CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois baseball has reorganized its coaching staff and welcomed James Conrad into the mix as the program's new graduate assistant, head coach Jim Schmitz has announced.

 

Third-year assistant coach Skylar Meade has taken over as the program's recruiting coordinator, assuming many of the lead-assistant responsibilities after Sean Lyons accepted a position at Bradley in September.

 

Conrad played his college ball at Lafayette of the Patriot League from 2003-07, helping lead the Leopards to the Charlottesville Regional of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. He ranked third nationally with 49 stolen bases as a senior. Since graduating with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, he has served as the head coach of the Covington Lumberjacks of the Valley Baseball League (a summer collegiate league based in Virginia) and a volunteer assistant at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

 

“James comes with a great recommendation from the VMI staff,” Schmitz said. “We needed a coach who can handle the daily organizational duties as well as coach and recruit. He has already demonstrated that he is a go-getter and the players really like him. We are fortunate to get such a quality person this late.

 

“Skylar will take over as the recruiting coordinator as well as continue to handle the pitching responsibilities. Skylar has a great feel for our recruiting base and already has five commitments for the 2010 class. He is a great evaluator of talent, but more importantly knows who we can get to commit to EIU. I am happy that we did not lose a step in the recruiting process and that we have a good start for the next recruiting classes.”

 

Conrad will coach third base and oversee the defensive alignment during the season. He will also be coaching the catchers.

 

The Columbia, Md., native was 7-for-9 in Lafayette's two games at the 2007 NCAA Regional. He played for the Traverse City (Mich.) Beach Bums of the independent Frontier League in 2008. He led Covington team to a runner-up finish in the VBL's South Division this past summer. Conrad will begin his postgraduate studies in the kinesiology and sports studies department in January.

 

Eastern has also welcomed Drew Locasio to the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant. He played at Indiana-Southeast from 2008-09, where he a First Team All-Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference shortstop in the spring and led his team to a conference title. Locascio, a Naperville native, will coach first base, assist with the baserunning instruction and throw batting practice.

Panther baseball will close out fall practice with its annual Fall World Series later this month. The 2010 regular season begins the weekend of Feb. 19-21.