JC Sanner (Strasburg Express) has been named the 2023 VBL Assistant Coach of the Year. Sanner went above and beyond the call of duty this summer, beginning the summer as the acting head coach while Peyton Traywick and his College of Central Florida team won the NJCAA DI College World Series. Sanner then took over as the permanent head coach in early July, as Traywick was hired as the full-time pitching coach for Arkansas State and thus could no longer stay and manage due to NCAA regulations. The Express lost a total of 21 players throughout this summer due to numerous reasons, and despite that Sanner and his assistants, Vinnie Morelli and Mike Lutman, were able to lead the Express to a 27-17 finish in the regular season and 3 outs away from the VBL Finals. Originally hired as the pitching coach, Sanner’s staff finished the regular season 3rd in both ERA and Strikeouts.
Sanner came to the Express after spending the 2023 spring as the Director of Player Development for Davidson College. Prior to that, Sanner spent 2021 and 2022 in professional baseball for both the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies. He has accepted the position of pitching coach for the College of Central Florida for this coming spring.
Congratulations JC!
By: Parker Neal
Photo By: Photography Ninja