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Men's Baseball

 630-617-3143
 southernj@elmhurst.edu

Joel Southern
Head Coach

Joel Southern enters his third season as the head baseball coach at Elmhurst College.

Last season Southern guided the Bluejays to a 12-28 record and a seventh-place finish in the CCIW. In his first year, 2007, the Bluejays posted a 16-22 overall record, earning a fourth-place finish in the CCIW and a trip to the CCIW Tournament. During his two years at Elmhurst, the program has produced six all-CCIW and four all-Central Region performers.

Southern, who previously spent four seasons as a coach at Western New England College, also served as an assistant baseball coach at Elmhurst during the 2002 season. Southern began as an assistant coach at Western New England and was promoted to associate head coach in 2005. During his tenure with Western New England, the Golden Bears compiled a record of 121-52 (.699), including three consecutive 30-win seasons. The team advanced to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament all four years and finished no lower than second place. In 2006, the Golden Bears won both the GNAC regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA New England Regional where they placed third. Western New England also advanced to the NCAA Tournament during the 2004 season, finishing third.

In addition to his coaching duties at Western New England, Southern also served as the Head Coach of the Holyoke Giants in the New England College Baseball League (NECBL), a wood-bat collegiate summer league. He guided the Giants to a 23-18 record in 2005 while advancing to the playoffs. His 2006 team finished 17-25 and once again qualified for the playoffs.

He also served as an assistant coach at the University of Chicago from 1997-98. A 1994 graduate of Augustana College (Ill.), Southern was a three-year starter and letter winner for the Vikings' baseball team, earning all-CCIW second team honors as well as being chosen as a third-team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American®. Southern finished his Augustana baseball career with a .308 batting average. He also earned two varsity letters in football at Augustana.

Southern earned a Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1999. He earned a master of education degree in physical education (concentration in athletic administration) at Springfield College (Mass.) in 2004.

In addition to his coaching duties, Southern serves as an adjunct professor of chemistry at Elmhurst. He also served as an assistant professor of chemistry during his time at Western New England.

Southern is a native of Latham, Ill. He and his wife, Carey, are the parents of a son, Paul, and they reside in Villa Park.

Nick Ferrin
Assistant Coach

Nick Ferrin is entering his first year as an assistant coach with the Bluejays. Ferrin will serve as the team's pitching coach.

Ferrin earned three varsity letters while pitching for Elmhurst from 2005-07. He compiled a 4-3 record during his senior season.

Ferrin has since worked as a senior instructor in both hitting and pitching at Slammers Baseball and Softball Training Center in Lake Forest.

He currently works for CDW in Lake Forest.

Steve Huisel
Assistant Coach

Steve Huisel is entering his first season as an assistant coach with the Bluejays. He will be working primarily with the pitchers.

Huisel was a former starting pitcher for the Bluejays and graduated from Elmhurst College in 2008.

Along with coaching at Elmhurst, Huisel coaches the Gurnee Riverdogs (American Legion POST 771) during the summer months. He has served as the head coach for the past two seasons and his teams have compiled a combined 16-15 record.

Tom Rhein
Assistant Coach

Tom Rhein joins the Bluejay coaching staff as an assistant coach after completing a stellar four-year career for the Bluejays in 2008.

A two-time All-region honoree, Rhein finished his career with a .355 batting average. He ranks fifth all-time in Elmhurst history in runs scored (132) and hits (185). His .355 average ranks 14th all-time while his 107 RBI ranks ninth all-time at Elmhurst. Rhein also ranks second in school history in career walks (83) and is tied for 10th in stolen bases with 31. He was hit by a pitch more than any other player in Elmhurst history, finishing with 33.

Gordon Murphy
Assistant Coach

Gordon Murphy enters his fourth year as a volunteer assistant coach with the Elmhurst College baseball team. He will serve as the team's bench coach.

Murphy has a law degree from Northern Illinois University and his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University. While at ISU he played baseball for the Redbirds under the legendary Coach Duffy Bass and was a member of the 1969 national champions in the college division. Murphy was the left fielder on the ’69 team and with that team joined the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.

In addition to assisting with the team, Murphy is the Managing Partner for the Barnabas Group which works to connect business leaders as volunteers to ministry groups in the Chicago area.

Murphy has been on the teaching faculty of Wheaton College and Columbia College and is a past chair of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago He is also a veteran of the U.S. Army.

Murphy and his wife, Cheryl, have four adult children, Paul, David, Rebecca and Daniel. The Murphy’s reside in Glen Ellyn.