Kent Madole enters his 22nd season as the head coach and 23rd overall with the Irvine Valley baseball program.

He was an assistant at IVC during the inaugural year of the program in 2001.

 

Madole was named the first full-time baseball coach at Irvine Valley the following year and has grown the program leaps and bounds. The first two years, IVC didn't have a home field, but that didn't stop Madole and his staff from getting the Lasers to be competitive right off the bat.

 

By 2005, the team made the regional playoffs and reached its first-ever Super Regional series.

In 2008, Irvine Valley hosted the Super Regionals for the first time.

 

This past year, IVC had a magical season, finishing with a record of 23-18 overall and making its way to the Super Regionals. 

 

 

Madole has also helped more than 90 of his players on to continue their baseball careers at four-year colleges and universities with a number of them shining at Division I programs.

 

Pitcher Chris Saddoris was an All-American at UNLV, infielder Keith Smith was on the Wallace Award watch list at UNLV, catcher Jessie Mier stood out at Lewis-Clark State, was drafted by the Dodgers and played in minor leagues with the Texas Rangers organization and pitcher Jeff Kaplan went from dazzling at Irvine Valley to becoming an ace for perennial power Cal State Fullerton and playing in the minors with the New York Mets.

 

Recent IVC players Sean Williams (UC Santa Barbara), Abel Medina (Cal State Dominguez Hills) and Bryce Hara (Valparaiso) started and starred for their respective teams. Medina was a Division II preseason All-American. Hara was part of the Valparaiso that went to the NCAA Tournament.

 

Standout first baseman Lucas Tancas from the IVC Super Regional team in 2015 stood out at Long Beach State.

 

IVC's top pitcher from the 2022 team, Jeremy Wiegman, signed with NCAA Division I Campbell University in North Carolina.

 

Madole also takes pride in his players work in the classroom. Four baseball players have been named the male scholar athlete of the year at Irvine Valley. IVC baseball prides itself on preparing players for four-year colleges both athletically and academically.

 

Madole came to Irvine Valley from Long Beach City College where he was one of the top assistants for five years. In his five years at LBCC, the Vikings reached the post-season three times, made it to two Super Regionals and one a conference championship.

 

He is an Orange County product, having starred at Foothill High in the Tustin area from 1985-88. Madole played centerfield and right field, was a team captain and earned all-league honors.

He went on to play college ball at the University of Pacific from 1988-92. He earned his bachelors degree in science from Pacific and then his masters degree in science from Long Beach State in 1997.

 

His ultimate goal at Irvine Valley each and every year is to have a respectful program, continue establishing a winning tradition and move student athletes on to play baseball and earn their degrees at four-year schools.

 

Madole lives in Huntington Beach with his wife Joy. They have three sons, Nick, Noah and Nate, who also love sports. Nate, Noah and Nick have all been a part of the IVC program over the last three years.