Joe Kelch joins the Bradley Baseball coaching staff for the 2018 season as a volunteer assistant coach, having served in a similar role for former Braves assistant Sean Lyons on the SIU Edwardsville staff during the 2017 season. In his first year with the Braves, Kelch focuses his on-field instruction on infield defense while assisting with Bradley's hitters.
A Peoria native, Kelch was a four-year letterman at I-74 rival Illinois State, where he played in 163 games from 2013-16. Primarily playing second base, Kelch started 136 games for the Redbirds, finishing his career with a .289 batting average, 152 hits and 63 RBI's. He earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors following his junior season in 2015, when he hit a career-best .338 with eight doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI's.
Kelch is the nephew of veteran Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Jim Kelch, many of the distinguished sports broadcasters with ties to Bradley University and Central Illinois. Jim Kelch is beginning his sixth year as a radio and televison play-by-play talent for the Reds after handling play-by-play duties for the Triple-A Louisville Bats from 1989-2012.