The Coaching Staff
Travis Lallemand, Head Coach
Coach Lallemand completed his 6th year as head coach of the Crowder College Roughrider baseball team. As head coach, he has led the Roughriders to two Region 16 Championships, in 2008 and 2010 respectively. This year the Roughriders won their first South Central District Championship, earning a trip to the NJCAA World Series for the first time in the program's history where they finished 5th. Lallemand has been named the Region 16 Coach of the Year 2 times, once in 2008 and again in 2010, along with being named the South Central District Coach of the Year in 2010. Druing his 5 years as the head coach at Crowder, 100% of the players that have played for Lallemand have been offered scholarships from 4 year institutions. Altogether, Lallemand has coached 27 players in his time at Crowder that have signed with Division I programs and 18 players have been drafted by Major League clubs.
Lallemand started as assistant coach for the program and guided the Roughrider pitching staff for 3 seasons prior to becoming head coach. He remains very involved with the Roughrider pitching staff and has had 11 pitchers that have been selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and 18 that have signed with NCAA Division 1 schools in his 8 years at Crowder.
Coach Lallemand came to Crowder from Parsons, Kansas, where he was an assistant
baseball coach for two years. He also served one year as the volunteer assistant at Berry
College in Rome, GA. Lallemand is originally from Girard, Kansas. Lallemand prepped at Girard High School, Kansas and went on to play collegiate baseball
at Labette Community College before transferring to Berry College in Rome, GA. Each
of the teams he competed on from ‘96-’99 competed in the top two of their respective
conferences. Travis finished in the top five nationally in ERA in 1997.
Lallemand is married to the former Jennifer Gardner of Waterloo, Illinois and they live in Neosho.
Jim Ritter, Assistant Coach
Assistant Coach Jim Ritter is a native of Neosho, Missouri.
He attended Missouri State University on a football scholarship and played
baseball in the Independent League for three years. He is retired from the
Marine Corps after 26 years of service. During his time in the Marine Corps,
he was a coach/player on USMC teams for over 22 years.
Coach Ritter has coached for Mickey Owen Baseball School for 11 years
during the off-season and has coached for 3 years in the Jayhawk Summer
College League. He has been an assistant coach at Crowder College for 10 years. His primary
duties consist of working with the catchers and hitters. For the past 9 years, Coach Ritter has
been an Associate Scout for the Los Angeles Angels.
He lives in Neosho with his wife Beth.
Kevin Enkelmann, Assistant Coach
Kevin starts his 2nd year as an assistant coach on the Riders baseball staff. Coach Enkelmann will work with outfielders and hitters and serve some duties with recruiting.
Coach Enkelmann comes to Crowder from University of Texas-Permian Basin in Odessa, TX. In 2009 he helped UTPB win their conference in the schools 1st year of post season play and an automatic bid to the Central Missouri State University regional in Warrensburg, MO. Prior to UTPB, Kevin attended Crowder College for two years and received his Associates in General Studies. In 2008, his sophomore year, Kevin was awarded the Bob Holtz Dirtbag Award.
Kevin is from Tulsa, OK and resides in Neosho, MO while continuing his degree in Business. After graduation with his Bachelors degree, he will pursue in getting his Masters Degree in Education.
Rob Vessell, Assistant Coach
Coach Vessell begins his 1st year at Crowder College and will primarily deal with the Roughrider pitching staff along with recruiting and many other aspects of operations. Before Crowder, he coached 2 years at University of Arkansas at Fort Smith’s as pitching coach, recruiting coordinator and academic advisor. Prior to his stint with Ft Smith Vessell was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division II Henderson State University.
In his last of 6 seasons at Henderson State, who compete in the Gulf South Conference, they posted a 34-16 win loss mark and set the school record for wins in a season, as well as being ranked as high as #7 in the country. During his six seasons, Vessell coached 21 all-conference players, five all-region players and three All-Americans as well as one player being drafted in the 26th round by the Kansas City Royals.
Summer of 2011 Vessell was assistant coach of the Edenton Steamers of Coastal Plain League. They had a 49-14 record and held number 1 ranking in the country for 5 weeks. Lead the league in pitching E.R.A. with 2.84.
Vessell is a 1999 graduate of Russellville High School, where he was a three-sport athlete earning all-state honors in baseball as a junior and senior. He played four seasons at NCAA Division II Arkansas Tech University. The former pitcher helped lead the Wonder Boys to a runner-up finish in the Gulf South Conference in 2001 and holds the Wonder Boys’ record for most appearances during a career with 63.
Last updated 11/01/2011
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