FEATURING ONE OF THE
FINEST COACHING STAFFS
IN THE COUNTRY

Bill Walkenbach
Cornell University Head Coach
Walkenbach returned to Cornell in 2008-09 after serving as the head coach at Division III Franklin & Marshall for three seasons. In his first year at Cornell, Walkenbach led the Big Red the Ivy League Gehrig Division Championship and to the Ivy League Championship playoffs. Cornell's attempt to secure an NCAA Championship berth fell one game short when it lost to Dartmouth in game three of the Ivy League Championships.

In his three years coaching at F & M, he guided the program to a pair of Centennial Conference regular season championships and a 43-11 mark in league play. He coached the program to a 69-42 record during his three seasons as head coach.

Under Walkenbach’s direction, the Diplomats had 19 players earn all-conference honors, including five players in both 2006 and 2007. In 2006, Franklin & Marshall posted the third-highest win total in school history, going 29-11 and recording a .325 team batting average and a 2.91 team earned-run average. That season, the Diplomats also went 16-2 in Centennial Conference action, tying the school record for conference wins in a season and knocked off Gwynedd-Mercy in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, the third NCAA tournament victory in program history. Franklin & Marshall ended the 2006 campaign ranked 13th in the nation and second in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Before being named the head coach at Franklin & Marshall, Walkenbach served as an assistant under Tom Ford at Cornell from 2003 until 2005, serving as the infield coach, hitting and base running instructor and first-base coach. While he was on the coaching staff in 2005, the Big Red captured its first-ever Gehrig Division championship.

Prior to coaching at Cornell, Walkenbach was an assistant coach at Emory University in Atlanta during the 2002 and 2003 seasons while working on his master’s degree in sports administration at Georgia State. He helped Emory reach the 2003 Division III College World Series and a then-school-best No. 5 ranking in the final national poll.

Walkenbach was a standout player during his collegiate career at Cornell, being voted the team’s MVP in 1995, 1996 and 1997, joining Erik Rico as the only players in program history to earn the award three times. Despite graduating 10 years ago, he still ranks in the top five in 11 offensive categories and in the top 10 in 13 categories. He is tied for the school lead in home runs (21) and is second in runs batted in (120), sacrifice flies (8) and at-bats (544). Walkenbach also ranks third in games played (158), runs scored (134), stolen bases (47) and total bases (279). He was a four-time All-Ivy League selection, earning first-team honors at shortstop in 1995 and 1996 and garnering second-team accolades at short in 1997 and 1998, while also being named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 1995.

e-mail Coach Walkenbach at wjw4@cornell.edu
Contact him by phone at 607.255.3812

Tom Ford
Cornell University Associate Head Coach
Tom Ford has served as head baseball coach at Cornell for 15 seasons and was the first Ted Thoren Head Coach of Baseball, an honor that was bestowed in the summer of 1999 when the position was endowed by Rich Booth '82. Ford succeeded the legendary Thoren when he was named the Big Red's 15th head baseball coach in 1991. Prior to joining the Cornell staff, Ford was the associate head coach at Ithaca College for 10 years. His first squad compiled a 23-17 overall record for Cornell's first winning season since 1984. As a team, the Big Red hit .306 that season, marking its first .300 season in seven years. The Big Red also beat Georgia Tech in the second game of a twin bill on its spring trip when the Yellow Jackets were ranked second in the country.

In 1995, the Red was 20-19 and finished second in the Gehrig Division of the Ivy League with a 10-10 slate. Ford also had the 1998 squad in contention for the Gehrig Division crown until the final weekend of the season. The Big Red's 12-8 finish in the Ivy League was the team's best to date and its 12 league wins was the most by a Cornell team since the 1982 squad went 12-6 in the then-Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League. In his 14 years at Cornell, Ford has compiled a 210-337-2 record. He picked up his 200th career win in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Joseph's (PA.) on March 13, 2004.

Ford has done a good job of preparing his players for the next level as well. During his tenure, seven Cornellians have either been selected in Major League Baseball's amatuer draft or signed as undrafted free agents. Those players are: Trevor Schumm `91, free agent, Anaheim Angels; Joel Nies `92, free agent, Boston Red Sox, Brian Williamson `99, 32nd round pick, New York Mets; Raul Gomez `01, free agent, Chicago White Sox; Erik Rico `02, 22nd round pick, Toronto Blue Jays; Chris Schutt `03, 7th round pick, Minnesota Twins; and Dan Baysinger `04, 31st round pick, St. Louis Cardinals.

A 1979 graduate of Ithaca College, Ford has a bachelor of science degree in physical education and was awarded his master's degree in 1981. During his undergraduate days at Ithaca, Ford was a pitcher for three years on the varsity, serving as a co-captain in 1979. He was the recipient of the Carlton "Carp" Wood Attitude Award following his senior year. Upon graduation, he served as head junior varsity and assistant varsity coach for the Bombers from 1979 to 1980. He worked strictly with the Bomber varsity as the pitching coach from 1981 until his appointment at Cornell.

e-mail coach Ford at twf2@cornell.edu
contact coach Ford by phone at 607.255.6604

Scott Marsh
Cornell University Assistant Coach
Scott Marsh is now in his 11th season as a member of the Cornell baseball coaching staff. Marsh, who works with the Big Red pitchers, is the assistant director of the Office of Publications and Marketing at the University.

Marsh is a 1986 graduate of UCLA with a bachelor of arts degree in economics, who earned his master's degree in business administration from the University of California at Irvine in 1989 and his master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University in 1994.

Under Marsh's guidance, the Big Red finished second in the league in team ERA in 2003 and has had a pitcher selected in the Major League Baseball amateur draft in each of the last three seasons. Erik Rico, the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2002, was selected that year by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 22nd round. Chris Schutt, the league's 2003 Pitcher of the Year, was taken in the seventh round by the Minnesota Twins. Following the 2004 season, Dan Baysinger was selected by the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals in the 31st round.

Marsh attended Golden West Junior College from 1981-83, compiling a 16-5 record over two years and tying the school record for most wins by a pitcher. He earned second-team all-state honors as a freshman at GWJC. He then went to UCLA, where he played baseball on a full athletic scholarship, compiling the lowest ERA in the Pac 6 as a senior.

Marsh played pro baseball for the San Diego Padres minor league teams in Spokane, Washington, and in Reno, Nevada.