Baseball Coaching Staff

Former University of Mississippi shortstop Jason Huisman enters his second season as the hitting, infield and outfield coach for the Cougars.

A native of South Holland, Illinois, Huisman graduated Thornwood High School in 1994. That same year, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth round after receiving USA Today Baseball High School All-American honors for hitting .528 with seven home runs and 44 RBIs during his senior year. He went on to participate in the Junior Olympic Baseball Trials in 1994 and the Olympic Baseball Trials in 1995.

Huisman attended the University of Mississippi where he played shortstop under former Cub shortstop and White Sox manager Don Kessinger. During his four seasons at Ole Miss, Huisman took a leadership role as President of their Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. On the field, he set single-season school records in 1998 for home runs (21) and RBIs (71), and a career record for walks (135). He continues to rank in the top five in nearly all offensive career categories for Ole Miss. Following his senior season in 1998, Huisman was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 14th round and played five years in their organization.

Huisman graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is married to the former Kathleen Mary O'Hara of St. James, New York, and the couple has a three-year old son, Cullen Robert.

 

Current professional pitcher and former Concordia University Chicago pitcher Jim Paduch enters his first season as an assistant coach for the Cougars.

Paduch hurled the Cougars to a co-championship in the NIIC during the 2003 season, going 7-3 with a 2.33 earned run average and 66 strikeouts over 77 1/3 innings. He was named the conference Player of the Year and awarded third-team honors on the ABCA's Central All-Region team. In June of that year, he was picked in the 12th round, 351st overall, by the Cincinnati Reds, making him only the second collegiate player from the state of Illinois selected in that year's draft.

Paduch began his professional career with the Billings (Mont.) Mustangs and led his team to the Pioneer League championship, tossing a no-hitter in the clinching game of the title series. He pitched for the Potomac (Va.) Cannons in the 2004 season and spent most of 2005 and 2006 with the Sarasota (Fla.) Reds, Cincinnati's High A affiliate. In June of 2006, he received a brief call-up to the Reds' Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky and threw four scoreless innings against Norfolk, a New York Mets' affiliate that included some former major league hitters on their roster.

Paduch earned his bachelor's degree in business management from Concordia in December of 2006.

 

Current professional pitcher and former University of Mississippi infielder/closer Justin Huisman enters his first season as an assistant coach for the Cougars.

Huisman, younger brother of Cougar coach Jason Huisman, enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Ole Miss, breaking the single-season and career saves record and earning honorable mention All-American accolades among all third basemen during his freshman year. He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 2000 amateur draft. Huisman made All-Star teams in Low Class A, High Class A and Double-A. Later, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals and made his major-league debut on April 25, 2004 by pitching a scoreless inning against the Minnesota Twins. On May 19 of that year, he would earn his first major-league save by pitching the final two innings of a Royals' win over the Texas Rangers. Huisman would go on to pitch 25 innings for Kansas City that season.

Most recently, Huisman has been affiliated with the Seattle Mariners' organization. He pitched 27 innings in 2006 for the Mariners' Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers.

 

Tim Ferraro enters his second season as the catchers' coach for the Cougars. Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Ferraro is a 1986 graduate of Cretin High School where he caught for the 1986 Minnesota State championship team. Following high school, Ferraro played four years at St. Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota, the first two seasons where he had the distinction of playing with Cougar head coach Spiro Lempesis. He served as team captain his senior year of 1990 for the nationally-ranked MIAC conference champions.

Ferraro and his wife Anne live in Oak Park with their three children - Olivia, Sofia and John Philip.