Lebanon Valley College Athletics

Jonas Fester has been LVC's Head Baseball Coach since 2019. He is LVC's 33rd Head Coach in the program's 125-year history.

In 2024, Fester coached four players who were recognized on the All-Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom Team during the program's first season in the conference. Fester also guided Shane Stossel to the D3baseball.com All-Region 4 Second Team and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Region 4 Second Team as a designated hitter. Additionally, the Dutchmen received the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award while 30 players were selected to the MAC Academic Honor Roll and four were listed on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team. 

Fester led the Dutchmen to their second consecutive MAC Commonwealth Championship in 2023, posting a 31-17-1 overall record with a 19-5 mark against conference opponents. Lebanon Valley registered the best record in the MAC Commonwealth while setting a program record of 31 wins in a season. The club swept both York College of Pennsylvania in the semifinals and Alvernia University in the MAC Commonwealth Championship series, securing its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Fester was also named the MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year for the second season in a row. Nico Santoro was selected as the conference’s Player of the Year and the club had a program-record nine players honored on the All-MAC Commonwealth Team. The team also received several other accolades, including Shane Stossel’s selection to the D3baseball.com All-America Team, four CSC Academic All-District honorees, three D3baseball.com All-Region selections, and three ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Team recipients. Additionally, the program had 19 MAC Academic Honor Roll selections while earning the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award. 

In 2022, the Dutchmen won the MAC Commonwealth Championship with a conference record of 13-3 and an overall record of 30-16. LVC swept Widener in the semifinal series and defeated York two games to one in the finals. This was LVC’s first conference championship since the 2002 season. The Dutchmen also hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The 30-win mark set the record for the most wins in single-season history. Four Dutchmen were named to the All-Region team, six Dutchmen were named to the All-Conference team, one to the Academic All-MAC Team, and the team received an ABCA Academic Excellence Award for a team GPA of 3.23. Fester was also named the MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year. 

In a shortened 2021 campaign, Fester guided the Flying Dutchmen to their first MAC Commonwealth Championship Series since 2002. LVC posted a 21-12 overall record and saw a record eight players earn all-conference recognition, while Kyle Kingsbury was named all-region.

Fester's club was off to a hot start in 2020 with a 10-2 record including nine consecutive wins on their spring break trip. The season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In his first season at the helm, Fester guided the Dutchmen to their best start in over 20 years, as the team won its first seven games of the season and left its spring break trip in Florida with an impressive 7-2 mark. He also guided two players to All-Conference recognition, including TJ Holdredge and Kyle Kingsbury, who each landed on the Second Team.

Before joining LVC, Fester served as the Associate Head Coach at Division III powerhouse Johns Hopkins. From 2008 to 2010, he served as an Assistant Coach before returning to the program in a more prominent role in 2012.

In addition to his time at JHU, Fester was also the Head Coach for the Baltimore Redbirds Youth program from 2015 to 2017. There, he oversaw their development as both players and young men. 

Fester also has international experience, as he was Head Coach of Switzerland's Hunenberg Unicorns in 2013. Prior to returning to his alma mater, Fester served as the top Assistant Coach at Catholic University for two years. Under his guidance, the Cardinals secured their first NCAA Tournament appearance and defeated the No. 1 team in the nation.

During his time as a player for the Blue Jays, Fester was an integral part of the program's immense success. The shortstop earned a plethora of national accolades, including ABCA First-Team All-America and CoSIDA Third-Team Academic All-America honors. He was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District pick, a regional player of the year, and a First-Team All-Centennial honoree on two occasions. He still holds the school record for doubles in a season (27) and he finished his career with an impressive .390 batting average. Fester graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2008 with a degree in Political Science.

Upon graduation, Fester played professionally in the American Association and Continental League. Fester was the first player in Johns Hopkins Baseball history to reach the College World Series as both a player and coach. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins and an M.S. in Management with a Leadership Concentration from The Catholic University of America.