Bill Kernen, the only coach in the history of the CSUB baseball program, will leave for New York City to be a screenwriter on July 1.
Baseball head coach Bill Kernen announced his retirement from coaching during a press conference on Thursday, May 8.
Kernen, who has been at the helm since 2009 for CSUB’s inaugural baseball season, amassed 155 wins and 168 losses. Hired in 2007 to start the program from scratch, Kernen has coached 11 players taken in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Six players were taken last year.
Under Kernen’s watch, the Roadrunners won the Western Athletic Conference regular season in their first year as a conference competitor. After going 37-22 in the regular season, He was named the WAC’s Coach of the Year, alongside CSUB players Jeff McKenzie and Tyler Shryock, who won Pitcher of the Year and Player of the Year respectively.
“I’ve got a little bit of breath left and a little bit of energy left and I need to use that if I want to do something because I never wanted to die on a baseball field with a lineup card in my hand,” Kernen said to media on Thursday.
The 65-year-old will turn in his cap and lineup cards to return to stage and screen writing in New York City. Kernen took a break from coaching in 1999 to enroll in Columbia University’s dramatic writing program.
“We thank coach Kernen for his six years of service considering he’s taken this program from literally a dream to a national competitor in a short amount of time,” Athletics Director Jeff Konya told gorunners.com.
