Jacob Waddle is in his eighth season as the Head Baseball Coach at Illinois College in 2026.
Last season, Waddle led the Blueboys to a school record 22 victories. Individually, pitcher Charlie Lardi was named a third-team All-American by the ABCA. Lardi and outfielder Louie Bartletti were both named All-Region as well. A trio of IC players garnered All-Midwest Conference accolades as well. Lardi was the league’s Pitcher of the Year and first-team all-conference. Bartletti and Andrew Wieneke were both second-team selections.
On March 8th of last season, Waddle reached a career milestone when he recorded the 100th victory of his career when IC beat Concordia College of Minnesota.
The Blueboys posted a 21-18 record during the 2024 campaign. IC came racing out of the gate, posting the best start to a season in school history with a 13-2 slate. Individually, Bartletti was named second-team All-Midwest Conference and third-team All-Region by the ABCA. Connor Hennemann and Adam Passmore were honored as the league’s Performer of the Week during the season.
Under Waddle’s direction, the 2022 season led to several individual and team successes. Outfielder James Marcinkowski (ABCA & D3Baseball.com) and pitcher Cullen McBride (D3Baseball.com) earned All-Region honors. Marcinkowski hit .365 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI. Marcinkowski’s 54 runs and 108 total bases were both school records, while his 57 hits were second in IC history. McBride’s 74 innings pitched and 70 strikeouts were both second in IC annals. The Blueboys’ .973 fielding percentage was 11th in the nation, and 48 home runs were 29th. IC finished fourth in the Midwest Conference after earning its second consecutive trip to the MWC tournament.
The 2021 campaign was groundbreaking for Waddle and the Blueboys as IC won the Midwest Conference Championship, the program’s first since 1995, by beating Beloit in the conference championship series and earning the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional bid. Waddle was named the Midwest Conference South Division Coach of the Year for his efforts. Bailey Reed was the South Division Player of the Year, and Peyton Phillis the South Division Newcomer of the Year. Peyton Abbott, Tyler Blum, Griffin King, Reed, and Marcinkowski earned South Division All-Conference honors as well.
The 2020 season was cut short due to COVID-19. The 2019 season marked the beginning of the upward trajectory of Blueboy baseball. Colin Dearing, Scott Kasting, Joe Paparelli, and Brendan Stanfield were named South Division All-Conference, and the Blueboys finished 18-18, narrowly missing the Midwest Conference Tournament.
Before coming to the Hilltop, Waddle spent two years at Coe as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with day-to-day responsibilities as the hitting coach and position coach for catchers. Waddle also coached at Concordia University in Nebraska, where he helped spearhead a turnaround in which the program broke a record of 35 consecutive losing seasons and set single-season records for victories two years in a row.
A 2009 graduate of Luther, Waddle played in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now American Rivers Conference), earning All-IIAC honors three times in his career, and twice being named all-region. After earning a degree from Luther, he obtained a master’s in business administration from the University of Dubuque while coaching across town at Loras for three seasons.
Jacob and his wife, Hillary, have two children: a daughter, Annika, and a son, Luka. The Waddle family resides in Jacksonville.
