Ventura College assistant baseball coach Andrew Cotner passed away last week after a long health battle with multiple health ailments. The former left-handed hurler joined the Pirate staff in 2020 for VC's Covid-shortened campaign. His health issues prevented him from returning to the dugout this season.
"He was with us a short time, however, he made a lasting impact on this program.," The team said in a statement on Twitter. "His ability to connect with people is unmatched. We're all better for having spent time with Cotty."
Cotner joined the Pirate coaching staff under then-first-year head coach Cole Mahoney-Bruer. He came to VC from Parkland College in Illinois. He served as an assistant with the Cobras from September 2015 through August 2017. During the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the Cobras produced an overall record of 97-25-1, won two Mid-West Athletic Conference Championships, two NJCAA Region 24 Championships, and finished in eighth place and third place, respectively at the NJCAA DII Baseball World Series.
Cotner was originally from Champaign-Urbana, IL. A football and baseball letterman at Centennial High School (from where he graduated in 1987), he left the school with pitching records that decades later rank among the Chargers' all-time bests. He was inducted into the Centennial Hall of Fame earlier this year.
He played at nationally-ranked Brevard Community College, in Florida, leading to a scholarship at Illinois State University, where he led the Redbirds in games started (14) in the 1990-91 season.
A 20th-round draft choice by the New York Mets in 1991, the 6-foot, 190-pound Cotner left school to pursue minor league baseball. In parts of three professional seasons, he struck out more batters than innings pitched (70 in 63 innings) and had an 8-3 cumulative record before an arm injury ended his pitching career.
He then returned home and earned bachelor and master's degrees from the University of Illinois.
After earning his college degrees, Cotner returned to professional baseball where he interned with the Arizona Diamondbacks and worked in the Houston Astros organization.
But Cotner's calling was on the field teaching the game he loved. He coached baseball travel teams and tutored up-and-coming prospects throughout Central Illinois in addition to running the Buckley Dutch Masters amateur league and coaching at Parkland.
"He was a well-thought person with the game and in the human aspects of the game," said Mahoney-Bruer. "He was really good at meeting kids where they were and helping them progress. He cared about helping people."
"He was a special guy," said Mahoney-Bruer.
Sad to announce the passing of assistant coach Andrew Cotner @drewcotner. Coach at VC 2019-2020. He was with us a short time however, he made a lasting impact on this program. His ability to connect with people is unmatched. We're all better for having spent time with Cotty.
— VC Baseball (@vcpiratebsbl) May 8, 2021