Springfield native Jeremy Cologna returned to the Bears as an assistant coach in September 2024. He works with the MoState hitters and catchers and assists in the program’s recruiting efforts.
In his first stint with the Bears, Cologna served as a volunteer assistant in 2021 and 2022 and was promoted to Director of Player Development shortly before moving to the pro ranks in the fall of 2022. With Cologna’s mentorship, Drake Baldwin became the highest-drafted catcher in MSU history in 2022, going to Atlanta in the third round as the 96th overall pick. Baldwin made his MLB debut in 2025.
Upon his return to Springfield in 2025, Cologna helped backstop Carter Bergman to an honorable mention all-MVC season that included a .998 fielding percentage, the highest in Missouri State history for a player with at least 300 chances.
Cologna came home to Springfield after spending the 2023 and 2024 seasons in the New York Mets organization. He spent the 2023 season as the development coach at Double-A Binghamton, where he worked with Mets organizational defensive player of the year Hayden Senger. That fall, he was the bench coach in the Arizona Fall League and mentored first-round pick Kevin Parada. In 2024, Cologna was the bench coach/assistant hitting coach for Low-A St. Lucie in addition to coordinating and executing the daily operations of Mets Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
In addition to his duties at Missouri State, Cologna was the commissioner of the Show-Me Collegiate League in the summer of 2021, a year after he was named the league Coach of the Year. He graduated from MSU with his Master’s in sports management in May 2022.
A Springfield native and Glendale High graduate, Cologna played collegiately at St. Charles Community College for two seasons before transferring to Avila University, where he pitched and played catcher for a pair of 30-win clubs in 2017 and 2018. After graduating from Avila with a business administration degree in 2019, he served as pitching coach for the Eagles during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
