Meet the Man Behind EMD Baseball — Andy Kiriakedes on College Baseball, Coaching & What He Knows Now | Ep. 183

Every week Andy Kiriakedes helps families navigate the college baseball recruiting process — but this week Keith turns the tables and puts Andy in the seat. In this episode of Dugout Dish, we get the full story of EMD Baseball Co-Founder Andy Kiriakedes — where he grew up, how he got recruited, what his college baseball experience was really like, and what eleven years of coaching at the D1 and D3 levels taught him before he walked away from coaching and eventually built EMD Baseball into what it is today.

What we cover:

Where Andy grew up and how baseball became the driving force in his life from an early age

His path through the college baseball recruiting process — the story of how he got recruited, where he went, and what that experience was actually like from the inside

What his college baseball career looked like and the moments that shaped who he became as a coach and as a person

How he spent eleven years coaching at the D1 and D3 levels and what that experience taught him about the game, about recruiting, and about developing young men

Why he stepped away from coaching and the journey that eventually led him to co-found EMD Baseball

What he appreciates more now looking back on his college baseball experience with the benefit of years of perspective

What he knows now that he genuinely wishes he had known when he was going through the recruiting process and playing college baseball

What he thought mattered far more than it actually did — and conversely what mattered significantly more than he realized at the time

How injuries and toughness shaped his experience and what they taught him about resilience and the mental side of the game

How dramatically the recruiting process has changed from when Andy went through it to what current players experience today