Coach Mitch Koester enters his fourth season as head coach of the Blue Devils after spending three seasons as the assistant coach. In Koester’s first year as head coach at KC he led the Blue Devils to their first GRAC Championship in 21 years. That same team was an Academic All-American team and also had 5 players receive Academic All-American honors. Koester saw 10 of his players sign with 4 year schools, 6 at the Division 1 level in 2009. Since he has arrived at KC, 10 of his current or former players have signed professional contracts and close to 60 have signed with 4 year school.

A Teutopolis, Illinois native, Koester graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and also graduated with his master’s degree in Education from McKendree University. While at Purdue he was a three-year starter at shortstop for the Boilermakers. In 2004 he served as one of two team’s captains. That same year he was selected to the All-Big Ten second team as a shortstop and was also voted the team’s Most Valuable Player. Prior to joining the Blue Devils, Koester was an assistant at West Lafayette High School in West Lafayette, Indiana. While there, he served as a Varsity Assistant Coach and he helped guide the team to a Final, 8 appearance in the 2005 season.

Koester and his wife, Megan reside in New Baden and have a 2 year old daughter, Grace Suzanne.

After making his mark on the KC baseball field five years ago, Marcus Wilson enters his third season as pitching coach for the Blue Devils. Wilson graduated from Arthur High School in 2005 where he played football, basketball, and baseball.

In 2005, he came to Kaskaskia to become a member of the pitching staff where he pitched for two seasons. During his freshman season, the Blue Devils finished 40-19 and were ranked 11th in the nation. As a sophomore, Wilson appeared in 15 games recording 9 saves and posted a .429 ERA in 21 innings of work. That season the Blue Devils finished with an overall record of 39-14. He graduated from Kaskaskia College in 2007 with an Associate in Arts Degree and as an Academic All-American. He graduated Cum Laude and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa.

In 2007, Wilson transferred to Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. In his first season with the Statesmen, he appeared in 16 games going 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA and 1 save in 28 innings out of the bullpen. He helped the Statesmen finish with a record of 48-11 and claimed their 11th Gulf South Conference Championship in the program’s history. In that same season, Delta State was the #1 team in the nation and hosted the Regionals but fell one game shy of going to the College World Series. He was on the All-GSC Academic Honor Roll as well.

In his two previous years as pitching coach, Wilson has sent six pitchers on to the four year level. In 2010, the pitching staff had a 4.27 ERA; and in 2011, they had a 3.24 ERA. In addition to his coaching duties, he is the Testing Coordinator in the Student Success Center at the college. Wilson resides in Centralia.