Ben Krueger is entering his fourth season leading the Yakima Valley College baseball program after assuming head coaching duties on September 26, 2022. He is the 10th head coach in program history.
Krueger led the Yaks to a NWAC Regional Tournament appearance in 2024 after seeing the program narrowly miss a NWAC Regional berth in 2023, as the season literally came down to the final game. In his time at YVC, Krueger has guided 42 Yaks to the 4-year university level, including 12 who have signed with NCAA Division 1 programs.
A former YVC assistant coach in the 2021-22 school year, his duties included recruiting coordinator, outfield coach and data analytics. Following that season, he accepted an assistant coaching position at Georgia Gwinnett College, a perennial NAIA national championship-caliber program, in July, 2022 before assuming the head coaching duties at YVC. No stranger to Yak baseball, Krueger is also an alum of the baseball program, having played for head coach Ken Wilson’s Yaks in the 2010-11 season.
A Seattle native, Krueger was also an assistant coach for two other NWAC schools—at Everett Community College from 2018-21, serving as the Trojans’ associate head coach and outfield coach and at Shoreline Community College from 2017-18, where he was the recruiting coordinator. As a club coach, Krueger founded the Benz Baseball program in 2017 and currently serves as the program director of the Benz Boys and Fall Scout team. Under his direction, over 150 Benz players have moved on to play college baseball, including 46 to NCAA Division 1 programs. In addition, he has had 14 former players drafted or sign professional baseball contracts. Krueger also founded the Cascade Collegiate League in 2019 and serves as the league’s commissioner and manager of their showcase team.
Krueger continued his playing career after YVC by playing two seasons at Oregon Tech. During his time at OIT, he earned his bachelor’s degree in management/marketing while minoring in communications.
