Ryan Munger - Baseball Coach - Davidson College Athletics

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

Ryan Munger

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
rymunger@davidson.edu
Phone:
2002

7th Season
Duke '13

Ryan Munger joined the Davidson baseball coaching staff for the fall 2013 season and serves as an assistant coach, working primarily with catchers but also assists with hitting and was elevated to recruiting coordinator in July 2018.

During his tenure, the catching corps have improved to a 44% success rate on throwing out base runners attempting to steal.

Munger’s guidance helped the Wildcats turn in their most successful season in program history in 2017, where they followed up with a 2018 season that saw Davidson register the most wins for a regular season (32) and boast the best winning percentage in modern era program history. Munger’s direction led Wildcats catcher Eric Jones to a MVP season, earning National Player of the Week honors, as well as being named the 19th best catcher in Division I by d1baseball.com. Jones was the second-ever Davidson player to be named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, both coming since Munger began managing the catching staff. Munger’s assisted supervision of the ‘Cats offense led to a league-best 60 long balls, led by the junior duo of Jones and outfielder Justin Lebek’s 11. Davidson finished the season nationally ranked in the statistic.

In 2017, the squad claimed its first conference title in the program’s 115-year existence with a school record 35 wins, and went on to become just the second number four seed to ever sweep a NCAA Regional. His tutelage helped three-year backstop Jake Sidwell to become the program’s second-ever two-year captain. Sidwell was also named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List and named a Rawlings Gold Glove finalist, both program firsts. Munger also helped supervise outfielder Will Robertson, who became the most decorated player in school history, earning four All-America honors, being named a NCAA Breakout Player of the Year finalist, and being taken by the Baltimore Orioles in the 30th round of the MLB Draft. Munger’s knowledge of hitting helped the ‘Cats to blast 71 homers, led by Robertson’s single-season setting record of 18. Fellow senior Brian Fortier added 15, as both sluggers were named National Players of the Week during the season as well as the Atlantic 10 All-Conference squads.

2016 marked a historic season for the ‘Cats, where the team became the first No. 6 seed to ever compete for the A-10 title. In their inaugural season in 2015, Davidson earned the No. 4 seed in the A-10 Tournament before falling in the semifinals.

In his first season with the Wildcats, Munger assisted with hitting instruction, and the team batting average improved 43 points from the season prior. Davidson returned seven starters in 2014, and they all raised their batting averages - from a minimum of 22 points to a maximum of 130 points - for an average increase of 49 points amongst the seven. They all increased their RBI totals and, with the exception of one, all increased their home run totals. Ultimately, the 'Cats set program records for overall wins (29), SoCon wins (17) and modern-era winning percentage (.604).

One of the first catchers Munger supervised, Daniel Gerow, was among the league leaders in caught stealing percentage and was named to the SoCon All-Tournament team.

Munger started 58 of 92 games played during his career at Duke, earning four letters and serving as the team captain. He made a career-high 19 starts as a senior and earned a place on the ACC Academic Honor Roll playing for head coach Chris Pollard, a 1996 Davidson baseball graduate.

Munger has gained coaching experience working numerous camps. He began coaching various age levels at Duke baseball camps as a freshman, and has worked at several high school prospect camps. He also has coached at camps at Wake Forest, North Carolina and Davidson.

A native of Houston, Texas, Munger graduated from Duke in 2013 with a degree in history. His great uncle, George Munger, pitched 10 years in the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, winning a game in the 1946 World Series to help the Cardinals win the title.