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04/04/2012
11/15/2011
Team signs six players from the state of Utah.
Mike Crawford is in his fourth year as the pitching coach for the University of Utah.
The Utes have consistently been towards the top of the league in several pitching categories. Last season, Utah led the conference in fewest hits, doubles and home runs allowed. In 2010, Utah led the conference in fewest walks, hits and home runs allowed. The team finished second in opposing batting average and saves, behind only College World Series participant TCU.
Rick Anton led the conference in wins and ranked third in strikeouts in 2011. Anton was an eighth-round draft pick to the Dodgers. Tyler Wagner set a school record with 12 saves, which ranked 26th in the NCAA.
In his first year in 2009, Crawford coached MLB draft picks Brian Budrow and Jordan Whatcott. Utah also set a school record for strikeouts en route to winning the MWC Tournament.
Crawford previously spent two seasons as associate head coach at Yavapai College where the Roughriders were 41-16-1 in 2008. They climbed to as high as No. 9 in the national polls, and won their league with a 30-8 mark. Crawford's pitching staff was one of six schools in the 13-team league with an earned-run average below 4.00 (3.81). Yavapai was fourth in the conference strikeouts (393).
From 2002-05, Crawford was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Cochise College in Douglas, Ariz. He helped the Apaches to a pair of second-place league finishes (2004, 2005), and the 2005 pitching staff had the lowest earned-run average in the conference (2.66). As CC recruiting coordinator, he saw three of his four recruiting classes play for a regional championship. Before that he worked two seasons at Pima College in Tucson, Ariz.
Crawford played at the University of Arizona from 1999-2000. He was a starting pitcher for the Wildcats both years and was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of Week in May, 1999. He graduated from UA in 2001 with a bachelor's of science in communication and went on to get his master's from the United States Sports Academy in 2008.
The Tucson native's playing career began at Yavapai College as a starting pitcher in 1997-98. In 1998, he was named the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) Pitcher of the Year.
Crawford and his wife, Sarah, have a six-year-old son, Kolby.
