Bio

HEAD COACH: JULIO GODINEZ

Coach Godinez is entering his 7th season as head coach at Lake Land College. This past season the 2025 Lakers finished 45-21 winnings the Region XXIV (A) Championship earning them a trip to Crytal Lake Illinois to compete in the NJCAA Midwest District Champion where they would win after beating Iowa Western twice to earn a trip to the 2025 JUCO World Series. This is the Lakers 2nd trip to Grand Junction and 1st since 1988. The Lakers entered the JUCO World Series as a 9 seed and were set to face Blinn who was the 2024 National Champions. During the Lakers run in the 2025 JUCO World Series the Lakers would go on and beat Blin 17-9, face off vs Salt Lake and win 11-9, then a win over Florence-Darlington Tech 20-8 to move the Lakers in the Final Four. After the Completion of the 2025 season the Lakers finished 4th in the country earning them the best finish in program history. This 2025 Laker Baseball season saw 21 Sophomores move on to play at 4 year schools, marking the largest commited group to move on. All Region XXIV Award Winners: Lucas Bixby, Drew DuPont, Vinny Spotofora. CO-GRAC Pitcher of the Year Lucas Bixby. GRAC GOLD GLOVE: Kiefer Tarnoki CF, Eddie Letamendi 2B. Eddie Letamendi was named Region XXIV Tornament MVP. Brandon Johnson was Named Midwest District MVP. Drew DuPont was Named to the JUCO World Series All Tournement Team after his .455 Batting average, 10 Hits, 3 doubles, 3 HR and 13 RBI which lead the Lakers in the tournament. 

In 2024 the Lakers finished the season 30-24 reaching the 30 win mark for the first time in 25 years. this 2024 Lakers team saw 14 players commit to moving on to the 4 year level. The 2023 season the Laker finished 5th in the GRAC and competed for a Region 24 Championship game for the first time in 15 years. Since taking over the Laker baseball program in Fall of 2019 coach Godinez and his staff have been able to move 85 players on the the next level. 26 NCAA D1 Commits, 25 NCAA D2 Commits, 10 NCAA D3 Commits, 24 NAIA Commits and 2 former Lakers in 2022 saw their name called in the MLB first player draft, Hayden Birdsong (6 Round, San Francisco Giants) Cole Paplham (Free Agent, San Diego Padres). In 2022 the Lakers moved 8 players on the the NCAA D1 level after finishing the season 26-30. The 2021 season, the Lakers were able to see some success on the field and in the class room, posting a 27-28 record, but falling short in the region playoffs after having their 2020 season canceled due to Covid. As a team, the Lakers posted a 3.25-year GPA after ending their spring semester with a 3.47 GPA.

Before coming back to Lake Land College, Coach Godinez spent 6 seasons in assistant coaching roles at Eastern Illinois University, where he helped coach three All-American athletes, numerous All-Ohio Valley Conference selections, and MLB Draft Pick players. Most recent was Trey Sweeney, 1st Round (20th Pick) by the New York Yankees, Will Kelin, Kansas City Royals 5th Round, Mike Yesenka, St. Louis Cardinals,17th Round, Jimmy Govern Kansas City Royals, 30th round. During his time at EIU, Coach Godinez worked in various rolls; coaching catchers, hitters to his finals, and 2 years where he was the Panthers Pitching coach.

Coach Godinez first college coaching experiance was at Lake Land College from 2012-2013, where he served as Pitching Coach and Recruiting coordinator for the Lakers. Godinez’s coaching career began in 2011 at Murray High School in Murray, Iowa, where he served in assistant and pitching coach roles. From there, his experiences include assistant positions at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa and Lake Land College before moving on to Eastern Illinois University.

Godinez’s playing career began at Kishwaukee Community College in 2008. In 2010, he transferred to Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa where he was a two-time all-conference selection. He graduated from Graceland with a bachelor’s degree in 2012. Coach Godinez is a native of Chicago, Illinois.