Tyler bremer
Tyler Bremer was named an assistant baseball coach at HCU in June 2021.
Previously, Bremer spent two seasons at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, assisting with the Celts’ return to the diamond. Prior to UST, he coached at Northland Christian High School, RTG Baseball and was a player-coach for the Texas Airhogs.
He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs twice, first in 2010 and again in 2012, before being traded to the Miami Marlins in 2014. Bremer pitched for six seasons in the minor leagues, including two separate stints at the Triple-A level with New Orleans in 2015 and 2016. He was a Florida State League All-Star and Minor League Baseball’s Reliever of the Year in 2015 and was named to the Southern League All-Star Team in 2016.
Bremer spent two seasons at Baylor, going 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA, 50 strikeouts and 14 walks in 58.2 innings over 15 appearances, including nine starts, as a senior in 2012. That season, the Bears advanced to an NCAA Super Regional. He was first drafted by the Cubs after two seasons at Yavapai Junior College, but opted to transfer to Baylor to finish his collegiate career. He earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Baylor in 2012.
A native of Berkeley, California, Bremer went 7-2 with a 1.40 ERA and 86 strikeouts as a senior at Berkeley High School to earn All-Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League Pitcher of the Year. He was also a three-time All-ACCAL selection.
Sam Mcelreath
Sam McElreath was named an assistant baseball coach at HCU in June of 2022.
Prior to HCU, McElreath was an assistant coach at Blinn Junior College for the 2021-2022 season where he worked with the infielders and served as the Buccaneer's first base coach. In his lone season at Blinn, the Buccaneers posted a .970 fielding percentage, which was good for 9th nationally (NJCAA).
Prior to Blinn, McElreath was a graduate assistant coach at Western Kentucky for the 2020-2021 season. During that year McElreath worked with the outfielders and served as the Hilltopper's first base coach.
McElreath began his collegiate career at Blinn Junior College, playing in 100 games during his two seasons with the Buccaneers. As a sophomore, he slashed .354/.455/.532 while earning First Team All-Region 14 honors.
The Brenham, Texas, native transferred to Western Kentucky where he was a three-year letter winner from 2018-2020. McElreath played in 64 games over three years while making 53 starts as a utility infielder playing at all 4 positions. McElreath was off to a hot start in his first Hilltopper campaign, posting a .360/.485/.520 slash line through nine games, before an injury forced him to sit out the remainder of the 2018 season. In the next two years, including a shortened 2020 season, he started 44 of 53 games played.
clayton vanderlaan
Clayton VanderLaan was named an assistant baseball coach at HCU in June 2021.
Previously, VanderLaan was the head coach at the University of St. Thomas in Houston for two seasons, overseeing the Celts return to varsity baseball after more than a half-century without a program. He had a 24-27 record, going 17-16 in 2021 and 7-11 in the pandemic-shortened inaugural season in 2020. VanderLaan spent the 2017-18 academic year at Division II Saginaw Valley State, taking over the head coaching position in April of that season.
Prior to his collegiate coaching career, VanderLaan was the pitching coach for three seasons at St. Thomas High School in Houston, capping his tenure by winning the 2017 TAPPS Division I championship. He guided the St. Thomas pitching staff to an 80-21 record and 2.85 ERA in three seasons, including a 65-4 mark over the last two campaigns. Eleven pitchers from the program went on to play college baseball.
VanderLaan played three years of professional baseball from 2012-14 with the Frontier Greys in the Frontier League and the Alexandria Aces and Brownsville Charros of United League Baseball. He began his collegiate career at Michigan State, before becoming a three-year letterwinner at Cameron University, where he earned All-Lone Star Conference honorable mention.
Following his collegiate baseball career, VanderLaan played two seasons of college football at Graceland University and earned a bachelor of arts in liberal studies in 2014. He is a Houston native who attended Cypress Ridge High School.