Bladen Bales - Baseball Coach - Ball State University Athletics

Bladen Bales

Title:
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Email:
bladen.bales@bsu.edu

Bladen Bales enters his first season with Ball State in 2021-2022 and will work as the outfield coach and assist with the hitters. Bales will also serve as a camp coordinator for Ball State Baseball Camps.

Bales comes to Muncie after a four-year stretch as the top assistant coach for Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska. During his time with Northeast, he served as the Hawks’ hitting coach, infield coach, and recruiting coordinator. Bales was an instrumental piece in helping start the program in 2017 and guiding the Hawks to their first-ever NJCAA DII World Series appearance in 2019. He also helped over 20 student-athletes sign with four-year schools, led by former NJCAA DII Baseball Player of the Year, NJCAA All-American and current Milwaukee Brewer infielder Drew Smith.

Under Bales' guidance, the Hawks hit .312 as a team in 2021 and crushed 47 home runs, while recording a .407 on-base percentage and a .471 slugging percentage. At the helm of the hitters in 2019, he led Northeast to a .299 average, bashing 56 home runs, and getting on base at a .402 clip with a .469 slugging percentage.

Prior to his time at Northeast, Bales coached high school baseball where he took over the Nebraska City Junior Legion program. In his first stint as head coach, he took the Juniors to the Nebraska State Tournament while posting a regular season record of 27-2. Coach Bales also helped lead the Nebraska City Seniors team to a state tournament runner-up finish in 2017.

Bales played collegiately at McCook Community College, where he posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage as an outfielder. After finishing up his Associate’s degree, Bales transferred to play and continue his education at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.

A native of Nebraska City, Neb., Bales graduated with a Bachelor’s in General Studies from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 2019.