After 600 wins at Kellogg CC, baseball coach reflects on career
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — After a doubleheader sweep of Clark State College in Ohio earlier this month, Kellogg Community College head baseball coach Eric Laskovy walked off the field to celebrate with his team, completely unaware of what he had just done.
For the last 18 seasons in Battle Creek, Laskovy has been the head man for the Bruins — and on March 7, he claimed his 600th career victory.
“Our athletic director contacted me after the game and said, ‘Hey, congrats on that.’ And then he had our assistant coach get on our charter bus and he announced it on the microphone,” Lasokvy said. “So, that was a nice moment.”
The accolades don’t stop there. Laskovy has led the Bruins to nine Michigan Community College Athletic Association Conference Championships, including the last six, three state championships, five National Junior College Athletic Association Region XII Championships and five appearances in the NJCAA D-II World Series. The Bruins finished in third back in 2022 under him.
Laskovy also has plenty of personal accolades, including over a dozen different head coach of the year awards, but he’ll be the first to tell you that his success comes from his team.
“You only hang around this long if you’re surrounded with amazing people. I love the people I work with. And our student-athletes that have been so successful here, not just on the field but in the classroom, in the community,” he said. “It’s definitely that connection, that program connection that makes this so enjoyable.”
The Paw Paw native has enjoyed success in the sport of baseball, but he wasn’t always sure he would find a career in it. Laskovy grew up loving basketball but eventually found his calling on the diamond. He played for the Kalamazoo Maroons before joining the Ferris State Bulldogs in college.
That program would disband during his time there, forcing him to look elsewhere to continue playing. Laskovy played at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and then found his way to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he finished his collegiate playing career.
Laskovy then worked to get his master’s degree to become a head coach. He didn’t know where he wanted to end up but had connections at Kellogg Community College and figured he would join the staff while he finished his schooling. After that, he never left.
“I probably thought I was going to leave as soon as I got my master’s,” he said. “We started having success, really having a lot of pride in the program. Next thing you know, you’re the head coach and then a full-time faculty job and here we are, 20-plus years later. And I’m still here.”
And KCC is more than happy to continue having Laskovy on its payroll — not just on the field, but off it as well.
“The wins, the championships, the awards he’s received are all so impressive and typically what gets the headlines, but his impact on our student-athletes stretches far beyond the baseball field,” KCC Athletic Director Drew Fleming said in a statement. “We are incredibly fortunate to have Coach Laskovy as a leader of our program and on our campus.”
On top of his coaching duties, Laskovy also teaches at the college. While he doesn’t often have his players in his classroom, he said that being able to teach on top of coaching is a huge perk of remaining at KCC.
“We’ve been so connected to this program and the players and former players, and I love the people I work with,” he said. “And I’m in a great situation as a faculty member.”
It has been tempting, Laskovy said, to move on from the junior college level and continue his career at a higher level. He certainly has had offers due to his win totals and the players he develops. Laskovy said he’s had over a dozen players commit to D-1 schools in the past two years alone.
Despite all that, Laskovy once again confirmed to News 8 that he doesn’t have plans to leave West Michigan.
“We really think a lot of teaching has to be done here. We want to close that gap between potential and performance with a sense of urgency because we want so bad for them to come here through team first and be able to have opportunities that they didn’t have out of high school,” Laskovy said. “The other thing is sometimes you’re the closest person to that student-athlete at junior college. You’re almost like a distant uncle or cousin. You really can have an impact on some of these student-athletes from that standpoint. When someone comes here and develops and they end up having an opportunity they never dreamed of, the gratification we get from that’s incredible.”
Since his milestone victory, Laskovy has gotten three more wins to add to his total, and the Bruins currently sit at 13-5. The team is set to play its first home game of the season on Thursday at MCCU Field at C.O. Brown Stadium.
Laskovy said he’s looking forward to another season in Battle Creek and spending time with his players and fellow coaches.
“We’ve just been fortunate to have a lot of student-athletes with tremendous character and have really made a commitment to the program,” Laskovy said. “And that’s, at the end of the day, what we really ask.”
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