Brian McGee is entering his fifth season as the Lake Erie College head baseball coach after being taking over the position in October 2007. In just four years, McGee has built a competitive program as his squads have improved significantly on the field, while undergoing the difficult transition from Division III to current active D-II status, and rewritten the school record books in the process.

The 2011 season was the program's high water mark as the Storm reached the 20-win plateau for the first time ever, finishing with 21, and was in contention for a playoff spot in the rigorous Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference up until the next-to-last day of the season in the team's first year in the league.  Five players earned All-GLIAC honors while three were named to the NABC All-Midwest Region Team (Ryan Rua and Brandon James - First Team, Matt Toth - Second Team, Gold Glove).  Shortstop Ryan Rua was named the school's first baseball All-American, being named to the Daktronics, Inc. Division II Team as an honorable mention selection and was also Lake Erie's first professional draft pick when he was taken by the defending American League champion Texas Rangers in the 17th round.  

Prior to his arrival, Lake Erie had never finished higher than seventh in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), but in his first year the Storm finished third in the league and won a then school single-season record 17 games.   The 10 AMCC wins were the most during the College’s six years of AMCC membership. All told, the team set 20 school records and finished the season ranked in the top 100 among all NCAA Division III teams in five statistical categories, most notably home runs (25^th), slugging percentage (40^th) and batting average (89^th).

That team earned its first postseason bid, advancing to the AMCC Tournament semifinals.  McGee’s players earned more conference accolades that season than in any prior year, while receiving Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) All-Star and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Rawlings all-region team honors for the first time in program history.

Moving up a level and competing as an independent provisional Division II team in 2009, McGee's squad just missed the 2008 team's win total, finishing with 16 wins and set or tied 41 different school records.  Fielding a roster of primarily first-year players, McGee’s charges overcame a slow start to play .500 over the second half of the season, including an 8-1 stretch that featured wins over Top-30 team Slippery Rock and regional foe Gannon.   

In 2010, the Storm won 18 games and had two players - Ryan Rua and Brandon James - earn all-region second-team honors.  The high point of the season came on March 28 when Lake Erie defeated Division I Cleveland State 19-4 on the Vikings home field, the school's first victory over a DI team in any sport.  The Storm nearly replicated that feat in 2011 with a near-upset on the road at the University of Toledo (Lost, 7-6). 

Before McGee's tenure, Lake Erie had won just 49 games and posted a .251 winning percentage in its first six seasons.  McGee reached the 50-win plateau midway through his third year.

Prior to coming to Lake Erie, McGee was the assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach at Greensboro College from 2003-07.  He coached third base and instructed the Pride infield, leading that group to its best statistical performances in the program's history. In 2006, the Greensboro infield finished 12th in the nation in fielding percentage. McGee also served as the assistant director and facility manager for Greensboro's student recreation center.

His additional coaching experience includes serving as the head coach of the Lake Erie Monarchs of the Great Lakes League in the summer of 2006 and as an assistant for the Wilmington Sharks of the Coastal Plain League in the summer of 2004.

A native of Lorain, Ohio, McGee's coaching career began at Toledo St. Frances High School as a varsity assistant in the spring of 2001. The following year he served as assistant at the University of Toledo before getting his first head coaching job came at Lorain Catholic High School in the spring of 2003, where he led the team to its first regional appearance in over a decade and was named Lorain County Coach of the Year.

McGee is a 1996 graduate of Amherst Steele High School and a 2000 graduate of Tiffin University, where he was a four-year letter winner and team captain for the Dragons. He earned his bachelor's degree in sports management from Tiffin before earning a master's degree in recreation and leisure studies from the University of Toledo in 2002.

McGee and his wife, the former Adriann Garland, married in October of 2011. The couple resides in nearby Willoughby, Ohio.

McGee at Lake Erie

Eric Bunnell joined the Lake Erie College staff in the summer of 2010 and is in his second year as an assistant with the baseball program where he will once again work with infielders.  Before coming to Lake Erie, spent two seasons as an assistant at North Central College in Naperville, Ill.

While at North Central, Bunnell worked with the 2010 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) champion and NCAA regional qualifiers.  That followed a four-season stint at his alma mater, Mount Union College, where the Purple Raiders twice made playoff appearances.

Bunnell was an All-Ohio Athletic Conference player at Mount Union, earning all-league accolades in 2003 and All-Tournament Team recognition in 2002 when he helped lead his team to the conference title game.

During the summer months, he coached the Stark County Terriers of the wood-bat Great Lakes Summer League for four seasons from 2006-09, including the last two as head coach.  He was named the league’s manager of the year in 2008 after guiding the Terriers to a franchise record 26 wins.  He continues to work with area youth travel team and writes the popular Coach's Cave baseball coaching-themed blog.

Bunnell holds a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing from Mount Union.  He earned a master’s degree in liberal studies from North Central.  A native of Conneaut, Ohio, he currently resides in Painesville, Ohio.

Mark Sankovich is in his second season as the pitching coach at Lake Erie College following a two-year stint working with the pitchers and outfielders at Defiance College. 

In his first season with the Storm, Sankovich mentored a staff that posted the second-lowest ERA in school history and had a pair of complete-game one-hitters tossed during the season.  One Storm hurler earned All-GLIAC honors and another was named conference Pitcher of the Week.

During his time at Defiance, numerous Yellow Jacket hurlers received Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference weekly honors.

Sankovich played four years of baseball at Ohio Northern University where he was a first-team All-Ohio Athletic Conference and second-team All-Mid-East Region selection in 2008.  He went 8-3 with a 2.53 ERA that season with a league-high nine complete games. He served as a team captain and set the school record for lowest average against in a single season.

A native of nearby Chesterland, Ohio, Sankovich earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from ONU in 2008 and a master of arts degree in education/sports science track from Defiance in 2010.