The Communique

Issue date: 9/29/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Beth Bloomfield Jay Whannel, left, and Mike Brunner, right, are two new faces on the Kirkwood baseball coaching staff.

For Mike Brunner, Kirkwood Community College is like a second home. For Jay Whannel, it's new territory.

Head Baseball Coach John Lewis will open the fall season with two new assistant coaches. Brunner and Whannel will fill the positions of former assistants Adam Sadler and Mike Clement.

Brunner, who coaches outfielders and batting, is both an alumnus of Cedar Rapids Jefferson and KCC.

It was Brunner's three all-state seasons that landed him a spot on the Kirkwood baseball team, where he started his longstanding friendship with Lewis. Brunner said his relationship with Lewis was a major reason he decided to coach at Kirkwood.

"I walked into a great situation," Brunner said.

Brunner comes to Kirkwood with local and non-local coaching experience. He coached high school baseball at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Prairie and Kennedy. He played baseball at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, where he later coached.


When asked about this year's team Brunner said, "This year is going good. Everyone is getting along great and there is no drama."

Whannel, who coaches infielders and batting, is a graduate of North Tama High School, where he set state records.

"When I was a senior [in high school] I had the highest batting average in the state," said Whannel.

Whannel also played college baseball at St. Thomas University in Florida and at Wartburg.

Since taking the assistant coaching job at Kirkwood, Whannel has become good friends with Brunner and Lewis.

Whannel and Brunner share high goals for the Eagles this season.

"Hopefully [we'll make it to] the World Series," Whannel said. "They were only one game away last year."

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