Coach Crookes came to Hutchinson from Louisiana where he earned his master’s degree in Sports Administration at Northwestern State. Crookes was a graduate assistant coach for the Demons and helped with the outfielders and hitters, as well as serving as head of academics support and
on-campus recruiting.
HCC is Crookes first collegiate head coaching job, but he has coached with several summer collegiate teams. During his summer league stints as head coach, Crookes won coach of the year in the Northwoods League while coaching in Rochester and Brainerd.
Crookes believes in discipline, fundamentals and is a disciple of the “small ball” theory to the game. Over the past seven seasons, HCC has had some of its best pitching and defensive teams and offenses that are adept at manufacturing runs without waiting for the three-run homer.
Now in his eighth season as the Blue Dragon head coach, Crookes had guided the Blue Dragons to a 252-147 record. His 242 wins and 399 games coached both rank second on the career coaching list. His .632 winning percentage ranks third.
Crookes started his collegiate career at San Jose City College, where he was also a two-year starter. During his sophomore year Crookes was an all-conference selection and earned San Jose City Athlete of the Year.
Crookes finished his playing career in Louisiana at Centenary College. He was a two-year starter at catcher and third base – leading the Gents in home runs, walks, runs scored and hit by pitches. Crookes also earned TAAC Academic All Conference honors both years, graduating Cum Laude with a Bachelors Degree in History.
