back home to the Omaha metro area where he will continue his work as the lead scout of Prep Hoops Nebraska. As lead scout he will be scouting high school basketball players are writing reports as well as creating class rankings. Along with this, he will be seeking other employment opportunities in the sports industry.
Michael Olesen
Michael has been an on-field manager for the program since the fall of 2019 and has been a great addition to our staff. Every day he shows up to practice ready to do whatever needs to be done to help practice, whether it be feeding a hitting machine for an hour or getting home run balls after batting practice. At practice, Michael is typically working with the outfielders, and you can spot him by looking for the famous Pit Vipers he loves to wear. Practice will feel different next year without the energy and constant upbeat, positive attitude that Michael brings to practice every day.
Post-graduation, Michael will be sticking around Iowa City and seeking a full-time position in the sports industry. Specifically, Michael would like to work in sales for a sport organization.
Al Palensky
Al joined the analytics department last August and his impact was felt from day one. With a strong background in business analytics, he brought fresh ideas to maximize our department’s workflow. Al’s work on the pitcher similarity scores project added another piece to our impressive pitching development work. At the moment, him and fellow analysts are putting the final touches on a pitch quality score that will go hand-in-hand with the formerly mentioned project. All in all, Al will be leaving the analytics department with some remarkable analytical tools for us to use in the coming years.
Al is graduating this week with a Master of Science in Business Analytics degree. Later this year he will be joining Deloitte as a Tax Consultant.
Luke Statler
Luke was one of the very first student managers hired in this program to work strictly in analytics. Around the office Luke is known as “Stat Machine.” While splitting his time as both a data analyst and video & scouting manager, he’s contributed a lot to this program. During home games you might see him running Edgertronic or setting up cameras, but back in the office he is on his laptop completing various analytical projects. These have included catcher framing metrics, batter swing decisions, and a handful of text analytics tasks.
While Luke may be graduating this week, we are excited to have him back for three more semesters as he will pursue his Master of Science in Business Analytics. Additionally, this summer he will be working as a Video & Data Intern for the Bristol State Liners in the Appalachian League.
December 2021 Graduates
Four of our current managers will be completing graduate school in December 2021. While we are excited to have them back in the fall for one more semester, they too deserve to be recognized for all their hard work.
Sam Bornstein
Sam has worn just about every hat an Iowa baseball manager can wear. Back in 2016, Sam began as an on-field manager who helped out with everything that needed to be done. As the years went by and the manager staff began to grow, Sam found a home as a data analyst and became the first lead data analyst. He went on to run the department for multiple years and has had an incredible impact on the program. Not only has he worked on some amazing projects that were implemented by the coaching staff, but he also helped facilitate just about all of the projects done by the rest of the analytics department. The data analyst section of the manager office will look very different next year without Sam leading the charge, but the impact he had on the program will always be felt.
This summer, Sam will be heading out to Kent, Washington to work as an R&D Pitching Floor Analyst Intern at Driveline Baseball. Following the completion of his internship, he will be returning to Iowa City to complete his Master of Science in Business Analytics degree.
Paul Sirena
Like Luke, Paul was one of the very first student managers hired in this program to work strictly in analytics. From day one we’ve been impressed with Paul’s strong background in statistics, and not being afraid to take on large-scale projects. He’s led the charge for the batter swing decisions, pitcher vs batter simulated matchups, and much more. Paul has made a huge impact on our hitting research and has planted some seeds for future analysts to learn from the work he’s completed.
We are lucky to have Paul for one more semester as he will be in Iowa City this fall to complete his Master of Science in Business Analytics. After his graduation he will be seeking a full-time analytics position in professional baseball.
Brooke Arnold
Brooke hit the ground running in the analytics department when she started last August. She has contributed in many areas, including research, advance scouting, and application development. Her research projects have consisted of measuring timing & adjustability in hitters and analyzing the fastball “dead-zone” theory, while also playing a large role in the advance scouting application’s development.
This summer Brooke will be working as a data analyst with a new company called Visibly. Following the completion of this internship, she will be returning to Iowa City to complete her Master of Science in Business Analytics degree.
Kitae Kim
Like Al, Kitae has played a huge role in two pitching research projects: pitcher similarity scores and pitch quality scores. Additionally, he single-handedly developed a pitch cleaning model that has allowed us to classify pitch types for over 500,000 pitches in our internal pitch-tracking database. He’s also worked as a teaching assistant in the statistics department at the university, so he’s been a great helping hand to the younger group of managers on staff.
This summer Kitae will start as a Research Analyst at Stratos Technologies Capital Management, where he will be assisting the investment research staff with various data science-related endeavors. This fall, he will be back in Iowa City completing his Master of Science in Statistics degree.
