A veteran of college and professional baseball, Craig Scheffler brings a wealth of experience to his role as Appalachian State University’s pitching coach. He is in his seventh season on the Mountaineer staff. 

Under Scheffler's tutelage, Appalachian posted a 4.22 team earned run average in 2011, the lowest ERA by a Mountaineer staff since 1985. Last season's stingy 4.22 ERA was nearly a run lower than the 5.19 and 5.21 marks that the staff compiled in 2009 and '10, which had been ASU's lowest team ERAs since 1991.

Steadily declining earned run averages have been a staple at Appalachian since Scheffler’s first season with the Mountaineers (2006). In Scheffler's first season, ASU put together a team earned run average of 5.76, down nearly two-and-a-half runs from the staff's 8.15 ERA in the year prior to his arrival. Each of his six staffs have had ERAs under 6.20, which is impressive considering that before his first season on staff, it had been a decade since Appalachian had a team ERA lower than 6.44.

A former standout pitcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and 12th-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Scheffler came to Appalachian after helping lead NC State’s club baseball team to a 173-49 record and three-straight National Club Baseball Association World Series appearances as the program’s pitching coach from 1997-2005.

Scheffler began his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin in 1990 and transferred to UWM following the disbandment of Wisconsin’s program in 1991. At Milwaukee, he led the Panthers with 54 strikeouts in 1992 and was drafted by the Dodgers in 1993 despite compiling a collegiate record of just 4-14.

In five professional seasons, Scheffler compiled an 18-16 career record with a 4.95 ERA and 247 strikeouts in 331 innings of work. In 1994, he led the Class A Northwest League with eight wins for the Yakima Bears.

In 2011, the Wausau, Wis. native was inducted into the Central Wisconsin Baseball Hall of Fame.

Scheffler earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Wisconsin-Milwuakee in 1994 and a Master's in civil engineering from NC State in 1999. He resides in Boone with his wife, Nicole, and their children, Brooke (7) and Brycen (2).