Joey Hawkins is back at home
In the Canadian community just outside Toronto where Joey Hawkins grew up, hockey was everything. But his favorite was always baseball.
Hawkins played both sports, among others, from a very young age. By the time he was in high school, he felt there was more long-term potential for him down the baseball path.
“I remember one day after hockey, right before baseball season was going to start, I was like, ‘I think it’s time I just go baseball,’” Hawkins said.
Since then, it’s been a journey. From getting recruited in a traveling high school league to playing in the minor leagues as a Springfield Cardinal, he has seen baseball from every angle.
Now, he’s using those experiences to lead the future of Missouri State baseball as the team’s head coach.
Love for baseball puts him on the path from Canada to MSU
Joey Hawkins played shortstop for the Bears from 2012-15 and was a team captain his final two seasons. He was on the 2015 team that went to the NCAA Super Regionals
At a preseason batting practice in February, the facility was filled with the metallic clinks of bats, excited chatter and occasional instruction from coaches. Players stretched, swung and threw.
As practice wound down, Hawkins talked to reporters before his first season as the Bears’ head coach, and the team’s last season in the Missouri Valley Conference: “I feel like we have a target on our back. For a long time, we’ve won this league, have a ton of draft picks, regionals, all that.”
People want to beat us, he said, and they know MSU wants to go out on top. “People are going to be gunning for us, but I hope we can send Missouri State University out on a high note and win our last Valley competition.”
By May, Hawkins and the Bears had indeed won a share of the program’s seventh MVC regular season championship. MSU then advanced to the conference tournament title game before falling one win shy of sweeping both Valley crowns. Hawkins’ first season ended with a 30-25 record and one of the top offenses in the nation.
Still, the “target on his back” feeling is not unknown to Hawkins.
“What I found about the culture of Canadian baseball is you have a chip on your shoulder as a player, because you’re choosing to take a different path than other athletes in the country,” Hawkins
said. “To be successful out of high school, your only option is to come to the U.S.”
He did just that on a traveling baseball team. They would make three separate 10-day trips to the U.S. each fall to play unofficial games against colleges all over the country.
His teams played against Missouri State when he was ages 15, 16 and 17. He quickly caught the attention of former MSU Head Coach Keith Guttin and staff and was recruited to play at Missouri State.
“He was a leader” and other Canadian players have now followed
Hawkins had to choose between two schools. He decided to make Springfield his new home away from home.
“I made the choice because of the people here. That was my big thing,” Hawkins said. “For my parents, they’re sending a kid 17 hours away from home. They really cared about the people and who’s going to be taking care of their kid.”
He played shortstop for the team from 2012-15. He served as a team captain for two years.
“You could quickly tell his feel for the game, his ability to connect with teammates,” Guttin said. “Just watching him continue to grow, he was very respected by his coaches and teammates. He was a leader.”
At the time, Hawkins was only the second player from Canada to play baseball at Missouri State. Now, there are six Canadian players on the 2025 roster.
That’s one change to the team Hawkins is passionate about.
“Talk about an experience for me now as head coach. Now when I talk to families, I can tell these kids, ‘I know what it’s like’ and to the parents, ‘I know what it’s like to give your kid up to us and the responsibility of that.’ That’s what led me here.”
From experiencing “high of all highs” at Hammons Field to MLB draft pick
Hawkins’ last season playing for Missouri State ended with the team playing in the Super Regionals, a tournament that decides who will move on to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
At the time, the team was seeded 8th overall in the 64-team field. MSU hosted the Regional round at Hammons Field and won all three games to advance to the Super Regional. They played in front of a sold-out home audience for every game.
“You want to talk about the high of all highs. It was crazy to be at Hammons Field with that many fans,” Hawkins said.
MSU then went to the Super Regionals (round of 16, eight different best-of-three series) at Arkansas, but lost the third game, 3-2.
Though that was a heartbreaking loss, there was one thing for him to look forward to after that game: the Major League Baseball draft. At the time, the draft was 40 rounds, and Hawkins had caught the attention of five MLB teams.
“I think it was round 33, the Cardinals are picking, and I knew the Cardinals were one of the teams that I could go to,” Hawkins said. “So we start listening up, and they say, ‘Cardinals select Hawkins.’ And we’re like, ‘Oh,’ and then… ‘Chandler.’”
The pick was Chandler Hawkins, a pitcher from Arkansas State.
“So, I thought it was me, and it wasn’t me. I was thinking, ‘Oh no, this might not happen.’”
Finally, Hawkins (Joey, this time) was drafted by the Cardinals in the 40th round.
A career changeup: After affiliate teams, coaching becomes a possibility
He spent most of his two years in the minor leagues playing for Cardinals affiliate teams in Johnson City, Tennessee; Palm Beach County, Florida; and State College, Pennsylvania. He also returned to Hammons Field as a Springfield Cardinal during the 2016 season.
In Johnson City, Hawkins played under Chris Swauger. He’s a player-turned-manager in the Cardinals system who is now the minor league field coordinator for the Atlanta Braves. Hawkins and Swauger both see themselves somewhat as “old souls.”
“From the first time (Hawkins) stepped foot in the clubhouse, I think he was recognized as a veteran presence,” Swauger said. “I don’t know how you say that about somebody who’s 21, 22, stepping into a professional locker room for the first time.”
Hawkins faced some ups and downs during this point in his career. He was a sharp defensive infielder but started to struggle when he was up to bat.
As his playing time decreased, Hawkins started to fill in as a first base coach as a way to stay engaged with the games.
“It became very apparent that this guy had it up top in his head — the mental and emotional side of the game locked down,” Swauger said. “It was obvious early on that if he wanted to be a coach, he had the right perspective for it.”
His Missouri State connections gave him an assist in his next role
By the next season, Hawkins was released by the Cardinals. He was faced with the question of ‘what next?’
“You get released and, man, it hits you in the gut. So right away it’s like, ‘What am I going to do?’” Hawkins said. “I thought about maybe trying to keep playing, but decided I wanted to coach. Who’s the first person I call? Keith Guttin.”
Guttin helped Hawkins get a summer position recruiting for a community college. To make some extra money, Hawkins coached a team of 16-year-olds at the same time. He credits coaching these players for a better understanding of younger MSU recruits.
As that summer ended, St. Louis University needed a new assistant coach.
Hawkins likes to say many things in life are just right time, right place. He and his wife were already based in St. Louis. It was a natural fit.
Three months after being released from the minor leagues, he was hired as a full-time Division I assistant coach. The SLU team won their league and went to regionals that season (they lost to Missouri State, ironically).
“We make jokes about all of this. He couldn’t hit, and then his path intocoaching was as a hitting coach,” Swauger said. “Some of the best coaches were the guys who were not the best hitters themselves, but they were forced to figure out things that worked for them because it didn’t come easily to them.”
Truly good coaches can be revealed when a team or individual struggles, Swauger said: “Being able to get them through that, that’s where the rubber meets the road in coaching.”
After that successful season with SLU, Hawkins was recruited by the Cardinals again — this time, as a coach. He joined the rookie-level team in Jupiter, Florida, in 2019.
The next year, when there was no season due to COVID-19, Hawkins was asked to manage a Cardinals pickup league in St. Louis and Springfield. The team included former baseball Bears
Tate Matheny and Jake Burger.
“I am Missouri State”: Back in the Bears zone, now leading the team
A few seasons in to coaching for the Cardinals, Hawkins got a call from Guttin.
The team needed a hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, and he was Guttin’s pick. It was a big decision, but the move back to Missouri State felt like the best option for Hawkins’ young family.
A year into the role, Hawkins was promoted to associate head coach. When Guttin started planning to retire, Hawkins’ name once again came to mind as the next person to fill the role.
“I always felt like Joey was the best person … after I got to know him and watch him work,” Guttin said. “I just knew he was a great fit because of his leadership skills, his people skills and the fact he loved Missouri State.”
Hawkins said this is his dream job.
“I am Missouri State. Some of the best times of my life were here. When you have so much passion behind a place because you played here and you developed here, it makes your job easier. That’s what is so special about this position.”