Tripp Keister

Title: Associate Director of Sports

Email: keistetr@wesley.edu

Phone: 302-736-2369

College: Delaware '92

Tripp Keister, a former standout outfielder at the University of Delaware and a respected professional scout and NCAA Division I head coach, is in his fourth year as head baseball coach and Associate Director of Sports at Wesley. Keister also played five years of minor league baseball in the New York Mets organization.

Keister has wasted no time turning around a program that had not had a winning record or advanced to the conference postseason since 2001.  His first three years have resulted in the winningest three-year run in Wolverine baseball history with 80 victories, three conference postseason bids and a pair of berths into the ECAC South Championship.  The 2007 squad won a school record 30 games, while the 2008 edition ranks second with 27 victories.

Wesley moved into the competitive Capital Athletic Conference in 2008, but still managed to post 27 wins, including a 10-8 mark in the conference.  Four Wolverines were named to the All-CAC team after the year.  His team finished eighth in Division III in stolen bases with 120, while the pitching staff was 15th, allowing only 8.68 hits per nine innings.  Both Stu Madden and Kevin Ellis finished in the top 10 in stolen bases, combining for 69 swipes.  Pitcher Colin Warner was third in Division III with 12.7 strikeouts per nine.

In Keister's first year with Wesley, he led the Wolverines to a 23-19 overall mark and a 12-9 record in the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC). His efforts earned him PAC Coach of the Year honors after the season. The rebuilding process continued in 2007, as the team notched a 30-14 record and went 17-9 in the PAC, earning a bid to the ECAC Postseason.

Keister is just the third Wesley diamond coach in the past 36 years. A graduate of McKean High School, Keister earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education at the University of Delaware in 1992, where he also lettered as a star outfield on the school's baseball team. Ironically, he played at UD under legendary Coach Bob Hannah, a Wesley College graduate. The New York Mets subsequently drafted him in the 32nd round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft.

After playing four years of minor league baseball, he became an assistant baseball coach at the University of South Carolina from 1996-98. Delaware State University hired him as its head baseball coach in July 1998, and over the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Keister turned around a losing program and led the team to a 45-38 overall record that included two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference North Division titles, including a 14-1 mark in 2000. Keister left DSU after the 2000 season to assume a scouting post with the San Diego Padres. With the Padres, he served as an amateur scout, and also scouted the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Baltimore Orioles. He continued in the scouting post until he was named associate athletic director of development at DSU.

Keister currently resides with his wife Maureen and his three children in Smyrna, Delaware.

Coaching Career:
1996-1998- Assistant Coach- University of South Carolina
1999-2000- Head Coach- Delaware State University (45-38, two-time MEAC Northern Division Champions)
2006-Present- Head Coach- Wesley College (80-48, two ECAC Tournaments, PAC Coach of the Year)

Playing Career:
1989-1992- University of Delaware
1992- Drafted in 32nd round by New York Mets
1992- Pittsfield Mets
1993- Capital City Bombers (A)
1994- St. Lucie Mets (A)
1995- Binghamton Mets (AA)

*Joined Capital Athletic Conference