Bio's

Coach Holler

The 2025 season will mark Coach Holler's 27th year overall coaching high school baseball, and his 21st season as the Varsity Head Coach at Oak Creek. His coaching career began in 1999 at Oak Creek High School when he joined Coach Dooley's Varsity staff as an assistant coach.  For the next four years, he would serve as the varsity assistant to Coach Dooley and also assume the role of Head Coach of the Freshmen team. In 2003 and 2004, Coach Holler joined Hall of Fame Franklin Coach Jim Hughes' varsity staff at Franklin HS, where he was named the District 8 Assistant Coach of the Year by the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association.

Holler returned to Oak Creek in 2005 to take over as the Head Varsity Coach after Peter Dooley resigned.  In 2005, Holler led the Knights to a 32-6 overall record and a WIAA State Championship.  The 32 wins by the 2005 team still stands as the single season school record.  That season, Junior Tony Butler became the first Knight in school history to be named the State Player of the Year by the WBCA.

Under Holler the Knights have compiled a 484-148 record (.769 winning %).  During that time, the Knights have won two state championships (2005, 2012); appeared in the WIAA State Tournament seven times ('05, '08, '12, '14, '16, '19, '24);  won 12 Conference Championships (including 6 in a row from 2013-2018 in the Greater Metro Conference), and stretched their streak of 20 or more wins in a season to 22 consecutive years (a WI state record).  Five of his former players at Oak Creek have been drafted in the MLB Draft, including Tony Butler and Alex Binelas, who were both 3rd round picks.  Four Knights have been named the WI State Player of Year during Holler's career (Tony Butler-2005; Doran Turchin- 2015; Alex Binelas-2018, and Payten Jibben- 2023 & 2024).   

Based on his teams' commitment and success on and off the field, Holler has received several Local, State and National Coach of the Year awards.  In 2011 and 2016, he was named the WBCA State Coach of the Year.  Three times he was named the NOW Newspapers All-Suburban COY (2010, 2012, 2016).  Six times he has been named the Conference COY ('11, '13, '15, '16, '18 in the GMC and '24 in the SEC).  He was recognized by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) as the 2018 Midwest Region National High School Coach of the Year.  Most recently, in February of 2022 after his 17th season as head coach, Holler was inducted into the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Coach Holler has been the Athletic Director at Oak Creek High School since 2013.  Prior to that role, he taught 5th grade for 10 years at Edgewood Elementary in Oak Creek.  He currently serves as the Director of Marketing and Sponsorships for  the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association.  Holler resides in Oak Creek with his wife Julie, and their three children, Chase, Quinn, and T.J.  

Coach Dooley

The 2025 season will mark Coach Dooley's 20th season as a coach at Oak Creek.  Dooley joined the Oak Creek coaching staff in 1998 as the Junior Varsity head coach.  In 1999, he was named the Head Varsity Coach after Joel Paar resigned after five years at the helm. Dooley's first squad in '99 became the first team in school history to qualify for the WIAA state tournament, finishing the season with a 28-6 record.  

In 2003, he led the Knights to their first ever WIAA State Championship in baseball, defeating Homestead 3-2 in one of the greatest state tournament games ever played.  In that game, Freshman Tony Butler pitched 5 no-hit innings to lead the Knights to the title. The following year, the Knights became the first team to ever win back-back WIAA state championships in baseball.  Dooley was named the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004, and also was selected to coach the East squad in the 2004 WBCA All Star Classic.  In six seasons as the Head Varsity Coach, he posted a 126-60 overall record.

Dooley's coaching career began in 1989 as an assistant at his alma mater, West Allis Hale. He spent time as the Head JV Coach at West Allis Hale and Whitewater HS over the next 9 years, including a one year stint as the Head JV Coach at Muskego in 1997 before coming over to Oak Creek.  After a 2006-2014 break from baseball to coach is own daughters and their youth teams, he returned to the OC staff in 2015.  

Coach Dooley is the Varsity Head Coach for Boys Volleyball and  a Boys Basketball varsity assistant at OCHS in addition to his baseball duties at OC.  He teaches 3rd grade at Cedar Hills Elementary in Oak Creek, and resides in Muskego, with his wife, Cherie.  They have two daughters, Tristan and Morgan.  

Coach Butler
Coach Butler begins his fourth year as the varsity pitching coach at Oak Creek.  A four year letter-winner for the Knights from 2003-2006, Butler guided the Knights to three consecutive WIAA State Championships in 2003, 2004, and 2005.  As a freshman he threw 5 no-hit innings in the state championship game against Homestead and from that day forward, he has been regarded as the greatest prep high school pitcher in the history of Wisconsin baseball.  He would go on to be named the WBCA State Player of the Year in 2005, after posting an 11-1 record with a 0.71 ERA to go along with 110 K's in 69 innings pitched.  He also hit over .400 that season with a school record 50 RBI's.  He was named a High School All-American by nearly every publication and was also named the Gatorade State Player of the Year.  With a fastball that reached 96 MPH early in his senior season, in the 2006 MLB draft, Tony was chosen in the third round by the Seattle Mariners (81st overall).  He went on to pitch in the minors for six season with the Mariners, Orioles and Brewers.  A shoulder injury early in his minor league career led to various setbacks in his professional career.  Nonetheless, he had several outstanding performances in his professional career, including striking out Giancarlo Stanton three times in one game.  In 2023, Tony became the first Oak Creek Knights baseball player to have his jersey retired.  A banner honoring his #22 and his career hangs at Knights Field on the right-center field fence.   A longtime student of the game, Butler brings a wealth of pitching knowledge and experience to the Knights Varsity staff.  Coach Butler resides in Grafton with his wife, Claire.

Coach Poznanski

Gerald Walsh

The 2024 season will be Walsh's 20th year as the Director of Scouting for Knights baseball. He has worked closely with Coach Holler, his staff, and players over the years to help Oak Creek Baseball remain one of the top high school programs in all of Wisconsin.  Walsh works with the coaching staff during tryouts and in the preseason, and then once the season begins he heads out to scout opposing conference and potential playoff opponents the Knights might face that season.  Very rarely will Walsh actually see OC play during the regular season or postseason.  

He has always kept the Knights baseball program one step ahead when it comes to data analysis and scouting software.  A standout high school baseball player himself at Greenfield, there are few that know the game and see the game the way Walsh does. Walsh has also scouted wrestling and football for some of the top high school programs in the Midwest over the years.

Coach Gress

Coach Gress will begin his 4th full season of coaching the JV 2 squad in 2024.  It will mark his sixth season in the program.  Prior to being named the Head JV 2 coach in 2020, Coach Gress was a Varsity and JV 1 assistant in 2019.