By NICK VILLALOBOS
Sports Editor
Sam Carel, Northwestern’s new head baseball coach, has big plans for program.
Last August, the Northwestern baseball program welcomed in a new leader. “I made the decision to coach here at Northwestern right away, right after the interview,” said Carel. “The faculty, the program and especially the people sells itself here.”
Carel grew up in a military family. “My dad was a fighter pilot so I grew up all over the world,” said Carel.
Carel attended high school in North Carolina. He then attended college at Southern Missouri State, now Missouri State in Springfield.
After graduating from SMS, Carel moved to Dallas, Texas, to begin helping with youth baseball organizations.
Before moving to Dallas, Carel began his coaching career at SMS serving as a volunteer student manager. He worked his way up on the student assistant position, eventually landing a full-time assistant position at SMS.
After finishing his time in Dallas, Carel moved back to Springfield, Mo., in 2002 to begin work on his master’s degree.
Upon receiving his master’s degree, Carel became the head coach of a junior college, Jefferson State.
While at Jefferson State, Carel and team had great success. “Over eight years we won eight straight conference titles, three regional titles, as well as making two appearances in the JUCO World Series,” Carel said. “We also set the record of most wins in a single season at 53 and in 2012, we were able to finish the season ranked No.2 in the country.”
Carel then kicked off his career here at Northwestern, opening with a great overall record (6-4) thus far in the season. “The plan for this season is to work, to process, to work hard and compete at the highest level.”