Assistant Coach Matt Cada 8th season
wolfpackcada@hotmail.com

Matt Cada enters his eighth season as Assistant Coach of the Winona VFW Buddies. While it may be his eighth official season as assistant, Cada has worked with the Buddies the last nine years and has coached with head coach Matt O'Brien for twelve seasons.

In Cada's seven years coaching the Buddies, the Buddies have finished no worse than fourth in the division and have advanced to the final four five of those seasons. In 201l, the Buddies won the District Tournament and advanced to the VFW State Tournament for the first time in 22 years. At the state tournament in Bemidji, MN, the Buddies had quite a memorable run, finishing as the second best team in the state of MN and a record of 29-10.

In Cada's first season (2008), he helped guide the Winona VFW Buddies to a third place finish in the division finishing with a record of 18-10. The Buddies hosted and won their section of the division tournament, qualifying them for the “Final Four” district tournament where they would finish with a 1-2 record.

In 2009, the Buddies accumulated their first 20 win season. The Buddies won 21 games to 9 defeats, while taking 3rd place at the Stars of Tomorrow tournament and winning the consolation championship at the St. Cloud tournament. The Buddies exited the divisional playoffs with a 2-2 record.

In 2010, the Buddies finished the season 17-11. They would continue their streak of four consecutive years of hosting a part of the division tournament. They once again advanced to the "Final Four" district tournament going 1-2 in the tournament.

In 2011, the Buddies had a season for the record books. The Buddies finished the regular season in second place out of the 14 team league. Winona hosted a portion of the Division Tournament and walked right through it. The Buddies advanced to the District Tournament in Red Wing, MN as the #2 seed in the "final four" tournament. After defeating the Rochester Rockets 13-3 in six innings, the Buddies defeated Northfield 9-0 in the semi-final game. In the District Tournament Championship game, the Buddies came back from 5-0, to defeat Northfield 10-5. It was the first district title for Winona in 22 years and earned them a spot in the State Tournament held in Bemidji, MN. At the state tournament, the Buddies defeated "team of the decade" Ranview 6-3 in the opening round of the tournament. In game 2, Winona would defeat eventual state champion Eagan 2-1 putting an end to their 18 game winning streak. In game 3, the Buddies defeated defending state champion and tournament host Bemidji, 1-0 off a home run from Owen Burnikel. In the semi-final game, the Buddies would defeat Grand Rapids 6-4. Winona would lose two games to Eagan in the championship by scores of 14-8 and 11-5 finishing the season with a record of 29-10 and a second place finish at state.

In 2012, the Buddies had a strong 21 game win season, advancing to the final four, and coming up just short of another state tournament berth. The Buddies won their division portion of the tournament and lost a heart breaking 12-11 extra inning game to the Rochester Spartans preventing them from clinching back to back state tournament appearances.

In 2013, the Buddies had one of the greatest turn arounds in program history as they finished the regular season in 11th place out of 15 teams. The Buddies upset #5 seed Rochester Knights 3-1. Then in one of the most memorable games Buddies' history, the Buddies beat #4 seed Cannon Falls. The Buddies trailed C.F. 13-7 heading into the top of the 7th inning, only to score 12 runs in the inning, and 7 runs with two outs. The Buddies would once again win their portion of the division and advance to the final four. There they lost a heart breaker to #1 seed Northfield 12-11 in 8 innings. The Buddies would bounce back defeating Rochester Century and Owatonna to advance to the District title game. In the end, Northfield proved to be too much to overcome, as the Buddies fell 10-5 placing second in the district, once again knocking on the state tournament's door step.

Cada has also coached 5th grade baseball at the Winona Middle school and 8th grade baseball at Plainview Junior High in Elgin, MN and 6th grade at Houston Middle School in Houston, MN. 

Cada spent six seasons on the staff of the Plainview-Elgin-Millville high school baseball team in Plainview, MN. He has spent three seasons as the Varsity Assistant Coach and three as Head Coach of the B-Squad baseball team. He has helped lead the Bulldogs to a second place finish in the Sub-Section tournament and qualified the Bulldogs for the Section Tournament.

Cada is currently enjoying his second season coaching the B-squad softball team for the P-E-M Bulldogs.

Cada was born and raised in Winona, MN. grew up playing baseball through local organizations. He played for Winona Park Rec, Goodview Traveling baseball, Winona VFW Buddies, and Winona Senior high school.

He attended Winona Senior high school where he participated in baseball and bowling. He lettered in baseball and was a part of the Winhawks Final Four appearance in the Section Tournament. He also was a state participant in bowling.

After graduating from Senior High, Cada attended North Carolina State University, the University of Wisconsin, and Winona State University. He graduated from Winona State University with a teaching degree in Mathematics.

Cada is currently in his seventh year teaching at Plainview-Elgin-Millville, where he teaches Math to 7th and 8th graders. He resides in Plainview, MN.