Baseball

DAN HELD

ASSISTANT COACH/RECRUITING COORDINATOR

Dan Held was named an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Indiana Baseball program in 2018. Held comes to Indiana after serving as the Executive Director of the Indiana Bulls Baseball Organization, a travel baseball organization based out of Indianapolis. He brings nine years of professional baseball playing experience and 16 years coaching experience, including four in the major leagues.

Upon Held’s hiring, Head Coach Jeff Mercer said, “Working with him over the years it became obvious he’d make a terrific recruiting coordinator. His experiences in professional baseball as a player and coach will translate well to our player development processes.”

Held has seen four Indiana Bulls players reach the big leagues: Tucker Barnhart, Micah Johnson, Alex Meyer, and Cameron Perkins. A total of 80 Bulls players have been drafted since Held took over the club.

A 42nd round draft pick in 1993 by Philadelphia, Held played nine total seasons in the minors in the Phillies and New York Mets farm systems. He returned to the Phillies organization in 2002 as a hitting coach with Batavia (Short-Season A) and then served as a bullpen assistant with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2003-07 where he was a member of the 2006 World Series Champions coaching staff.

During his minor league career, Held hit 121 career home runs and drove in 474 runs. He spent three seasons at the Triple-A level, playing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Norfolk.

Held resides in Bloomington with his wife, Lynn. They have a daughter, Téa, and a son, Boston.

JUSTIN PARKER

ASSISTANT COACH/PITCHING

Justin Parker joined the Indiana Baseball program as an assistant coach in 2018. Parker will be primarily responsible for the Hoosier pitching staff. 

In 2019, Parker helped guide the Hoosiers to the 2019 Big Ten Regular Season title – the seventh in program history. Indiana earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, finishing the season with an overall record of 37-23 and a Big Ten mark of 17-7. Parker coached pitcher Andrew Saalfrank to Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team along with utility player Matt Lloyd.

Prior to joining the Hoosiers, Parker served as the pitching coach at UCF for two seasons after spending the previous six seasons with the Wright State program as an assistant coach.

The UCF pitching staff was one of the best in the nation under Parker in his first season with the Knights in 2017, finishing 10th in WHIP (1.22), 24th in strikeout-to-walks ratio (2.74), 28th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.9) and 52nd in walks per nine innings (3.26). The crowning achievement for Parker’s players was the fifth best ERA in the nation at 3.00.

During the 2018 campaign, Parker’s staff posted a 3.32 ERA, the eighth sub-3.50 ERA season in school history. Pitchers struck out 556 batters, second in program history., The Knights set a new program record with 7.1 hits allowed per nine innings and gave up the third fewest hits at 405.

Parker’s ability to work with freshmen and veterans has been showcased in seven All-American selections; and he has consistently produced pitchers selected in the MLB Draft. Of his 12 draft picks, five have gone in the first 10 rounds. Following the 2018 season, Parker and UCF had five pitchers selected in the draft, the most since 2002, and tied for the second most ever in school history. Thad Ward (5th Round, Boston Red Sox), JJ Montgomery (7th Round, Baltimore Orioles), Bryce Tucker (14th Round San Francisco Giants), Eric Hepple (27th Round, Colorado Rockies), and Cre Finfrock (29th Round, Toronto Blue Jays) each heard their names called.

Parker was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 43rd round of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft from Fort Wayne High School (Fort Wayne, Ind.) but opted to play for Wright State University. He was drafted again, this time by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 6th round of the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft where he spent three years playing for the Diamondbacks minor league affiliates.

As a player at Wright State, Parker earned first-team Horizon League selections in 2007 and 2008, as well as second team ABCA All Region in 2007, and was an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District recipient in 2008.

“Justin and I played together in college, then were assistants together for several years, it’s been very gratifying to see him become one of the best pitching coaches in the country,” said head coach Jeff Mercer.

Parker graduated from Wright State with a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership in 2012. He resides in Bloomington with his wife, Angela, and is the brother of former MLB pitcher Jarrod Parker.

Derek Simmons

ASSISTANT COACH

Derek Simmons joined the Indiana Baseball staff in 2020. Simmons’ primary responsibility is working with hitters and infielders and base running.

Over the span of eight years, Simmons has served as an assistant coach at Kent State, Alabama, Kennesaw State and Central Michigan. Over his tenure, Simmons coached 12 All-Conference selections and four All-Americans. Simmons is one of 20 assistant coaches nationwide named to Baseball America’s Coaches to Watch List in 2018 and 2019 and one of 30 assistant coaches invited to the Surefire Baseball Forum for elite assistants, also  in 2018 and 2019.

Simmons has been a part of USA Baseball since 2012, having coached and been an evaluator for the Tournament of Stars and the 18U National Team. He was also an assistant coach for the 14U National Team Development Program in 2018.

Simmons started his playing career at the University of Montevallo, qualifying for the Division II College World Series in 2006. After earning two letters there, he went to Georgia State where he was a two-year letter winner and captain. He earned first team All-Conference accolades, becoming the first player in Georgia State history to be a first-team honoree twice. He finished his career ranked in the top ten in numerous single season categories, including home runs, runs scored, and RBI while posting a .344 career batting average for the Panthers. Simmons played one season in independent baseball before entering the coaching profession.

Simmons and his wife, Erin, reside in Bloomington with their two children Bella and Braxton.

SCOTT ROLEN

DIRECTOR OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

Former eight-time Gold Glove winner and seven–time National League All-Star Scott Rolen joined the Indiana Baseball program in 2018 as the Director of Player Development.

As the Director of Player Development, Rolen assists with on-campus recruiting in accordance with NCAA rules. In addition to collaborating with the coaching staff when preparing for practice and competition, he gives valuable advice to players on lifestyle choices and making informed decisions when pursuing pro baseball careers.

Rolen reached the major leagues for the first time in 1996 with the Phillies and was named the National League Rookie of the Year the following season. 

Rolen played with four clubs during his MLB career, which lasted from 1996-2012. He played for the Phillies (1996-02), the Cardinals (2002-07), the Blue Jays (2008-09), and the Reds (2009-12). Rolen was a World Series champion (2006), and a Silver Slugger Award winner (2002). He was a lifetime .281 hitter with 2,077 hits, 316 home runs, 1,287 RBIs and scored 1,211 runs. In 2011, he became just the fourth third baseman to have 2,000 career hits, 500 doubles, 300 home runs and 1,200 RBIs, joining Mike Schmidt, George Brett and Chipper Jones in that group.

“The value for the staff and players, gaining knowledge daily from someone with such a historic career and who truly values the growth of young people, is special,” said head coach Jeff Mercer. 

A native of Jasper, Ind., Rolen attended Jasper High School and was named Indiana’s Mr. Baseball during his senior season in 1993. He also played basketball and tennis, and was a runner-up for Indiana’s Mr. Basketball. He was drafted by the Phillies in the 1993 MLB Draft.

Rolen resides in Bloomington with his wife Niki, and their children Raine and Finn.

DENTON SAGERMAN

DIRECTOR OF BASEBALL OPERATIONS

Denton Sagerman enters his first season in 2019 as a member of the Hoosier Baseball Staff in the role of Director of Baseball Operations.

As Director of Baseball Operations, Sagerman is responsible for budgeting, scheduling, travel coordination, video breakdown and managing the role of analytics within the program; amongst other general program operations.

Prior to Indiana University, Sagerman served as the Director of Baseball Operations at Wright State University, under head coach Jeff Mercer, while focusing on analytics and its use in player development at Wright State. Before his role at Wright State, Sagerman worked as an aerospace engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base specializing in Computational Fluid Dynamics as well as a varsity coach at Centerville High School.

As a student-athlete, at the University of Dayton, Sagerman was a pitcher for the Flyers from 2012-14.

William Alli

Athletic Performance Coach

William Alli joined the Hoosiers staff as a full-time strength and conditioning coach in 2014. He currently structures programs for baseball, men’s and women’s diving, and track and field.

Before joining the staff full time, Alli assisted with Hoosiers Strength and Conditioning as a graduate student intern, where he assisted with all 24 sports.

A native of Canada, Alli was previously a Director of Strength and Conditioning at Athlete Institute in Ontario, Canada. During his time at Athlete Institute, he supervised and implemented strength and conditioning programs for high school, college and professional athletes, while managing and training new interns. Prior to working at Athlete Institute, Alli worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Brock University, working with Men’s Basketball for two seasons.

Alli received his Bachelors at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, in Business Administration, and his Masters in Kinesiology at Indiana University. Alli resides in Bloomington. 

Certifications:

CSCCa Strength & Conditioning Coach Certified

NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

USA Weightlifting Level 1 Sports Performance Coach

Joel Langemaat, MS, LAT, ATC

Assistant Athletic Trainer (Baseball)

Joel Langemaat MS, LAT, ATC, GTS is the staff Athletic Trainer working with the IU Baseball program. 

Langemaat grew up in southern Indiana and earned his bachelors of Liberal Arts with emphasis in Athletic Training from Purdue University in 2005. He received a master’s of science in Athletic Training from Indiana University in 2010, where he served as a graduate assistant Athletic Trainer from 2008-2010. Langemaat is an approved clinical instructor and mentor with Indiana University’s Athletic Training Education Undergraduate and Graduate programs. He is also an adjunct professor for undergraduate ATEP in the School of Public Health at IU.

Langemaat has attended numerous continuing education meetings as a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), where he gained experience in advanced rehabilitation and soft tissue mobilization techniques. Specifically, Langemaat earned Graston M1/M2 and Dry Needling certification. In 2006, Langemaat worked with the NATA at their annual Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C to help educate legislatures on what Athletic Trainers’ educational background and the variety of work settings in which they are employed.

Prior to coming to IU, Langemaat worked at STAR Physical Therapy from 2005-08 in southern Indiana, seeing patients in the Physical Therapy clinic, and as head Athletic Trainer for North Harrison High School. Langemaat also has worked at IU Health Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine-Bloomington from 2009-10 as the full-time Athletic Trainer for Bloomington High School North.

Joel and his wife Tara live in Greenwood, IN and have 2 children, Landon who was born in summer of 2014 and their daughter Sophia, born in spring of 2017.