After winning the 2004 Northwoods League Championship, Madison Mallards head coach Darrell “Skip” Handelsman resigned his post to pursue other baseball opportunities.

While his departure left some big shoes to fill, there was one obvious choice for his replacement: assistant coach C.J. Thieleke. A Madison native, Thieleke is the fourth head coach in team history.

“I was very excited that everything worked out the way it did,” Thieleke said. “I’m happy that Skip is doing what he wanted to do. It’s a natural progression for me as a coach and I’m ready for it. I’m excited and being familiar with the Mallards and how it all works in the league, that’s nice to know.”

Thieleke’s promotion will allow the club to carry over the momentum built during the two years Handelsman served as head coach. In the time Thieleke spent as Madison’s hitting, infield and first base coach under Handelsman, the Mallards compiled a record of 85-50 and made back-to-back playoff appearances.

“The players, it’s like any clubhouse or any locker room,” Thieleke said. “We’ll have good chemistry, I’ll promise you that. The returning guys are excited that will be the case. It’s a haul, 64 games in 68 days. You’ve got to have a point where the kids are comfortable and excited to come out each and every day. We’ll continue to make that a priority for our guys.”

Thieleke’s coaching ambitions date back to his days as a farmhand in the Minnesota Twins system. After his standout collegiate career in Iowa, one that included 1994 Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, Minnesota selected Thieleke in the 32nd round of the 1996 draft.

When his playing dreams began to fizzle, his coaching aspirations began to take hold.

“I could see I wasn’t going to get to the big leagues and I still knew I had a passion for the game,” Thieleke said. “Most of all, just to compete in general, whether I’m coaching high school girls’ softball at Waunakee or whatever, the competitive nature in me is always going to be on the athletic field.”

After his playing career ended, Thieleke served as an assistant coach for three seasons at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There he coached alongside head coach Justin Schulpe.

“As far as taking over a program that was just run down to the point where whoever showed up for try outs made the team,” Thieleke said. “To take that type of program to a regional for three straight years, the way he recruited and looked for talent, I’m drawing on that right now as I’m putting together the team. He’d definitely be an influence.”

After his stint at Mount Mercy, he moved on to his alma mater, Iowa, where he became a volunteer assistant for two seasons. After a summer with the Mallards, he became convinced he was ready to become a head coach.

“After spending a year with the Mallards and helping Skip put the team together for this past year’s squad, throughout the winter I started to feel like this is something I’d love to be able to try to do myself,” said Thieleke, who is currently an assistant on the MATC staff.

Much of that comfort level comes from the opportunity to learn under Handelsman for two seasons.

“The dynamics as far as he conducts himself in the clubhouse and how every guy on that team, he finds a role for him,” Thieleke said of Handelsman. “He makes everyone know they’re important. X’s and O’s-wise, just little things on when to be aggressive, when to let your guys hit, when to press the issue with bunting. A lot of that was Skip and I talking, but to see him run the offense, to be there first hand, I’m ready to do it myself.”

In addition to Handelsman, Thieleke credits his first professional manager, Jose Marzan, and current Minnesota bench coach Steve Little with influencing his coaching career.

“[Little] was an instructor of mine,” Thieleke said. “He was a disciplinarian hardcore, almost military-like, but to have a little of that influence, you have to have some structure to your program.”

There could not be a better starting point for Thieleke to begin his own head coaching career than his hometown of Madison.

“There’s no better place in the world, and that’s the truth,” Thieleke said. “I wish we could start tomorrow.”