Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Men's Baseball

Bill Walkenbach enters his tenth season at the helm of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball program in the 2025-26 academic year, after leading the Stags to a 35-15 record in 2025, the highest win total in program history, breaking the mark of 32 that they set in 2024. He has also led CMS to the NCAA Tournament in the last two seasons, the first two bids since 1996, while capturing the program's first regional title in 2025 and competing in its first-ever Super Regional. Over his first eight full seasons at the helm (not counting a COVID-shortened 2020), he has improved the Stags' win total and winning percentage each season, turning the program around from a 7-32 season the year before he took over to a 35-15 mark in 2025. The Stags improved to 11 wins in his first season, then to 16, 18, 19, 24, 28, 32 and now 35. The turnaround is no surprise, as Walkenbach has a history of achieving unprecedented success at his previous coaching stops. Prior to CMS, he served seven years as the head baseball coach at NCAA Division I Cornell University, where he led the Big Red to its first-ever Ivy League Championship in 2012 and set single season school records with 31 wins overall and going 14-6 in conference play. The team won the Lou Gehrig Division of the Ivy League in 2009 and 2012.  Academically, the Big Red baseball team was recognized for being in the top 10 percent of Division I baseball for all seven years under Walkenbach. Before his tenure at Cornell, Walkenbach was the head coach of the Division III Franklin & Marshall baseball program in Lancaster, Penn. Under his tutelage, the Diplomats won two regular season Centennial Conference championships in 2006 and 2007 and achieved a 69-42 overall record, the highest percentage during any three-year period in program history. The team finished the 2006 season ranked No. 13 in Division III, the highest ranking for the program to date. Walkenbach completed his Master of Sports Administration at Georgia State while on staff as an assistant coach at Emory University for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. In 2003, Emory was a Division III World Series participant, finishing the season ranked No. 5 in the nation. Walkenbach earned his bachelor’s degree at Cornell and was a four-year All-Ivy shortstop selection including earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1995. He appears 17 times in the career record book for Cornell Baseball and was the former home run record holder with 21 during his career. He was inducted into Cornell’s Hall of Fame in 2010.

Quinn Heiner is entering his fifth season with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball in 2025-26, earning associate head coach status in 2025, after adding recruiting coordinator to his title in 2024. He has already been a part of both the winningest season (35-15 in 2025), and the winningest SCIAC season (18-6 in 2023) in program history, and helped guide the Stags to their first-ever NCAA regional title in 2025. Prior to joining the CMS staff, Heiner served for two years at Schreiner University, where he was an assistant coach with the varsity and the head coach of the junior varsity team. He worked specifically with the catchers and infielders at Schreiner, while also serving as a hitting instructor. Heiner also has previous coaching experience as a graduate assistant at Holy Names University in Oakland. He played collegiately at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois as a catcher, and went on after graduation to compete professionally in Germany's Baseball Bundesliga with the Berlin Flamingos, while serving as a player/coach. In addition, he was the co-head coach of the Orange County Waves of the Pacific Coast Collegiate League in 2016, and was the interim varsity head coach at Laguna Hills High School in 2016, before assuming assistant coaching duties in 2017.   Heiner earned his master's degree in business management with a focus in leadership at Holy Names, where he was awarded Graduate Assistant of the Year in 2020. He also earned his bachelor's degree from Benedictine in exercise and sports studies, while earning Scholar-Athlete distinction from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. 

David Higuera enters his fourth season as an assistant coach with the CMS baseball team in 2026, after helping the Stags to a 28-11 record in his first campaign, a 32-15 mark in 2024, setting a new program record for wins in a season, and then breaking it with a 25-25 record in 2025. The Stags also set a program record for most SCIAC wins by finishing 18-6 in the league in 2024, and then won their first-ever NCAA Regional in 2025.  Higuera came to CMS after serving for three seasons an assistant coach at Caltech, where he was the program's third-base coach and outfield coach, while also assisting with strength and conditioning and recruiting.  Prior to Caltech, he worked as an assistant coach and graduate assistant at Georgetown College, his alma mater, where he had similar duties, while also managing expenses and transportation.  Higuera has also had a career path in the education field, working as a science, history and PE teacher at St. Andrew Catholic School, and serving as the athletic director at Community Charter High School. He was previously a physical education and ELA teacher at Santa Rosa Charter School for one year, and a physical education and technology teacher at St. Timothy Catholic School for one year.  Higuera earned his BA in communication from Georgetown College in 2015, with a minor in psychology, and went on to earn his master's in education from Georgetown as well. He added a second master's degree in health and wellness from the American College of Education in 2017. 

Keith Walker enters his second season as an assistant coach with the CMS baseball program in 2025-26, where he will work primarily with the pitching staff. In his first season, he helped the Stags to their winningest season in program history (35-15) and their first-ever NCAA Regional title.  Walker has most recently been a private pitching coach at PFA Baseball in Montclair for the past year, working with college and high school athletes. He has also coached with the Sierra Nevada Wolves 13U travel team.  Walker was the team captain for the baseball team at Biola, where he played from 2020-23. He began his collegiate career at Santa Clara, before serving as the team captain at Yuba College.  A dean's list student at Biola, Walker graduated in 2023 with a degree in history and was an Academic All-PacWest selection.