Mike Ott was introduced as Kalamazoo College's head baseball coach on Thursday, June 14, 2012.
Ott comes to Kalamazoo College from Holland Christian High School (Mich.) where he served as head varsity baseball coach the past eight seasons, compiling a career record of 180-84 over that span. Ott led the Maroons to conference championships in 2005 and 2008, district championships in 2006 and 2011, and the school's first regional championship and state quarterfinal appearance in 2006. Ott's teams have been ranked in the state for seven straight seasons, garnering the school's first No. 1 ranking in 2007, and finished the 2011 season ranked No. 4 after posting the school's first 30-win season. The Maroons also compiled six of the school's eight 20 win seasons under Ott.
Ott has been recognized by the Michigan High School Athletic Association as District Coach of the Year four times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011) and Regional Coach of the Year three times (2006, 2008, 2011). Seven of his players earned All-State honors while four were selected to play in the Michigan East-West All-Star Classic.
In addition to his coaching duties at Holland Christian, Ott also served as the school's assistant athletic director, sports information director, and web site information director since 2006. He also created and managed the baseball web site for the OK-Green conference.
Ott worked with Calvin College as an assistant baseball coach from 2002-04 as well as in 2011-2012 prior to the start of his high school season. He also was the director of baseball operations for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2011-2012. Ott also has experience recruiting and serving as the camp coordinator at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and as pitching coach for the Thomasville HiToms of the Coastal Plains Summer League. He has also served as a camp instructor at several NCAA Division I institutions.
Ott graduated from Calvin College with a degree in elementary education in 2002 while pitching for the Knights for four seasons. He earned a master's degree in athletic administration/sports studies at Western Michigan University in 2006. Prior to earning his master's degree, Ott pitched professionally (Frontier & Northern League) for three seasons before retiring due to shoulder surgery.
"Returning to the MIAA, in the role of a head coach, is full circle for me and I am looking forward to the opportunity at Kalamazoo. K is known for its academic excellence and I hope to piggy back upon that in bolstering the baseball program. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to begin working on turning the Hornet baseball program into one of the top programs in the conference."