Bio
If there is anyone in St. Louis who could be given the title, "Mr. College Baseball" it would be Ric Lessmann, who spent 27 years as the skipper of the St. Louis Community College Meramec Warriors. His teams recorded a 963-318 record while he was at the helm of a very successful program. Lessmann won the 1974 NJCAA National Championship and was the 1974 NJCAA Coach of the Year. During his tenure at Meramec his teams won fourteen Region 16 Titles and sixteen Midwest Community College Athletic Conference Titles. He has also been named to the NJCAA Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1991.
A number of players from his squad over the years were drafted and made it into Major League Baseball. After leaving Meramec, Lessmann took his craft to one of his alma maters and was the head coach of the Washington University baseball program for 17 years. He compiled a 396-231-1 record with the Bears and is the all-time winningest coach as well. The Bears also had success in the post season under Lessmann, as the team made three NCAA tournament appearances from 2005-2007.
As a collegiate head coach in the NJCAA and NCAA for 45 years, Lessmann compiled a 1,365-556-1 record with a .711 winning percentage. Lessmann currently is the assistant baseball coach for pitchers at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.