Verge: Hawkins looking forward to first season as head coach at Missouri State
Former Junior National Team member Joey Hawkins (Whitby, Ont.) was recently named head coach of the Missouri State Tigers. Photo: Missouri State Athletics
July 4, 2024
By Melissa Verge
Canadian Baseball Network
The head coach of Missouri State Bears started out as a passionate Canadian kid, playing catch with his dad in the summers and watching the Toronto Blue Jays.
On the local ball fields Joey Hawkins learned the fundamentals of the game, and a spark was ignited that never went out.
The Baseball Canada Junior National Team alumni was promoted to head baseball coach with Missouri State at the beginning of last month.
Hawkins (Whitby, Ont.,), who was drafted in 2015 in the 40th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, said when he concluded his playing career, he didn’t want to give up being around the sport and found coaching fulfilling. He played two seasons in the minors before he was released in 2017. Hawkins played 73 games with the rookie-class Gulf Coast Cardinals, class-A Johnson City, class-A Palm Beach, class-A State College and double-A Springfield.
“I just loved being around the game and then really enjoyed helping players get better and chase their dreams,” Hawkins said.
The Bears have seen much success at the plate under Hawkins, who worked as a hitting coach and associate head coach for three seasons before being promoted to his current position. The 2024 Bears hit 114 home runs, ranking them 15th nationally. Prior to that, in 2023, they led the Missouri Valley Conference in home runs with 89 and slugging percentage. In 2022, they turned their offence around, and had one of the best seasons in school history.
The shortstop, who played for the Bears from 2012-2015, married a former Missouri State softball player, Ashley Brentz. Brentz was an all-star for her team - in 2012, she led the Bears in hitting with a .304 average. The couple tied the knot in 2018.
Hawkins drew inspiration from the Canadian coaches he’d learned from along the way, including one in particular - Sean Travers. Hawkins played under Travers with the Ontario Blue Jays, and considers him one of his greatest mentors.
From Travers, Hawkins learned the importance of being direct with his players, he said.
“That allows kids to understand where they’re at, and in order to go where they want to go you’ve got to be honest and explain what needs to be done,” he said.
He’s also developed his own coaching strategy along the way. He’s very structured, and cares about the players and building genuine relationships with them that ultimately helps lead to improved success on the field.
Even as a young kid going through the program, Travers said he could tell Hawkins had the makings of a good coach. He paid attention to detail, he cared about learning the game and asked a lot of questions, Travers said.
“Some guys you can tell when they’re 14,15 years old, ‘this guy’s going to be a really good coach, ‘and that was always Joey,” Travers said. “He was always thinking ahead, he saw the big picture,. He wasn’t just stuck in the moment, and I think that’s what all good coaches do.”
As one of two Canadian head coaches in U.S NCAA Division I colleges, representing Canada and helping bring in talented up and coming Canadians to their program is important to Hawkins. They have two Canadians currently on their roster, RHP Kaleb Thomas (Hagersville, Ont.) and INF-OF Taeg Gollert (Toronto., Ont.) Thomas was the first Indigenous player on Canada’s Junior National Team.
They also have four incoming Canucks to add to their roster, RHP Owen Slater (Whitby, Ont.), LHP Sam Mclaughlin (Toronto, Ont.) and two Okotoks Dawgs alumni, Michael Yusypchuk (Edmonton, Alta.) and Benito Bonilla (Halifax, Ont.).
With the talent they have, Hawkins is looking forward to what’s coming for his Missouri State Bears in his new position as head coach.
“I’m just very excited, very lucky,” he said. “We’ve hit the ground running since the transition happened, and I’m really excited for my first season coming up here soon.”