Math teacher Jerome Nemanich was inducted into the High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame (MSHSBCA) on September 21st at Target field for his incredible 26 years of coaching.
Nemanich has been coaching baseball for Sartell for the entirety of his 26 years of coaching. This year he will be entering his 27th. Throughout his 26 years, he has made five state tournament appearances. He is hoping to make it six this year and secure his first state title win.
On that beautiful fall day, he was recognized for the dedication and hard work he has put in as a baseball coach. He will officially be inducted into the High School Baseball Coaches’ Hall of Fame sometime in January next year.
According to the announcer of that night’s game, “[Nemanich] may be the only coach that has taken his team to the state tournament in all four classes: 1A, 2A, 3A, and 4A.”
Coach Nemanich was kind enough to talk about this experience of being inducted, along with memories from the last 26 years and even some reflections on how coaching has changed.
Chris Magnuson, third grade teacher at Riverview Intermediate School, coaches alongside Nemanich. He has been an assistant coach for the varsity baseball team for seven years. That whole time, he has been working in conjunction with Nemanich.
Magnuson continues this sentiment: “He challenged me to become an even better coach than I was through attending coaching clinics, watching coaching videos, and listening to podcasts. He leads by doing all of these things himself and sharing what he learns. We implement our new knowledge into practice along with other well established drills. All of his practices are very well thought out and scheduled. This ensures the development and building of good technique along with making sure we get to everything we need to cover. We as coaches also talk regularly about what we are seeing from our athletes and adjust drills accordingly moving forward. All of Coach Nemanich’s organization skills, passion for the game, and love for helping kids have made Sartell-St. Stephen a great baseball program.”
Coaching can be intense for not just the coaches and players, but also their families. Coach Nemanich’s wife, Kris and their two daughters, have also seen his dedication and complete commitment to Sartell baseball over his storied decades of coaching.
Mrs. Nemanich says, “Over the years, I’ve just accepted that coaching is something that he loves doing and that it requires a lot of his time and energy.”
She’s also happy that her husband is getting recognized for all of the hard work he has put into coaching: “It’s nice that Jerome is being recognized for all that he’s given to the Sartell baseball program. He’s coached a lot of kids over the years and has had some good success.”
Emma, Nemanich’s youngest daughter, says, “It’s fun to see him being recognized for how much work and effort he’s put into the program. He spent every spring and summer of my childhood doing baseball, and I know that it is something that he is truly passionate about. He puts in a lot of effort and time off the field as well, trying to make the baseball program the best it can be.”
He has been coaching before she was even alive, and yet she still recognizes all the hard work and dedication it takes to coach a high school team.
For the past 26 years, the Sabres have been on a roll, making the state tournament in each class. The Sabres are hoping to make yet another state run this year, and hopefully, get coach Nemanich his first state title win.
