Andy Wise - Varsity Head Coach
Coach Andy Wise brings a variety of baseball knowledge to the Corona High Baseball program.  He has been fortunate enough to play for and coach with several successful managers and head coaches. Wise signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1995 and finished his career in 2001.  Along the way, he had the privilege to learn under great baseball men as Jim Riggleman, Fergie Jenkins, Hal Lanier, Bob Kipper, Greg Hibbard, and Dick Diets to name a few.  

Wise spent 1992-94 in the bullpen at Long Beach State, pitching in the College World Series during the 1993 season. During his 2 years at CSULB, the 49rs were the Big West Conference champions both seasons.  Since retired, two-time Division 1 national coach of the year, Dave Snow, was running the program along with Mike Weathers, Steve Rousey, and Jim Yogi, rounding out an amazing staff.  During the 1991-92 seasons, Wise played at Santa Ana College under California Community College all-time wins leader, Don Sneddon.  The Dons won back to back Orange Empire conference championships during his time there.  One among many commons between both programs was sports psychologist, Ken Ravizza(California Angels, SCULB, CSUF, several Olympic programs, etc.), who is one of the more recognized experts in his field.  At Santa Ana, Ravizza introduced several strategies to help deal with the mental side of the game.  At Long Beach State, Ravizza gave 2 hour sessions, twice a week to the team, giving Wise further opportunity to learn more about the mental side of the game. 

Wise started his coaching career at La Quinta High School in Westminster, working with Orange County all-time wins leader Dave Demerest.  There he not only learned how to run a successful program, he learned firsthand about the recruiting process of such talented players as Ian Kennedy, Ian Steward, the Laird brothers, the Crosby brothers, and many others in between.  The Aztecs won the CIF championship at Ananheim Stadium during the 2003 season.  Wise also took on coaching travel/club baseball in Orange County and in doing so, he has taken some successful teams (Santa Ana Stallions, OC Dawgs) all around the country facing the nation's best competition.  In 2006, Wise was hired as the first baseball coach at a new school in Santa Ana called Segerstrom Fundamental.  In the school's first year, having seniors on campus, Wise guided the Jaguars to a winning record and playoff appearance. From 2007-2011, Wise also took on the challenge of being the Head Coach of the California Mariners and Academy Barons in the highly competitive California Collegiate League. 

In the fall of 2009, Wise was hired to become the head coach of the Corona Panthers.  Jim Perry was the Athletic Director at the time and former colleague of Wise's from the La Quinta days.  Together, they shared a vision of what it would take to revive a somewhat dormant program that was once mighty. Perry used the line from the baseball movie Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come." What Perry was referring to was the belief that if they did things the right way, good student/athletes would find their way into the baseball program.  With a completely different attitude and approach, the Panther baseball players were excited about the possibilities of what may be ahead of them.  The baseball team hadn't been to the playoffs for a few years and were coming off a season in which they were 3-11 in league. They worked hard, earning themselves a playoff birth, and beat Long Beach Poly 12-8 at Blair Field in Long Beach.  They eventually lost 1-0 against Royal HS, but the tone for the future was set. From 2010-2014, the Corona Panthers have had 7 playoff wins, more than all other Big VIII league competitors combined.  The brightest season would have to be in 2012, when the Panthers played at Dodger Stadium for the Division 1 CIF Championship.  Here the fell to the eventual champion, Newbury Park.  Since Wise has taken over the program, many Panthers have gone on to play college baseball.  It started with Mickey Phelps(Menlo) and Fernando Escobar(SF St.), and continues on.  This year, 2015, Tristan Beck signed with Stanford and Seth Kaneen signed with Cal Baptist University.