Baseball
 Eric
Hallenbeck, Head Coach
Eric Hallenbeck enters his fourth season as head coach
of Garrett College’s baseball program. His three year
record is 71-84-1 however with help from back to back recruiting
classes for the first time, Hallenbeck guided the 2007 Lakers
to their first winning season since 2000 and tied the school
record for wins with 31. They also were 9th in the nation
in team batting average hitting .357. He has coached one
Academic All-American, four first team all region XX players,
three all district players, one first team MD Juco and a
Rawlings Big Stick Award winner while with the Lakers.
Prior to Garrett, Hallenbeck served as an Associate Head
Coach for one year and top assistant for seven years at Frostburg
State University. During his tenure at Frostburg State, he
helped guide the team to a 205-102-1 overall record while
compiling a 54-19 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
record. As FSU’s recruiting coordinator the Bobcats
won three AMCC Tournament Championships (1998,1999,2004),
had 44 All-AMCC selections and four league Most Valuable
Players.
A former catcher and designated hitter at Frostburg State
from 1991-94, Hallenbeck started his coaching career in the
summer of 1993 as an assistant for the Brunswick (MD) American
Legion.
In 1994, he started his own legion program in Boonsboro,
MD. Two years later, Hallenbeck joined the coaching staff
at Frederick Community College as their pitching coach, where
the team set a school record for wins with 29, finished 13th
in the nation and posted a team earned run average of 3.50.
In 1997, Hallenbeck returned to his alma mater to serve as
an assistant.
Hallenbeck has established himself as one of the top catching
instructors on the East coast. He attributes most of his
catching knowledge to Ears McNeil, a scout for the Cleveland
Indians and the late Cal Ripken Sr. Penn State in the 80’s
and early 90’s was nicknamed “Linebacker U” because
they produced NFL linebackers, where Hallenbeck is its’ “Catcher
U”. “I have been fortunate to have worked with
some talented catchers. The Thompsons’, Sebolds’,
Magers’, Mannons’, Baughers’, Bosharts’ and
the Dobres’ these guys could catch with anyone. We
work on fundamentals everyday but we spend time on the little
things a catcher needs to do as well. My guys have a lot
of responsibility and I hold them accountable. Either you
want to be there or you don’t,” says Hallenbeck.
For nine years, Hallenbeck was the catching instructor for
the Ripken Baseball School. In addition to his coaching duties,
Hallenbeck also serves as admission counselor and supervisor
of baseball operations at the college.
In three short years’ Hallenbeck has made major renovations
to the field and press box. A new indoor batting facility
and clubhouse was opened in January ’07. In the fall
of 2006, Hallenbeck started a freshman team which plays a
fall season in the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference.
Mostly all freshman play in the WPCC league with the returning
players playing scrimmage games in the fall. This summer
a new batting tunnel and halo around home plate will be installed. “I’ve
needed a tremendous amount of support from the entire college
community to get accomplished what we have so far. I just
come up with the ideas, my athletic director backs me up
takes it to executive board to find funding and the head
of facilities and his dynamite crew finish with the nuts
and bolts.”
Hallenbeck, a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association,
received his bachelor’s degree in physical education
with concentrations in coaching and health fitness from Frostburg
State in May 1997.
He is also the proud father of two beautiful children, Madison
Brooke (7) and Zachary George (3).
 Mark
Teson, Head JV Coach, Assistant Varsity Coach
Mark Teson is entering his second year at Garrett
College, where he will be heading up the developmental program
as well as assisting the varsity team in all aspects. His
style, knowledge, work ethic and experience will help the
players grow as individuals on the field and in the classroom
As an assistant coach at Frostburg State University for
three years , Mark was the outfield coach, Third base coach
and worked as a hitting instructor. In addition to his duties,
he was the recruiting coordinator for the Bobcats. Teson
helped lead the Bobcats to an overall record of 84-44 and
a conference record of 37-11. As well as compiling three
AMCC playoff appearances, two AMCC championships and the
schools first regional appearance in 19 years.
Teson began his collegiate career at Division II Dowling (N.Y.) College as
he was recruited there by then-Head Coach Chris McKnight. In 2000, he appeared
in 49 of 50 games and hit .275 with six doubles and a home run.
He then transfered to FSU in 2001 and battled a pulled hamstring to hit .296
with six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 14 RBI. He led the team with
12 stolen bases and five outfield assists. In 2002, he continued to improve,
as he hit .305 with seven doubles, two home runs and 20 RBI from the leadoff
spot. He again led the team with 12 stolen bases, and he tied for the team
lead with 30 walks.
As a senior, Teson led the Bobcats to their third-highest single-season win
total (31) in program history. He earned second-team All-AMCC honors after
hitting .365 with 13 doubles, three triples, a home run and 23 RBI. He led
the team with a school-record 42 walks, scored 50 runs and compiled four outfield
assists. He also ranked second on the squad with 22 stolen bases.
He finished his career with a .324 career batting average, drew a school-record
101 walks and was 45-of-54 in stolen base attempts. His 126 runs rank third
on the FSU all-time chart, and his 27 doubles are tied for seventh.
From Frostburg Teson went on to play professional baseball
for the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League. Teson
earned his bachelor's degree in social sciences from Frostburg
State in 2004 and his master's degree in education in 2006
As a young fiery coach Mark plans to bring a method to
the Lakers that is based on hard work, determination and
class, both on and off the field. Mark will work with Coach
Hallenbeck and the rest of the coaching staff to put together
a team that will create a winning tradition at Garrett College
for years to come.
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2007-2008 Baseball Team
