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Elon Phoenix baseball

     The Elon Phoenix baseball team is the interscholastic baseball team from Elon University in Elon, NC.   They are part of the Division 1 Southern Conference.

The team is lead by Head coach Mike Kennedy who has lead the Phoenix to 436 victories in his 13 years. The team has won 40 or more games in three of the last four seasons.

    They were ranked number 1 in the Southern Conference in 2009 with an overall record of 41-18, making them 24th in the nation.  In 2008, the Phoenix were Conference Tournament champions.  And in three of the last four years, the Elon baseball team made appearances at the College World Series Regional Round.  
    The team has been around for 60 years, and has posted a record of 1498-905-4 since World War II.  The team has also had 13 coaches since WWII.  Elon currently plays its home games at Latham Park on Elon’s campus.  (Calvert, 2009)

2009-2010 Roster:

(Elon University Athletics, 2009)

Pitchers:

13- Jimmy Reyes
18- Ryan Adams (1B/P)
19- Jared Kernodle
22- J.D. Reichenbach
24- Kyle Webb
26- Daniel Britt
28- Ken Ferrer
29- Brad MacHaffie
30-John Brebbia
32- Ryan Gunther
33- Dylan Clark
34- Jimmy Stokes
35- Bobby Kennedy
36-Mitch Conner
37- Thomas Girdwood
42- Jordan Darnell
44- Greg Amorosso

Catchers:

10- Mike Melillo
25- Anthony Hezar
27- Alex Swim
38- Joe O’Hagan

Infielders:

2- Chris Bresnahan
3- Neal Pritchard
6- Seth Canipe
15-Alex Maruri (UT)
16- Scott Riddle
17 Grant McCoury (P/INF)
23- Ben Scott (C/1NF)

Outfielders:

1- Niko Fraser
7- David Wood
8- Justin Hilt
11- Matt Hinson
14- Harry Austin
31-Matt Kirchner (OF/3B)

Coaches:

Head Coach Mike Kennedy

Associate Head Coach Greg Starbuck

Assistant Coach Robbie Huffstetler

Assistant Coach Nick Brannon

Elon’s Head Coach Mike Kennedy:

    Mike Kennedy has been the head coach at Elon since 1997.  He was a Two Time Honorable Mention All American Catcher for Elon University 1988-1990.  He spent four seasons as Elon’s Pitching coach before becoming head coach.  Kennedy was selected to serve as the pitching coach for the USA Baseball’s National Team (Collegiate) during the summer.  Prior to the 2010 season Kennedy lead Elon to 436 victories in his 13 years, and has lead the team to 19 victories over teams ranked in the top 25 in the past 11 years (Calvert, 2009).

Top Major League Baseball Draft Picks in Elon’s History (Top 10 Rounds):

1971 - Gary Brown (Round 1, 21st overall by the Chicago Cubs)

1981 - Joey Hackett (Round 4, 71st overall by the Texas Rangers)

2008 - Steven Hensley (Round 4, 132nd overall by the Seattle Mariners)

2001 - Brad Pinkerton (Round 5, 149th overall by the Anaheim Angels)

2001 - Scott Light (Round 6, 186th overall by the Cincinnati Reds)

1966 - Dick Such (Round 8, 100th overall by the Washington Senators)

1992 - Aaron Cannaday (Round 8, 231st overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates)

1990 - Mike Kennedy (Round 9, 255th overall by the Oakland Athletics)

(2009). “Elon University Team History”, The Baseball Cube.

Southern Conference:

    The Southern Conference has been around since 1921 and Elon University has been a member since 1923.

List of schools in the conference: Elon, Citadel, Samford, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, Western Carolina, Appalachian State, Wofford, Davidson, Furman, UNC Greensboro

(Elon University Athletics, 2009)

References:

1. Calvert, S. (2009). “60 years and still going strong”, Pendulum.

2. (2009). “Elon Baseball”, Elon University Athletics.

3. (2009). “Elon University Team History”, The Baseball Cube.