Jonas Lovin has joined the Iowa Central baseball coaching staff to serve as the new pitching coach. Lovin replaces David Flattery, who was hired as the St. Edmond Catholic Schools athletic and activities director.

Lovin recently concluded his second season as an assistant on the Concordia University team. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. 

"I'm excited to add Jonas to our current staff," Iowa Central head coach Eric Stein said. "He comes with a great track record, both as a former player and a coach."

Concordia won 56 games with Lovin on the staff, including the program's first NAIA World Series appearance this past season. The 2021 team broke the program record for single-season wins while also winning both the GPAC regular and postseason titles. The pitching staff set a new single-season record with 513 strikeouts this past year. 

"I was interested in the Iowa Central position after playing with several alumni including David, Clay Collison, Jacob Mohler, Bryce Berg and Tyler Vaughn, and hearing great things about Coach Stein and the program," Lovin said. "I know the program has been successful over the last several years and they have an exciting group of arms returning.

"I'm excited to get to work with these guys. There is a lot of talented players here and I'm looking forward to what this group will be able to achieve. The greatest thing in sports and often in life is the pull of motivated individuals toward a group goal."

Prior to joining Concordia, the native of Minden, Nebraska served as the pitching coach of the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders of the Northwoods League. 

Along with playing one season for Omaha where he had 10 strikeouts in 13 innings, Lovin pitched for four years at NCAA Div. II Augustana University where he was a teammate with Flattery, helping the school capture a national title. 

"I feel like I can bring in a new perspective," Lovin said. "Any time someone is added to or taken away from a group there is a change in how the group may approach things, expectation levels and overall methods and techniques. David has done a tremendous job with this group of guys and we have very similar beliefs on player development.

"Most of things he's done in the past will remain the same because I firmly believe in their effectiveness, however, as there is change in perspective there will be a little change in technique and practice that can hopefully add to the development of these players."

-By Dana Becker