Chris Blum finished his seventh season as head coach of
the Kutztown University baseball program in 2009. In his seven years at KU, Blum has elevated the Golden
Bear program to unprecedented heights as a perennial Pennsylvania
State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and North Atlantic Regional
contender.
Blum has amassed a 259-113 record over the past
seven years, including a 102-44 mark in the PSAC East. He has led KU
to the 2005, 2006 and 2008 PSAC crowns, the 2007 North Atlantic Regional
title, and seven-straight appearances in the NCAA regional
tournament. The 259 wins are the most in any seven-year span in
program history. He was the fastest Pennsylvania baseball to reach
200 wins. In addition, seven of his players have gone on to
play professional baseball.
Under Blum, the Golden Bears finished the 2009
season with a 34-18 overall record. KU finished 16-8 in the PSAC
East regular season for second place. The Golden Bears finished in
fourth place at the PSAC Championships and fourth place at the NCAA
Division II Atlantic Regional. In the 2009 season, Blum coached the
PSAC East Pitcher of the Year (Darin Gorski) and PSAC East Rookie of
the Years (Shayne Houck).
In 2008, Blum led a young, inexperienced team
through the tough regular season, winning seven of their last 10
regular-season PSAC East contests to qualify for the postseason,
where the Golden Bears battled through the loser's bracket to take
the PSAC title with two wins over West Chester.
In 2007, Blum guided KU to a school-record 49
wins. The Golden Bears spent the week of April 30 as the No.
1-ranked team in Division II, a first for a KU sports team and for a
ball club from the North Atlantic Region. The Bears won the PSAC
East regular-season title and the NCAA Division II North Atlantic
Regional, finishing seventh in the nation. KU was 49-7 overall, 19-1
in the PSAC East. Blum was the PSAC East and Regional Coach of the
Year, and his players earned numerous all-conference, all-region and
All-America honors.
In 2006, KU set a then-school record with a 44-14
overall, 15-5 PSAC East mark. KU won the PSAC title for the progam’s
first-ever back-to-back conference crowns. He was named PSAC East
Coach of the Year. In 2005, Kutztown won the PSAC Championship, and
finished 39-18 overall, 10-8 in the PSAC East. In 2004, Blum’s team
was 25-15, including a 17-7 mark in the Eastern Division. The Golden
Bears finished as the PSAC runners-up. Blum garnered his first PSAC
East and Regional Coach of the Year awards. KU won the North
Atlantic Regional tournament. In his first season, Blum guided KU to
a 25-15 overall record and 17-7 record in the PSAC East. KU finished
third at regionals.
Prior to taking over as head coach, Blum served
as assistant coach for eight seasons.
Kutztown has won PSAC Eastern Division titles in
1997, 1999, 2001 and 2007; PSAC Championships in 1999, 2002, 2005,
2006 and 2008; won the North Atlantic Regional tournament in 2001,
2002, 2004 and 2007.
In college, Blum played at Elizabethtown College,
winning multiple division titles, a MAC Championship, and qualifying
for two NCAA Division III regional tournaments. He graduated in 1993
with a bachelor of science degree in communications.
Blum, 36, began his coaching career at Muhlenberg
High School, his alma mater. He was an assistant for four years.
Prior to taking over at Kutztown, Blum had been head coach of the
Berkshire Red Sox of the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.
Improving from a 13-17 record its first season, Blum guided his team
to the championship game in 2002, finishing with a record of 25-12.