Alex Sogard

Alexander Kyle Sogard (born July 25, 1987) is an American baseball coach and former pitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of the Wright State Raiders. He played college baseball at Oregon State from 2006 to 2007 before transferring to NC State where he played for coach Elliott Avent from 2008 to 2010 before playing professionally for 6 seasons from 2010 to 2015.

Alex Sogard

Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Wright State
Conference	Horizon League
Record	152–99
Biographical details
Born	(1987-07-25) July 25, 1987 (age 36) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Playing career
2007	Oregon State
2008–2010	NC State
2010	Tri-City ValleyCats
2011	Lexington Legends
2012	Lancaster JetHawks
2012–2014	Corpus Christi Hooks
2012	Mesa Solar Sox
2013	Oklahoma City RedHawks
2013	Peoria Javelinas
2014	Mobile BayBears
2015	St. Paul Saints
2015	Wichita Wingnuts
Position(s)	Pitcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2017–2018	Wright State (asst.)
2019–present	Wright State
Head coaching record
Overall	152–99
Tournaments	Horizon: 11–3 NCAA: 0–6
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4× Horizon League regular season (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) 3x Horizon League Tournament (2021, 2022, 2023)
Awards
3× Horizon League Coach of the Year (2019, 2021, 2023)

Playing career

Amateur

Sogard attended Thunderbird High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Sogard played for the school's varsity baseball team all four years. As a senior, Sogard was a 2nd Team All-State pitcher and first baseman, behind Ike Davis. Sogard then enrolled at the Oregon State University, to play college baseball for the Oregon State Beavers baseball team.^[1]

At Oregon State, Sogard was a redshirt freshman when the Beavers won the 2006 College World Series. He pitched for Oregon State in 2007, as the Beavers won their second College World Series in as many years.^[2] Sogard then transferred to North Carolina State University, where he continued his college baseball career with the NC State Wolfpack. He was a starter and reliever during his 3 years at N.C. State. Sogard was instrumental in the Wolfpack reaching the postseason in two of his three years there, including N.C. State's third Super Regional appearance in 2008.^[3] After the 2008 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.^[4]

Professional

The Houston Astros selected Sogard in the 26th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. Alex was also drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2008 but did not sign. Sogard continued winning in pro ball as his Short Season Valley Cats won the N.Y. Penn League in 2010. Alex continued his ascent through the Astros minor league system playing for a strong Lexington Legends team in 2011, AA Corpus Christi in 2012, and AAA Oklahoma City in 2013. After the 2013 season, they assigned him to the Arizona Fall League.^[5]

Sogard was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Cesar Carrasco on July 7, 2014.^[6]

Sogard would play the 2015 season for the St. Paul Saints and the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.^[7]

Coaching career

On August 9, 2016, Sogard began his coaching career as an assistant at Wright State University.^[8]

On July 6, 2018, Sogard was promoted to head coach of the Wright State Raiders.^[9]

In 2020, Sogard was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for the first time. On May 25, 2021, Sogard was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for a second consecutive year, after leading Wright State to the Horizon League title.^[10]

On May 23, 2023, Sogard was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for the third time, after Wright State's 22-8 season and top seed in the 2023 Horizon League baseball tournament.^[11]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Wright State Raiders (Horizon League) (2019–present)
2019	Wright State	42–17	22–8	1st	Horizon tournament
2020	Wright State	6–9	0–0		Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021	Wright State	35–13	28–4	1st	NCAA Regional
2022	Wright State	30–27	20–9	1st	NCAA Regional
2023	Wright State	39–23	22–8	1st	NCAA Regional
Wright State:		152–99	92–29
Total:		152–99
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Personal life

Sogard is the son of Anna Vodicka Sogard & Bruce Sogard and the younger brother of Eric Sogard.^[12][2]

See also

• List of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches

References

1. "Beavers Sign Eight For Baseball". www.pac-12.com. Pac-12 Conference. December 3, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
2. "College World Series notebook: Sogard siblings giving Mom a hard time". East Valley Tribune. June 19, 2007. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
3. "Wolfpack rely on pitching, defense to advance in NCAA tournament - College Sports - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. June 4, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
4. "2008 Cotuit Kettleers". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
5. . Houston.astros.mlb.com. November 5, 2013. Archived from the original on November 16, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
6. Andrew Nemec (July 7, 2014). "Hillsboro Hops third baseman Cesar Carrasco traded to Houston Astros organization". www.oregonlive.com. Advance Local Media LLC. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
7. "Orioles Purchase the Contract of Wichita's Sogard". www.americanassociationbaseball.com. American Association Baseball. March 22, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
8. "Sogard Named WSU Pitching Coach". www.wsuraiders.com. Wright State University. August 9, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
9. "WSU assistant baseball coach promoted". www.xeniagazette.com. Xenia Daily Gazette. July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
10. "Horizon League Announces 2021 #HLBASE All-League Honors". horizonleague.org. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 20 Jul 2023.
11. "Horizon League Releases 2023 #HLBASE All-League Awards". horizonleague.org. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 20 Jul 2023.
12. Marc Pendleton (July 6, 2018). "WSU promotes assistant to succeed Mercer as baseball coach". www.daytondailynews.com. Dayton Daily News. Retrieved July 17, 2018.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Wright State Raiders bio

Category:American people of Czech descent