COTUIT, Mass. – When looking into the Cotuit Kettleers dugout on Friday night at Doran Park, one thing was missing — Mike Roberts. With Roberts traveling back to North Carolina for the day, Kodie Kolden was the next man up for the Ketts, making his first managerial debut. It was the second time in 20 years that someone other than Roberts was at the helm for the Kettleers.

"It was fun to do it with our assistants, who put in so much time with each other at the coaches' house and on the field. Early work, practices, everything was just cool to do it with those guys," Kolden said on his debut.

For Roberts, it was a no-brainer to select Kolden as the skipper for the matchup in Bourne. The win against Bourne makes Kolden undefeated in his managerial career so far.

"Kodie was kind of the leader, and I put him in charge, but you also had Robert Hughes sharing information with others in regards to who to pitch; it was a total coaching team effort," Roberts said on Kolden and the coaching staff.

Kolden joins the Kettleers coaching staff after finishing his first season on the Dallas Baptist Patriots coaching staff. With the Patriots, Kolden is the program's director of player development and the team's infield coordinator.

"It was fun. It was definitely different going from playing to coaching, but being able to learn from our head guy who's been there for 17 seasons and then the main assistant who was a big leaguer for 11 years, just learning from those two was greatly beneficial for me," Kolden said on his first year as a coach with Dallas Baptist.

Before starting his coaching career, Kolden played baseball at Washington State and Dallas Baptist. He spent four years with the Cougars, and unlike stereotypical college careers, he made an impact from Day 1.

"It was good. I enjoyed my time at Washington State, and I loved the school part of it, the small-town, college-town vibe of it. I hope someday to go back and visit there," Kolden said on his tenure at Washington State.

His final season of college baseball was with the Patriots in 2023. The right-handed bat went on a tear in his final season as he paced DBU in batting average while also swiping the second-most bases on the team. He was also selected to the Conference USA second team in his final season.

"That last year I played, it was a blast. We had a super good team, did really well in the regional, and I feel like everything clicked for me because I had coaches that backed me up and just had my back and worked with me whenever I wanted, and awesome teammates to go along with it," Kolden said on his final season of college baseball.

In his first season on the DBU coaching staff, Kolden helped lead the Patriots to a 45-15 record and a Conference USA tournament title. One of Kolden's primary roles with the Patriots was the infield coordinator, and Kolden kept the Patriots in top shape as they led the conference with the highest fielding percentage.

With his managerial debut under his belt, Kolden now has an undefeated record as a head coach. With many more games as a coach in his future, Kolden has lots to learn as he continues his career.

"I turned around on Thursday night and said, ‘These guys will do a great job,’ and I heard they supported him like crazy, they're down 3-0, and they want to win for this young coaching staff. Every year, we probably have the youngest coaching staff in the league, and I love it," Roberts said on his coaching staff.