News

Head Coach: Jim Newlin

Jim Newlin is the head coach of the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs for his third consecutive season. Newlin is no stranger to the Florida Collegiate Summer League as he’s entering his 10th season as a coach. The first seven were spent as an assistant under head coach Chuck Schall. 

Newlin reached the mountain top of the Florida League in 2019 when he helped the Diamond Dawgs with the FCSL title. 

The Diamond Dawgs head coach is a NCAA Division I National Champion, as he played collegiate baseball for Wichita State serving as a relief pitcher. Newlin & the Wichita State Shockers won the 1989 College World Series title. Newlin was also drafted in the 12th round by the Seattle Mariners, and played eight seasons in the minor leagues. 

In his post-playing days, Newlin is now on the coaching staff at Rollins College in Winter Park. Newlin is an assistant for the varsity team and the head coach for the junior varsity team. 

Assistant Coach: Mike Baio 

The assistant to the Diamond Dawgs head coach this summer will be Mike Baio. Baoi played his collegiate baseball at Florida Tech, and has been coaching High School Varsity baseball for 14 seasons! This is his fourth season helping out in the FCSL, and he aims to bring high energy to the Diamond Dawgs dugout. His main focus this summer is to help the hitters with their approaches and the mental side of the game. 

General Manager: Ryan Missigman

The General Manager intern for this year’s Diamond Dawgs team is Ryan Missigman. Ryan will work closely with both coaches to ensure that all management aspects of the team are sorted out. He currently attends Rollins College, where is a business management student that is also on the College’s baseball team. He hopes to gain new connections and new knowledge on how teams are managed on and off the field. Ryan is local to Orlando, Florida, and also played in the Florida League’s Division II program last year. 

Team Operations: Justin Baltes

Winter Park has two team operations interns this season: Justin Baltes and Ane Fujimoto, who will work closely with the team GM to handle any game day duties plus any day-to-day operations of the Diamond Dawgs that happen to arise. Justin Baltes attends the University of Central Florida as a journalism student from Lake Zurich, Illinois. He enjoys golfing in his free time, and one thing he wants to get out of this internship is see the in’s and out’s of what it takes to run a successful baseball team. 

Team Operations: Ane Fujimoto

Ane Fujimoto is our other team operations intern. Ane is from Osaka, Japan, and attends St. Petersburg College studying business. She enjoys watching MLB, and would like to learn how the business and management side of baseball works through this internship. 

Social Media Intern: Kathleen Moore

Kathleen Moore is the social media intern for the 2025 Diamond Dawgs. She studies broadcast journalism at the University of Central Florida. Kathleen is from Troutman, North Carolina, enjoys baking in her free time, and is most excited for networking opportunities this summer!

Team Communications Intern: TJ French

Our communications intern for the Diamond Dawgs this summer is TJ French. TJ is from Buford, GA, and is currently studying journalism at the University of Georgia. He enjoys watching any live sports, working out, and covering MLB for a sports website! The thing he is most excited for this summer is getting outside his comfort zone and getting the chance to try new things in the sports media industry. 

 

TJ French (University of Georgia)