EDMOND, Okla. (June 21, 2022) –
Chance Stevens, who has served as the pitching coach for Oklahoma Christian's baseball team since June 2012, has been named as the head coach at Oklahoma Christian Academy.
It will be the first head-coaching job for the 35-year-old Stevens, who was the last remaining member of OC head coach
Lonny Cobble's original staff.
"Chance has been with me for 10 years. He was my first hire at OC," Cobble said. "He is going to be a great addition to the OCA family, where he will not only change their program, but change lives! He is an outstanding coach and a better person."
In recent years, OCA has played its home games on OC's Dobson Field and a number of former OCA standouts have played collegiately for OC.
"I want to be at OCA to help build a competitive nature in the classroom and on the baseball field, as well as incorporating faith-based learning in everything we do," Stevens said. "I hope to mentor our baseball players into young men of character with faith, as well as compete for state championships fall and spring."
Stevens has enjoyed a long run of success with OC. After his first season at OC, two of his pitchers, Cale Coshow and Chris Burgess, were selected in the 2013 Major League Baseball draft, the first time in school history that two Eagles were drafted during the same year.
In 2014, another OC pitcher, Dillon Endecott, earned NCAA Division II All-America honors, and in 2017, OC hurler Dalton Rentz was named as Oklahoma's NCAA Division II pitcher of the year by OklahomaSports.net.
OC made three straight trips to the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series after Stevens arrived, winning the NCCAA Central Region title each year and reaching the semifinals in 2015. In 2016, the Eagles advanced to the Heartland Conference tournament's championship round in their first season of NCAA Division II postseason eligibility.
Stevens, who's from Fort Worth, Texas, arrived at OC after spending three seasons on the staff at Oklahoma Wesleyan after finishing his playing career at the school in Bartlesville.
In 2012, Stevens' first season as a full-time pitching coach, OWU went 42-25 and was the runner-up in the NCCAA World Series. Three of Stevens' pitchers received All-Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference honors and they combined to throw two no-hitters.
In 2011, OWU won the NCCAA title with a 39-28 record.
Stevens also worked as a coach with an American Legion team in Bartlesville.
He played one season at North Central Texas College before transferring to OWU. In three seasons at OWU (2007-2009), he posted a 16-18 career pitching record with a 5.01 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 210 innings pitched. He was a first-team All-MCAC pick in 2007 and made the All-NCCAA Central Region first-team list during all three of his seasons at OWU. He also recorded the first no-hitter in OWU history.
"Coach Stevens' passion for baseball and understanding of the game stood out to the search committee, as well as his humility, work ethic and personality," OCA athletic director Jeremy Roman said. "I believe God is going to do powerful things through coach Stevens at OCA and we are excited to see where he leads our baseball program in the future."
