Lewis-Clark State College Athletics

Jake Taylor, a standout for Lewis-Clark State's 1992 National Championship team, will begin his seventh season as the head coach of Warrior Baseball in 2025. His fourth and fifth years at the helm saw the Warriors advance to the national title game of the Avista NAIA World Series in 2022 and 2023. Taylor has been voted the conference Coach of the Year four times in his career (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024). 

Taylor earned the 200th win of his career on March 15, 2024 as part of a doubleheader sweep of Corban. The Warriors won the regular season Cacsade Conference title and Taylor was voted CCC Coach of the Year. Drake George and Shane Spencer shared CCC Pitcher of the Year accolades. Under Taylor's guidance, Brandon Cabrera and Carter Booth became the first LC State Baseball duo to earn CSC Academic All-American honors in the same season and third and fourth ever to earn the award in program history.

In his first three full seasons (2020 cut short due to COVID), Taylor has led the Warriors to three conference titles and was thrice voted the NAIA West/Cascade Conference Coach of the Year. LC State has produced two conference Players of the Year and four Pitchers of the Year under his guidance. Brock Ephan was named a Second-Team All-American in 2021 and two Warriors earned all-tournament honors at the Series. LC finished the 2022 season with a record of 58-7 and finished at the National Runner-Up. The team was ranked as high as No. 3 during the season.

Despite a regular-season that wasn't up to normal LC State standards in 2023, the Warriors battled their way to the national title game for the second straight year. LC State was the No. 4 seed in the Lewiston Bracket of the Opening Round, presented by Avista, and swept through the tournament to earn a ticket the Series. The Warriors won their opening game against Indiana Wesleyan before falling to top-seeded Southeastern (Fla.). LC won its way through the loser's bracket and advanced to the final game before falling to Westmont (Calif.) 7-6. The Warriors went 4-2 in the Series with wins over IWU, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Taylor (Ind.) and William Carey (Miss.).

The Warriors got off to the best start in program history (20-1) in 2022 and set the LC record for longest winning streak (28 games). LC won both the CCC regular season and conference tournament for the second year in a row, and eight Warriors earned All-CCC honors. LC State hosted the program's first Opening Round and advanced to the Avista NAIA World Series after defeating UBC in back-to-back postseason tournaments (CCC and Opening Round). The Warriors went 4-2 at the Series with wins over Westmont (Calif.), Faulkner (Ala.), LSU Shreveport, and eventual champion Southeastern (Fla.). LC upset the top-seeded SEU Fire to force the if-necessary winner-take-all contest. Five Warriors were named to the all-tournament team, with Sam Linscott earned the Gold Glove and Riley Way being voted the Charles Berry Hustle Award recipient. 

Under Taylor, six Warriors have earned NAIA All-American status with the most recent being Trent Sellers (second team), Dawson Day (honorable mention) and Sam Linscott (honorable mention).  
 
Taylor is a 1994 graduate of LCSC, after playing in 1992 and 1993, with a degree in Kinesiology/Education. He is in the Warrior Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 1992 championship team. While at LC, he was a team captain, team MVP, two-time Gold Glove winner (career fielding percentage of .963), and a two-time member of the NAIA all-District I team. He also was highly recognized as a scholar-athlete as an NAIA Academic All-American and Diamond Award/Outstanding Scholar-Athlete in 1993.
 
After completing his playing career in 1993, he served as a graduate assistant for the Warriors for one season before embarking on his own coaching career. He was the Idaho High School Coach of the Year in 2005 while at Boise's Borah High School, and the 2012 recipient while at Meridian's Rocky Mountain High School. He coached five conference championship teams, two state title winners and one American Legion champion in compiling 350 career victories. His 2015 Rocky Mountain team was undefeated at 27-0 in the regular season, a feat for which he was honored as the Idaho Baseball Distinguished Coach of the Year.
 
He is a native of Troutdale, Ore., and graduated from Mt. Hood Community College, where he was highly honored as a student-athlete, before transferring to LCSC.

Jake and his wife, Brandy, have three children, Madeleine, Isabelle and Elliott.
 

Season	W-L Overall	W-L Conference	Conference Regular-Season	Conference Tournament	Avista NAIA World Series	Highest NAIA Ranking
2019	35-15-1	24-8	First	N/A	1-2	No. 19
2020	15-5	10-2	N/A	N/A	Canceled
2021	44-6	30-2	First	First	3-2	No. 3
2022	58-7	19-3	First	First	4-2	No. 2
2023	37-18	14-10	Fourth	Third	4-2	RV
2024	38-13	21-3	First	Second	N/A	No. 3
2025	36-16	28-9	Second	First	N/A	No. 7
Overall	263-80-1 (.766)	146-37 (.798)