Welcome to the first article in the Meet the Staff series. Here you can get to know some of the staff members from PBR Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska as they talk about their background in baseball and some of their favorite things. Today’s article highlights Andy Judkins, the Minnesota Assistant Director of Scouting for PBR as of the last three years. He is also currently the Head Baseball Coach at Benilde-St. Margaret’s in Minnesota.

Judkins has been involved with baseball for a number of years. “As long as I can remember,” he said. “Probably since I started playing t-ball, so what is that age five? So, 30+ years. Obviously, work your way up, play high school, and then I played in college. And then I coached right after college at age 23 as a graduate assistant. And then coached for ten years at the college level at a couple of different stops.”

But knowing Rob Allison, he transitioned to PBR. “I basically bugged him and asked him if he needed help, so I worked an event or two,” Judkins said. “And then a bit of my background and knowing the area and my coaching experience; I think it matched. It was a good marriage. We’ve gotten to know each other, and it just worked out.”

His job allows Judkins to watch kids grow in baseball. “The biggest thing is probably seeing kids show up at events at a young age and then watching them go through our stuff, watching them in the high school season, and watching them move on to making commitments,” he said.

Watching players follow their dreams is special. “For example, there was a kid from Rocori, Minnesota; who never attended an event,” Judkins said. “He played for me on a summer team. Rob called me and said, ‘can you get him to this event.’ We got him to the event, and he touched 91, was a big winner, and ends up getting a scholarship to Creighton. And now he starts on Friday nights for Creighton. He’s probably going to be a draft pick this year.”

Judkins has multiple special memories in baseball. “As a coach, I got to coach in a national championship game for a junior college that I coached at, Central Arizona,” he said. “That was fun. That was probably in front of twelve to fifteen thousand people, probably the biggest crowd I’ve played or coached in front of. Most recently, I got to coach in a state championship game at Target Field, where the Twins play two years ago. That was pretty fun too.”

He is a fan of the Minnesota Twins. “I kind of get ripped on for it, but it’s fun to have a team in your home state and be able to root for them,” Judkins said. “Take the kids to the game, stuff like that.”

Ken Griffey Jr. is Judkins’ favorite player of all time. “When I was growing up, he was kind of the man,” Judkins said. “He hit a bunch of home runs. And I played outfield, so he played centerfield. They called him ‘the kid’ and made it look like it was a bit more fun, running around with his hat backward.”

Outside of baseball, Judkins enjoys hockey.  “I mean, that’s probably a given being from Minnesota,” he said. “But I never got to play in high school. We’d always play pond hockey out on the nearest pond or the pond closest to your neighborhood with a bunch of your buddies.”

Andy Judkins has been actively involved in many areas of baseball for almost all of his life. Between coaching, playing, and scouting, he is well-versed in everything it has to offer and loves the work he gets to be a part of. Stay tuned for the next article in this series to learn more about another PBR staff member.