Jad Prachniak is in his 10th season at West Chester University as skipper of the Golden Rams' baseball squad. His unprecedented success over the first nine years in West Chester's dugout has raised the bar of expectations for the diamondmen in such a short time.

Prachniak has two national championships, two regional championships, two conference crowns and three PSAC Eastern Division titles in his first nine campaigns in the Delaware Valley.

At the helm of the Purple & Gold, Prachniak has amassed a 273-127-1 (.682) overall record and boasts a 145-71 (.671) mark against the PSAC over eight seasons - the 2020 conference slate was wiped out by Covid-19. Prachniak's 276 total victories are already the second most in program history, trailing only West Chester legend Neil Serpico's 297, which were accumulated over a 17-year career. Prachniak also touts the second highest winning percentage of any West Chester skipper in history and he stands as the only WCU baseball coach ever to win a national championship (2012, 2017).

In 2019, Prachniak led the Golden Rams to their fourth 30-plus win season in the last five years. West Chester ended the regular season by winning its final seven games to catapult the squad from fourth in the PSAC East standings to second heading into the PSAC Tournament. The Golden Rams started the tournament with victories over California (Pa.) (6-5) and top-seeded Gannon (11-1), before falling to eventual tournament champion Bloomsburg.

The Golden Rams were awarded the No. 2 position in the final NCAA DII Atlantic Region poll, giving West Chester the opportunity to host one of two pods of the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship for the first time since the 1985 season. Despite playing host, West Chester suffered an early exit from the regional championship for the second consecutive season, as WCU lost to No. 3 Gannon, 6-4, before being eliminated from the championship following a 3-1 defeat against No. 6 Charleston (W.Va.).

Prachniak coached six all-PSAC selections in 2019, including third baseman Jared Melone who earned PSAC East Athlete of the Year for the second season in a row. Joining Melone on the All-PSAC first team were outfielder Kyle Feaster and first baseman Joe Zirolli, the latter of which led the PSAC in both home runs and RBI while breaking WCU's single-season home run record with 15 dingers. Justin Horn, Jon Hansen and pitcher David Mervis were all chosen as All-PSAC second team honorees.

The 2018 season saw Prachniak lead his charges to their third Eastern Division title in the last seven seasons, while also leading the Golden Rams to another NCAA Tournament appearance. West Chester ended the 2018 regular season with a 31-17 overall record and a mark of 20-8 in PSAC play to capture the division title. Unfortunately, West Chester saw it’s 2018 season come to a close with a four-game losing streak as the Golden Rams failed to capture a victory in the PSAC or NCAA Tournament for the first time since the end of the 2014 season.

In 2017, Prachniak became the youngest Division II baseball coach to win two national titles when he led West Chester to the crown in Grand Prairie, Texas, with a 5-2 win over UC San Diego. The Golden Rams were a perfect 4-0 at nationals as Prachniak remained undefeated himself when reaching the finals in his two trips there (8-0).

West Chester finished 2017 at 44-11 overall and 22-6 in the conference with a PSAC East title to show. The Golden Rams reached the conference semifinals, before being eliminated. However, Prachniak's men redeemed themselves with a sweep through the Atlantic Regional as the No. 2 seed, including the skipper's 200th career win against Winston-Salem State in the regional final.

In eight years of postseason competition, Prachinak has landed his charges in the PSAC Championship three times. He has constructed a 35-19 overall playoff mark in eight years. The Golden Rams are a combined 17-11 in the conference tournament under his tutelage and 18-8 in the NCAA Tournament.

The WCU head coach has been lauded as ABCA Field Turf Division II national coach of the year twice (2012, 2017) and has mentored the Eastern Division player of the year four times (2012, 2015, 2018, 2019) and the pitcher of the year twice (2012, 2017).

Five former Golden Rams have been drafted in the MLB Entry Draft since Prachniak stepped on campus. three of those five are still active in the Professional Basbell with Joey Wendle (Tampa Bay Rays) in in the MLB, Joe Gunkel (Florida Marlins organization) in Double-A, and Nick Ward (Oakland A’s Organization) in Single-A.

Four Golden Rams have also been named ABCA All-Americans in Prachniak's seven seasons. Current pro players, Wendle and Gunkel were first- and second-team All-America selections, respectively, in 2012, senior Shane Dressler in 2017, and current senior Jared Melone a year ago.

In 2012, Prachniak took over a club that was barely above .500 and did not make the playoffs in 2011, and he molded that group into an NCAA Division II national champion in his first season at West Chester. The 2012 national title was the first baseball championship in school history and the first by any school located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at any level of the NCAA as well as the first by a school at the Division II level that is located in the Northeastern United States.

Prachniak's ballplayers have also performed extremely well in the classroom over the last four years. Wendle was named the Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) while former pitcher Fred Breidenbach was named Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District 2 in 2012. Jared Melone is the programs most recent Academic Honoree as he was named PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Performer of the Year in 2017 and 2018 while also collecting Google Cloud/COSIDA First Team Academic All-America honors in both 2017 and 2018.

Prachniak came to West Chester from Division I William & Mary in Virginia. He served as the Tribe’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator during his six years under head coach Frank Leoni. He has tutored four pitchers, who went on to be drafted in the MLB First-Year Entry Draft, as well as the Colonial Athletic Association co-pitcher of the year in 2011 – the first such honoree for a William & Mary hurler in school history.

The Tribe prospered a great deal during Prachniak and Leoni’s reign in Williamsburg, Va. William & Mary won 36 games in 2008, second most in a single season in school history, witnessed 16 players earn All-CAA accolades and nine former student-athletes sign professional contracts. The Tribe’s 20 team saves in 2008 ranked third in all of Division I that spring.

The Lincoln, R.I., native graduated from University of Rhode Island in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and a teaching certificate in physical education. He served as co-captain of the Rams in 2004 when URI won a school-record 35 contests and captured the Atlantic 10 Eastern Division title. He was also named a recipient of the scholar-athlete award as handed out by the State of Rhode Island House of Representatives as well as a recipient of the Rick Ligi Memorial Scholarship Award.

Prachniak is an active member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and has participated in several baseball instructional camps throughout his coaching career including: U.S. Naval Academy Baseball Leadership Camp (Annapolis, Md.), Stanford All-Star Baseball Camp (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Best in Virginia Baseball Camp (Farmville, Va.).

Prachniak and his wife, Kelly, live in West Chester with their daughter Emilia and dog Savannah.