Tarleton State announced Cody Semler as the third assistant coach July 20.
Semler is joining the staff after spending the previous season in Norfolk, Virginia, at Old Dominion. Prior to his time in Virginia, Semler spent the 2022 season in Tampa, Florida, with the Hawks of Hillsborough Community College and before that, he spent two years in Big Spring, Texas, at Howard College. Semler served as a graduate assistant coach at Oklahoma State from 2016-2019.
During his time as a Monarch, Semler served as the volunteer assistant coach and worked with hitters and catchers and shared base running duties. The Monarchs finished the season with an overall record of 32-23. Under the guidance of Semler, the blue and silver ranked second in slugging percentage at .515, third in triples with 18, fourth in home runs with 100 on the season and totaled 430 runs.
In the 2023 season at ODU, Semler worked with athletes who accrued titles like National Player of the Week, Sunbelt Player of the Week (February), National Player of the Week, and semi-finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.
The summer before his time in Virginia, he trained and developed Josh Bostick who had been cut by a junior college program in Florida. The following year Bostick was drafted in the eighth round by the San Francisco Giants. He spent the 2022 season in Tampa, Florida, as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for Hillsborough Community College.
Semler began his time at Howard College in Big Spring, Texas, in 2019. During his two-year run with the Hawks, the baseball program went on to win the 2021 WJCAC Conference Championship after a 37-11 regular season record and a conference record of 20-4. In the '21 season, the Hawks completed the season ranked eighth in the NJCAA and hosted a regional.
In the spring of 2021, Howard College had the No. 1 offense in junior college baseball having scored more than 10 runs a game in 35 games of 48, and a grand total of 600 runs and 15 players hit over .300. Semler helped guide eight All-Conference players, the Pitcher of the Year, Conference MVP, and an All-American. The success of the 2021 team led to 15 players going on to Division l programs.
In 2016, Semler served as a graduate assistant coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. While at OSU, the orange and black brought home two Big 12 Conference Championships, appeared in three NCAA Regionals, and one Super Regional. Following the 2016 season, 11 Cowboys were selected in the MLB Draft and two have since made their MLB debut.
During his summers at OSU, Semler coached and recruited for the Cape Cod's Chatham Anglers for two years and spent one year with the Texas Collegiate League's Tulsa Drillers.
The Anglers won the Eastern Division Championship in Semler's first year with the program and the 2018 team produced 29 MLB drafts picks, three of which were selected in the first round.
In year two with the Anglers, Chatham ended the season with the best record in the Eastern Division and 13 MLB signees. Amongst the signees was third baseman Spencer Torkelson, who was the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.
The Allen, Texas, native spent one season with the Tampa Bay Rays after playing one year at Angelo State. Before his time as a Ram, Semler played at West Virginia for the 2013-2014 season. Semler was selected out of high school by the San Diego Padres as a shortstop but instead chose to attend Weatherford College where he played for two years.
Semler ended his time at Weatherford with his associate degree in the arts, then went on to earn his bachelor's degree in business from OSU. He completed his schooling with a master's in higher education leadership studies from OSU.
