Coaching change sparks turnaround for ASU club baseball team

TEMPE – Seven years under the same coaching staff without a playoff appearance led the Arizona State club baseball team to take a risk that could have submarined its season. Instead, it changed the direction of the program.

The change came just weeks before the season, when the program’s student executive board voted to move on from its longtime volunteer coaching staff, prompting team president Tommy Christensen to step in as head coach. What followed was a player-led turnaround, with the team opening the year 14-5, including a win over No. 8 Boise State in Las Vegas.

“Those coaches had never made the playoffs in seven seasons,” Christensen said. “I wanted to change things and run the team in a different way to try to win more games and improve how we practiced. We just weren’t on the same page, so we made the decision to move on.” 

Club baseball at Arizona State is a student-run program that competes against other universities without NCAA affiliation, giving students who choose not to compete at the next level a chance to continue playing the game they love while managing travel, funding and operating at a competitive level. The team plays in the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) as part of the SoPac South conference. 

That player-driven structure ultimately led Christensen, a senior, to step into the role as president and new coach. 

“When the coaches got dismissed, we didn’t have anyone in place to lead practices or manage everything,” Christensen said. “I didn’t want to just hand it off and disrupt what we had going, so I decided to take it on myself, keep the guys comfortable, and continue building the team the way we wanted.”

To help manage the increased responsibilities of coaching, Christensen brought in additional coaches, including Vince Mati, a former club player at ASU who joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach.

“I found out about the club team my senior year, and I loved it and made a lot of good friends including Tommy before graduating,” Mati said. “Tommy called me and told me about his plans that there is going to be a coaching spot in the spring. I told him I had to focus on work I didn’t really do and I didn’t have time to add anything to my schedule. 

“However, later on, I realized I needed something outside of work, so I reached back out and joined the staff.”

The impact of those decisions has been immediate on the field. The Sun Devils have surged to a 14-5 start, putting them within reach of their first postseason appearance, a feat that has eluded the program since spring 2019. Rather than letting setbacks define them, the group has continued to compete and improve, showing a level of resilience and fight not seen in previous years. 

In the NCBA, postseason berths begin with the regional tournaments. The Southern Pacific regional tournament, in which ASU would compete, is generally held in California, where teams must emerge as champions or earn an at-large bid which are granted based on record and strength of schedule. 

The resilience was on full display this past weekend when the team traveled to Las Vegas. Pitcher Jake Cruz allowed nine runs in an early morning loss against UCLA, however later that same day, Cruz returned to the mound in relief against Boise State, giving up zero runs and securing a much-needed win. 

“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” Mati said. “We told him to forget what happened earlier and that we might need him for this game since it was a must-win and he answered the call and slammed the door on them.”

Those ups and downs are a part of the appeal of club baseball, despite the fact that the team hasn’t played at the same home field once this year, with stops at Cactus High School, Paradise Valley High School, Gene Autry Park, and even Scottsdale Stadium. Players get to stay competitive and continue to play a game they love every day, even if they aren’t competing at the NCAA level.

Junior Bryce Solinger, a starting pitcher and former California CIF state champion, joined the club as a freshman and quickly appreciated the opportunity the team represented to continue competing at high level and staying involved in baseball, eventually taking on a leadership role as the team’s vice president of finance. 

“Coming in as a freshman I was hesitant, but from the moment I joined I saw the culture being built and wanted to be a part of it,” Solinger said. “This isn’t intramural; every team in our conference is good and that level of competitiveness is why I continued to play. This season specifically has shown how far the program has come.”

As the Sun Devils continue their push toward a potential and rare postseason appearance, the result reflects the risk the program took in reshaping its leadership and the unity that followed, setting the foundation for its strongest season in years.

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