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With Edwards at the helm of Western Nevada's pitchers, the team's hurlers have been among the best in the nation. Pitching was the biggest reason why the inaugural season for Western Nevada College's baseball team was a big success. During the Wildcats' first season, they finished with a 37-18 overall record, a Scenic West Athletic Conference Championship, and a Top 20 ranking in the National Junior College Athletic Association's final poll. Of the ten WNC pitchers, five are now pitching in professional baseball (only one of whom had been drafted before coming to Western Nevada) and three are pitching in NCAA Division I programs (University of Nevada and University of New Mexico, and Arizona State University). The 2006 pitching staff dominated hitters all season. Wildcats pitchers held their opponents to a .222 batting average while compiling a 3.03 overall team earned run average. WNC pitchers allowed the fewest runs in the Scenic West Athletic Conference with 163, were tied for second in fewest home runs allowed with seven, and walked the second fewest batters, 153. Perhaps the greatest statistical tribute to Edwards and the 2006 staff was the fact that in 26 of 52 regular season games the Wildcats allowed two or fewer runs. Edwards and the teams' pitchers followed the 2006 campaign with an even stronger 2007 season. The team again led the Scenic West Conference in runs allowed at 97, which equates to only 2.4 per conference game. In addition, they led the conference in opponents' batting average (.207), opponents' slugging percentage (.251), and allowed just 30 extra base hits in 40 conference games. The 2007 staff saw five pitchers sign with NCAA Division I programs, four pitchers sign professional contracts (one for $728,000), another pitcher turn down a professional contract for the opportunity to pitch for the 2007 PAC-10 Conference Champions Arizona State, and two others sign scholarships with NAIA programs. However, 2008 may have been Edwards' finest season coaching the teams pitchers and catchers. Coach Edwards' work with catcher Chuck Howard culminated in Howard garnering Region XVIII - first team honors and NJCAA All-American Honorable Mention. This marked the first time in program history that a Wildcats player has been honored as an All-American. The 2008 season started with guarded optimism as the team's top seven pitchers had graduated and the entire staff returned just 27 innings of experience from the year before. However, Coach Edwards led a pitching staff that was dominant despite starting four freshman hurlers in the rotation. The team led the Scenic West Conference in strikeouts, and three of the four finished the season in the top six earned run averages in the conference. In only three seasons, five of Coach Edwards' pitchers have earned first or second team All-Conference honors. In the same time frame, Coach Edwards has had eight pitchers drafted, with seven signing professional contracts! Western Nevada's rise to national prominence in just three short seasons can largely be attributed to the team's outstanding pitching corps and the team's two outstanding pitching coaches. Head Coach DJ Whittemore said, "I have the utmost respect for Coach Edwards and his understanding of the game and human nature. That is why I count on him to help run the entire program. He has dedicated himself to being a lifelong learner. He is constantly bettering himself and increasing his knowledge, whether it is in pitching mechanics, catching techniques or strength training techniques." Edwards was hired by Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Calif., in July 2004 to coach the NAIA national third place Sea Lions. He brings coaching experience from four different collegiate conferences and strong ties as an associate and instructor with San Diego based National Pitching Association headed by Tom House and Gary Heil. He was a member of the coaching staff of Feather River College in Quincy, Calif., in 2003-2004. There, Edwards' duties included being catching instructor, strength/conditioning instructor, and third base coach. He was also in charge of recruiting in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Edwards spent 2001-2003 as an assistant for Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore. During the summer 2003, he managed the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League. His team captured the prestigious end of the season "2003 Wood Bat Invitational Championship." This was the first Wood Bat Invitational Championship ever won by the Mat-Su Miners. During summer 2002, Edwards was the pitching coach for the Post 136 Cascade Paving American Legion team in Salem, Ore. From 1998-2000, he coached the Post 17 North Willamette Valley Hurricanes American Legion team in Salem. As a player, Edwards caught for the Western Oregon University Wolves. In 2000, he was named First Team All-Cascade Conference behind the dish. After spending two seasons at Oregon State University from 1996-1997, he transferred to WOU, where he was twice named team captain and led the Wolves to two consecutive National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics regional berths. Edwards graduated from Western Oregon University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business, and in 2002 with a master's degree in the Art of Teaching. He has four years experience teaching health and physical education courses at the community college level. Edwards is married to Summer Paganetti and is the proud father of three boys - Mack William and twins Duke Brenning and Rex Conrad. Current courses taught by Kevin EdwardsJump to: Fall 2008 • Spring 2009 Press + to add a class to the class schedule planner.
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