Steve Sonka enters his 18th season as an assistant coach for the Beavers in 2023. He spent his first two seasons with the program working as the team's pitching coach. After spending the next six seasons guiding the team's infielders, catchers, and base runners, he returned to his current role as pitching coach duties in 2015.
During that first season as pitching coach in the spring of 2007, Sonka had a pair of pitchers earn all-conference honors, marking the first time since 1982 that BVU had two pitchers land such recognition in the same season. Since 2018, he has produced 12 all-conference hurlers, as well as seven All-Region selections and one All-American. He coached his first conference Pitcher of the Year in 2023, which was the program's first since 2014.
Sonka has been a part of four conference regular season titles and three conference tournament championships. Four of the program's top-10 all-time strikeout totals by the pitching staff have come with him as pitching coach. The 2023 season marked the first time in program history that the pitching staff recorded 300+ strikeouts in consecutive seasons. The overall totals during that span rank third and fourth all-time, respectively.
Upon taking over on the defensive side in 2009, the program improved from eighth in the league to tops in fielding percentage. In 2010, BVU led the league with a .960 percentage, while committing just 64 errors in more than 1,600 total chances. The team also landed its first individual Gold Glove as selected by the College Baseball News in 2010 before landing its second in 2011. BVU, which stole only 54 total bases before Sonka moved to the new role, ranked first in three of the next six seasons in that department. The team also had at least two individuals rank in the top-four in five of the six seasons.
Coach Sonka has over 27 years of coaching in his career and is well-known in western Iowa for his work with the Roughrider Baseball Program, an elite traveling little league team. He also coached for 14 years at the high school level, serving as the pitching coach at Cherokee Washington High School. The Braves qualified for the Iowa State Tournament in each of his final six years, while capturing the 2007 State Championship. Sonka was named Class 2A Assistant Coach of the Year following both the 2006 and the 2010 campaigns, with the later also marking his final season at the high school ranks.
Steve and his wife Vicki reside in Cherokee.
