Mike Batesole, coach of Fresno State's national-champ Wonderdogs, in line for contract extension
The way Fresno State baseball coach Mike Batesole sees it, he is right where he is supposed to be: working with his type of players and his type of teams. He is in his 16th year leading the Bulldogs' program, and all of those teams come with a little grit attached. One, in 2008, made a run through the College World Series to a national championship.
Batesole will keep at it for a few more years.
Fresno State interim athletics director Steve Robertello and Batesole have initiated discussions on a contract extension, the details to start to be worked out next week after the Bulldogs return from a Mountain West Conference road trip at Nevada.
"I'm excited about it," Batesole said. "I love it here. I'm right exactly where I belong.
"What a lot of people don't know is who they are. You have to know who you are. I'm a California State (University) guy. I'm right where I belong. That's where I got my degree, my master's degree. I grew up just down the street from Cal State Fullerton. I've been in the California State system for a long time. I'm not a Harvard, Princeton, University of Arizona guy. That's not who I am. A lot of guys get in trouble when they get out of their lane. These are the kids that I love to coach."
The coach is in the fourth year of a five-year contract signed in 2014 with a base salary of $162,156 and a package of performance bonuses tied to the Bulldogs' Academic Progress Rate score, overall team grade-point average, regular-season winning percentage, conference championships, advancement into the NCAA Tournament, national ranking and coach of the year honors.
In his 23rd season as a college head coach and 16th at Fresno State, Batesole has a .579 winning percentage (795-577) and .563 with the Bulldogs (539-419).
At Fresno State, he has had 74 players selected in the Major League Baseball draft including five in the first round: catcher Taylor Ward (Angels, 26th overall 2015), outfielder Aaron Judge by the New York Yankees (Yankees, 32nd overall in 2013), pitcher Tanner Scheppers (Pirates, supplemental, 2009), infielder Beau Mills (Indians, 13th overall in 2007), pitcher Matt Garza (Twins, 25th overall in 2005) and outfielder Richie Robnett (A's, 26th overall in 2004).
The Bulldogs this season with 17 freshmen on the roster are 26-18 and 11-13 in the Mountain West, one game out of third place. The top four qualify for the conference tournament, May 24-27 in San Diego.
"I like our team," Robertello said. "We're young. I think they've shown a lot of promise this year at times. I think the future with this group looks good."
The 17 freshmen (14 true freshmen, three redshirt frehsmen) are the most for Batesole.
"When I look at the other team's lineup, one of the first things I do is I go through and I put an 'F' and I highlight it on all the freshmen that are playing," he said. "Generally, it's one. Some teams, it's none. But if that freshman is in a position that you can attack like third base, first base or catcher, you attack it. Generally over the course of a season if they're playing consistently they're going to cost you four or five games because they have to learn on the job, but these guys have been really good with that.
"I have a feeling next year and the next year have a chance to be super special. The next two years I think have a chance to be a ton of fun at Beiden Field."
This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 12:54 PM with the headline "Mike Batesole, coach of Fresno State's national-champ Wonderdogs, in line for contract extension."