Widely respected as one of the premier pitching coaches in collegiate baseball, Brent Kemnitz is in his 37th year as assistant coach at WSU.
For Kemnitz, honors, accomplishments and awards for pitchers under his tutelage have been commonplace. Twice WSU has led all NCAA Division I teams in ERA. The Shockers’ 1982 team established an NCAA record with 46 complete games while leading the nation with a 2.53 ERA and the 1991 staff led the NCAA with a 2.91 ERA. In 2011, Kemnitz was honored as he was named one of the top three pitching coaches in the country in a poll done by College Baseball Insider.
The Shockers’ 2008 staff boasted three All-Americans in its weekend rotation, including 2008 first team selection Rob Musgrave, 2008 third team choice Anthony Capra and 2006 third team selection Aaron Shafer. The trio combined to go 32-6 in 2008 and helped the Shockers to their second-straight Super Regional. The staff overall posted a 3.88 team ERA, which ranked in the top-15 nationally. Musgrave and Capra were both first team all-Valley selections, while Shafer and reliever Khol Nanney earned honorable mention honors.
The 2007 pitching staff was one of Kemnitz’s finest as the staff posted a 2.68 ERA, which ranked second-best in the nation and also was the second-best in Shocker history. The staff also averaged 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranked fourth nationally and was third-best in the Shocker record books. The 2007 staff left many more marks in the Shocker record books including first in strikeouts (670), second in fewest walks per nine innings (2.4), third in fewest runs (249), second in fewest hits per nine innings (7.6) and second in opponent batting average (.229). Two Shockers topped the 10-win mark as Rob Musgrave went 10-2 with a 2.59 ERA and Travis Banwart went 10-5 with a 2.68 ERA. Senior Noah Booth set the Shocker career ERA record with a 2.06 ERA and also broke the career appearances mark with 115. Banwart earned first team all-Valley honors, while Booth was named to the second team and Musgrave and closer Noah Krol were named honorable mention.
In 2005, the pitching staff finished with a 3.16 ERA, which was ninth in the country. First team All-American Mike Pelfrey led the staff with a 12-3 record, 1.93 ERA and 143 strikeouts. Pelfrey finished his career as the all-time Shocker leader in ERA with a 2.18 mark. In June, he became the eighth Shocker pitcher and 10th Shocker player overall to be a first round draft choice. He also became the first pitcher in Valley history to win the Valley Pitcher of the Year award more than once. Other Shocker pitchers earning honors included closer Damon Sublett who was a first team Freshman All-American and the Valley Freshman of the Year, along with Travis Banwart who was also a first team Freshman All-American. Banwart and reliever Noah Booth earned honorable mention all-Valley accolades.
Kemnitz led the 2004 staff to a 3.13 ERA, which was fifth in the country. The staff was anchored by six-time All-American and Valley Pitcher-of-the-Year Mike Pelfrey who finished the season 11-2 with a 2.18 ERA and 125 strikeouts. Pelfrey was also named one of 10 semifinalists for the Roger Clemens Award honoring the nation’s top pitcher. Freshman Kris Johnson (7-0, 2.10) garnered Freshman All-American honors, while senior Tommy Hottovy (9-3, 2.25) was named first team all-Valley and sophomore Steve Uhlmansiek (7-0, 2.85) was named second team all-Valley.
Despite having a young staff in 2003, Kemnitz led them to a 3.66 ERA. It was led by first team Freshman All-American and Valley Freshman-of-the-Year Mike Pelfrey, who finished the season with a 10-2 record and a 2.49 ERA. Freshman Steve Uhlmansiek was also named a first team Freshman All-American, while Pelfrey and Mike Dennison (14 saves, 3.10) were named to the all-Valley first team and Tommy Hottovy (3-1, 2.42) was named to the second team. Another highlight of 2003 was former Shocker Braden Looper became the first WSU pitcher to win a game in the World Series when he led the Marlins to a win in Game Four against the Yankees.
The 2002 staff finished third in the country in team ERA with a 3.07 average. It was led by first team All-American and Valley Pitcher-of-the-Year John Tetuan, who finished 10-1 with a 1.72 ERA. Freshman Mathew Jakubov (3-1, 3.38) earned Freshman All-American honors and David Sanders (5-4, 2.59) and Mike Dennison (4-1, 3.43) were named all-Valley second team.
In 1999, the Shocker pitching staff, keyed by staff ace Ben Christensen, and Marc Bluma, who twice earned All-America and Academic All-America honors, posted a 3.59 team earned run average (fifth-best in the nation), and 599 strikeouts (second-best all-time in WSU history).
Kemnitz enhanced his nationwide reputation with one of his finest efforts in the spring of 1993. While juniors Darren Dreifort and Jaime Bluma formed an unprecedented one-two punch out of the bullpen, Kemnitz was forced to mold a starting rotation and middle relief corps from a group largely inexperienced on the college level, yet the Shockers completed the season with a 3.68 ERA.
Dreifort, a 12th-round draft choice by the New York Mets upon his high school graduation, improved each year under Kemnitz and ended his WSU career as the school’s ERA leader. He also enjoyed unparalleled success in three years, culminating with his selection as WSU’s first recipient of the Golden Spikes Award, presented annually by the United States Baseball Federation to the nation’s finest amateur baseball player. Dreifort, a two-time consensus All-America selection, also earned the R.E. “Bob” Smith Award and was the No. 2 overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the June 1993 draft, becoming the Shockers’ most highly-regarded pitching prospect.
Other Shocker pitchers who have been selected in the first round of the amateur baseball draft are Mike Pelfrey by the New York Mets in 2005, Ben Christensen by the Chicago Cubs in 1999, Braden Looper by the Florida Marlins in 1996, Mike Drumright by the Detroit Tigers in 1995, Tyler Green (No. 10) by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1991, Bryan Oelkers by Minnesota in 1982, and Erik Sonberg by the Dodgers in 1983.
Dreifort was the first Shocker hurler to earn National Player-of-the-Year honors when he was bestowed the Smith Award by the Greater Houston Sports Association. Oelkers was named National Pitcher-of-the-Year in 1982 after leading all Division I pitchers with 166 strikeouts.
Don Heinkel, still the winningest pitcher in NCAA Division I history with 51 victories, Oelkers, and Sonberg, the Shockers’ first two-time All-America pitcher, all earned All-America acclaim in 1982. They were joined in their select group in 1987 by David Haas, second on WSU’s career win list with 49 from 1985-88. Greg Brummett, the MVP in the 1989 CWS with three victories, was named an All-America in 1989, while Kennie Steenstra, co-owner of the best mark in NCAA Division I history at 17-0, earned All-America distinction in 1991.
Both Brummett and Green made their Major League debuts in the summer of 1993, while Dreifort debuted in the summer of 1994, Bluma in 1996, Steenstra and Looper in 1998, Nate Robertson in 2002, Adam Peterson in 2004, Mike Pelfrey in 2006, Tommy Hottovy in 2011 and Kris Johnson and Brian Flynn in 2013, increasing to 26 the number of Kemnitz’s pupils who have gone on to the majors. Sixteen have pitched at WSU, Dreifort, Heinkel, Oelkers, Jeff Richardson, Haas, Brummett, Green, Bluma, Steenstra, Looper, Robertson, Peterson, Pelfrey, Hottovy, Johnson and Flynn, while 10 toiled for Kemnitz when he was pitching coach for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots from 1984-87.
Over the years, 61 Shocker pitchers have earned all-Valley honors a total of 102 times. Twelve have earned Valley Pitcher-of-the-Year honors in the 26 years the award has been presented, and WSU has had at least one first-team all-conference pitcher every year but three in the Kemnitz era.
Ten pitchers have earned Academic All-America distinction a total of 14 times under Kemnitz, including Giaudrone and Steenstra in 1992, both repeat selections from 1991. Giaudrone was named the baseball Academic All-America Player-of-the-Year in 1992, while Drumright was honored with that distinction in 1995. Twenty-three freshmen have earned Freshman All-America status, including Sam Tewes in 2014, Kris Gardner and A.J. Ladwig in 2012, Cale Elam in 2011, Jordan Cooper and Charlie Lowell in 2009, Aaron Shafer in 2006, Damon Sublett and Travis Banwart in 2005, Kris Johnson in 2004, Mike Pelfrey and Steve Uhlmansiek in 2003, Mathew Jakubov in 2002, David Sanders in 2001, Justin Maureau in 2000, Ben Keiter in 1999, Greg Bauer and Nate Robertson in 1997, and Marc Bluma in 1996, while 80 Shocker pitchers have advanced to professional baseball under Kemnitz’s care.
Kemnitz became a full-time assistant coach in the fall of 1980 after serving the previous two years as a graduate assistant. A native of Perry, Okla., Kemnitz compiled a 21-7 record at Phillips University (Enid, Okla.), helping the Haymakers to a 29-game winning streak and a No. 1 NAIA ranking in his junior season with an 8-0 record.
In March of 2003, Kemnitz was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.
Kemnitz, 58, has two daughters, Mackenzie, 14, and Madison, 11. Academically, Kemnitz earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Phillips in 1978, and a master’s degree in sports administration from WSU in the summer of 1980. At Anchorage, Kemnitz helped coach the Glacier-Pilots to four consecutive top-10 finishes in the annual National Baseball Congress World Series, including a national title in 1986.
