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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
Bobby Bell

Bobby Bell

Bobby Bell enters his seventh season as the Head Coach of the John Carroll Baseball program in the 2025-26 school year. 

Bell assumed the role of head coach on July 8, 2019, promoted from his previous position of assistant coach. In his first six seasons at the helm, Bell has an overall record of 109-103-1. 

In 2025, Bell guided the Blue Streaks back to the OAC Tournament after missing out in 2024. John Carroll beat #21 Mount Union on its home turf to start the tournament. Meanwhile at home, JCU tallied an 8-5 record on the newly turfed Schweickert Field. 

In 2023, Bell guided the Blue Streaks to just the second OAC Tournament Championship in program history. The Blue Streaks made just the program's third NCAA Tournament appearance. Bell coached two All-Americans in Matthew Aukerman and Joe Olsavsky, while Aukerman also became JCU's first Kent Tekulve OAC Pitcher-of-the-Year winner since 2015. 

In 2022, Bell's Blue Streaks tabbed a 9-8 record in conference play but missed out on the tournament. n his second season, Bell led the Blue Streaks to the OAC Tournament Semifinal. His first season was cut short due to COVID-19 in March 2020. 

Initially hired as an assistant coach in the fall of 2014, Bell provided coaching, recruiting, and administrative support for all phases of the John Carroll baseball program for five seasons. During his time in this capacity, the Blue Streaks had 28 All-OAC honorees and qualified for three OAC Tournaments. As pitching coach in 2015, his charges set a team record for most strikeouts, and one of his players - Andrew Doring - was named OAC Pitcher of the Year.

Among his responsibilities were recruiting top student-athletes to compete at the Ohio Athletic Conference level, developing an off-season weighted ball program to build arm strength/speed, managing a pitching rotation and relief appearances throughout a 40-game season, providing optimal playing conditions for athletes, to include proper maintenance of baseball field and related equipment and supplies, and producing scouting reports on upcoming opponents to prepare coaching staff and players.

Bell began his coaching career in the summer of 2012 when he helped establish a new franchise team - the Olean Oilers -  into the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He was the manager of a 30-man roster made up of collegiate athletes from both national and international backgrounds. In his five years at the helm, Bell led the Oilers to NYCBL titles in 2015 and 2016, and was named the 2015 and 2016 NYBCL Manager of the Year. The Oilers reached the NYBCL playoffs in four of his five years, and amassed a record of 126-83, including a 39-7 record in 2016.

He also coached the Keene (NH) Swampbats of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) in the summer of 2017.

While at John Carroll, Bell aided the athletic department as an assistant facilities and game day operations manager from 2016-18.

A 2007 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a bachelor degree in Administrative Justice, Bell played two seasons for the Panthers baseball team as a relief pitcher, making 22 appearances. He also played two seasons at Erie Community College, where he was elected captain of the 2005 team and earned NJCAA All-Region honors that year as well.

Bell completed his masters degree in sports administration from Ashland University in September of 2019.

John Carroll baseball dates back to 1973, when Jerry Schweickert founded the program. In the 51 seasons of Blue Streaks baseball, John Carroll has produced 840 victories, competed in 16 Ohio Athletic Conference tournaments, and qualified for two NCAA Division III Championships (1984 and 2014). Bell is the fifth full time head coach in program history, following Schweickert (1973-76, 1979-95), Robert "Doc" Yackshaw (1977-78), Brian Brewer (1996-1999) and Marc Thibeault (2000-2019).
 
Year Overall Conference Conf. Tourney NCAA's
2025 23-17 11-7 1-2 0-0
2024 15-24 7-11 0-0 0-0
2023 28-17 11-7 3-1 0-3
2022 18-20 9-8 0-0 0-0
2021 18-21-1 14-19-1 1-1 0-0
2020* 7-4     0-0 0-0 N/A
JCU Totals 109-103-1     53-52-1 5-4 0-3

*COVID-19 ended season early

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