Jason Crain '95 enters his 9th season as Alma College's Head Baseball Coach in 2027. He has served as head coach since August 2018. During his time at Alma, Crain has compiled a 149-151-2 record and has coached numerous All-MIAA players along with multiple D3Baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Region Honorees and several All-Americans from the noted organizations as well.
Another season of rewriting the record books and overall team success saw the 2026 Scots again reach the MIAA Tournament Championship series. Posting a regular season record of 28-15-1, going 14-7 in conference play, tying the record for most wins in a season. The Scots claimed their ninth MIAA Player of the Year all time and first since 1987 as Alex Kavalick was named the Position Player of the Year, finishing top five in over half a dozen statistical categories in MIAA play, including leading the conference in doubles. Alma also claimed the MIAA batting champion in freshman Grady Pieratt, posting a .467 batting average in the regular season, for the first time since 2013. Another freshman, Braylon Ryan, claimed the MIAA Triples and RBI champion honor with three and 34, respectively, leading Alma to a second-place regular season finish, behind eventual NCAA World Series participant Adrian College. Pieratt and Kavalick claimed All-MIAA first team recognition, followed by Giuseppe Sapienza, Cameron Bleasdale, Cole Grunwald and Ryan all earning second team accolades. Kavalick was also named to the d3baseball.com and ABCA All-Region second teams. The Scots claimed numerous team records throughout the season, including breaking a 45-year old team home run record, to become the first team with 30+ in a season, while also swiping 76 total bases to take the team record there as well. The Scots appeared in the d3baseball.com national poll, for the second time under Crain, receiving votes after sweeping the number six nationally-ranked Kalamazoo Hornets in a three-game series.
Posting a winning season for the third straight season, Alma finished the year with a 23-20 record that again saw numerous records broken along with postseason accolades collected. Crain notched his 100th career win on March 1st, 2025, with a 4-1 win over Millsaps College during their spring break trip in Mississippi. The Scots reached the MIAA Tournament for the third consecutive season after a 14-7 record in conference during the regular season. Alma was honored with four All-MIAA selections, with Tyler Johnson on first team and Kenny Fistler, Cameron Bleasdale and Giuseppe Sapienza on second team. In game one of the MIAA Tournament, after being named MIAA Pitcher of the Year for the second time in his career, Johnson set an MIAA single game record, striking out 19 batters en route to a 3-0 opening game win. Johnson also set numerous pit hing records throughout the season, eclipsing 300 career strikeouts, with 125 coming in the 2025 season, while pitching 280+ innings in his career. Johnson was also named First Team All-Region by both d3baseball.com and the ABCA. Joshnson's accolades continued into the summer as he was named third team All-American by d3baseball.com and fourth team All-American by the ABCA.
Crain's 2024 squad posted a 24-18 record, with a 13-8 mark in MIAA play. The Scots qualified for the MIAA Tournament for the second straight season as the 4-seed, falling in the first round to top seed Kalamazoo, before being eliminated by Hope College. Alma had four All-MIAA selections, with Tyler Johnson, Avery Carnicom, and Colin Czajkowski all making the first team. Kevin Tuttle was named to the second team. Carnicom and Czajkowski went on to be named All-Region by d3baseball.com.
2023 saw a breakout year for Alma under the direction of Crain. The Scots posted a 22-21-1 record, after starting the year 4-12. Alma posted a 15-6 record in MIAA play, finishing 2nd, and posting their highest conference win percentage since 1992. Alma advanced through the MIAA Tournament winner's bracket, upsetting top seed Kalamazoo on their home field, before falling in the MIAA Title game to Adrian. The Scots broke multiple records, and posted one of the best offensive seasons in Alma history. Three Scots were named All-MIAA, with Tyler Johnson taking home Pitcher of the Year honors. His 0.42 ERA in MIAA play set a new conference record. Avery Carnicom was named a d3baseball.com Second Team All-American after his record breaking season, which saw a 34-year old home run record fall as well as becoming the only Scots player in history to eclipse 200 career hits.
The 2022 season saw the Scots finish with an 11-28 record, finishing 8-13 in MIAA play, narrowly missing out on tournament play, tying for sixth in the regular season. Alma claimed two All-MIAA second team members in Josh Robinson and Kevin Tuttle. The Scots also claimed five MIAA Athlete of the Week honors with Tyler Johnson claiming three, while Avery Carnicom and Robinson claimed one each as well. Crain's squad also saw a handful of records broken during the season as Robinson became the career doubles leader, Carnicom became the single season RBI record holder and Chase Balhoff notched the single season appearance record.Â
In 2021, Alma finished with an 14-20 record, and posted an 8-10Â mark in MIAA play. Highlights included a sweep of Trine, taking a game off of Adrian, and playing Division I Eastern Michigan to a 5-1 final at Comerica Park in Detroit.
In 2020, the Scots season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but started the year 8-6 with four of those wins coming at the RussMatt Tournament in Orlando, Florida. Crain also had four players earn MIAA Athlete of the Week honors in Jaret Koin, Logan Huff, Zach Schirmer, and Dylan Dzendzel.
In his first season as the head coach of the Scots in 2019, Crain led them to the MIAA tournament. Despite losing their first round matchup to nationally ranked and conference leading Adrian, the Scots were able to avoid elimination and beat Albion in the next game, before ultimately falling to Hope College. Also during that season, Crain coached two All-MIAA Second Team selections in Jaret Koin and Pete Carravallah.Â
Prior to Alma, Crain spent six years as the head coach of Plymouth High School, a Division I program in the state of Michigan. His 128 wins are the most by any coach in the program's history. His teams won four straight Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) District Championships from 2015 to 2018, two Kensington Lakes Activities Association (KLAA) Division Championships and one KLAA Conference Championship in 2018. Crain is a five-time District School Coach of the Year recipient, as well as the Hometown Life News All-Area Coach of the Year in 2015.
Crain was the head coach of the varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams at Plymouth. In addition to coaching the three teams, his ancillary duties included overseeing the Booster Club, participating in weekly media interviews and managing communication with parents and collegiate programs recruiting his players. Thirteen players in his six years at Plymouth have gone on to play collegiate baseball.
Crain and his wife Melissa '96 have four boys: Matthew, Luke, Ben, and Andrew.
