In just his third year at the helm, Coach Witzke put together a competitive, resilient, and record-breaking year. The Lakers ended the 2025-2026 season with a 13-23 overall record and a 10-17 conference record, making this season the most conference wins in program history. 

A season with a lot of unknowns, the Lakers never gave up and had an explosive offensive season as well as a solid defensive effort. The Lakers found themselves in the top 25 in the NJCAA for team batting average with a .339. The Lakers plated 303 runs on 379 hits, 82 doubles, 7 triples, 34 homeruns, and 264 RBIs. Witzke led his team to some exciting wins, earning a walk-off win over Kirkwood, a 2-1 series victory over NIACC, and a win over DMACC. The Lakers also bookended the season with a series sweep over Northeast Iowa. Coach Witzke had this to say about earning the honor "This is a great honor to bring home this award. Our conference is full of really talented coaches that would've been more than deserving as well. I can only take so much of the credit at the end of the day we have some of the toughest and most resilient players in the country, as well as two amazing assistant coaches that make me look good on a daily basis."