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2008-2009 Hurricane Men's Baseball Coaches
Head Coach Tommy Atkinson enters his eigth season with the Hurricananes and his second season as head coach. Coach Atkinson is a native of Raleigh, NC, where he excelled in baseball at Broughton High School. During Coach Atkinson's first six season, while serving as an Assistant Coach, his primary duties included coordinating recruitment, third-base coach, hitting coach and Head Coach of the developmental team. The Hurricanes have flourished offensively under Coach Atkinson’s direction. They traditionally rank among the top in batting average and runs scored in Region X.
Coach Atkinson played at perennial Division II power, Mount Olive College and earned his B.S. degree from the eastern North Carolina school. Atkinson has been an assistant coach at Millbrook High School and North Raleigh American Legion in Raleigh from 1995-1999. Coach Atkinson was the Head Coach of the North Raleigh American Legion team. His team won the Western Division Area I championship and advanced to the state tournament in Granite Falls, NC in 2000. In 2003, Coach Atkinson also served as the Head Coach of the Fayetteville Swamp Dogs in the Coastal Plain Collegiate Summer League. In the summer of 2004, Coach Atkinson traveled to Warwick, Rhode Island, where he served as the Head Coach of the Riverpoint Royals (member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League). In the 2005 and 2006 summer he will head back to Rhode Island to coach the Newport Gulls.
Coach Atkinson received his master’s degree from Campbell University in 1992. He is married to the former Kathy Williford from Fayetteville, NC. Tommy and Kathy have a daughter, Gabrielle and a son named William. The family resides in Louisburg.
Head Coach Tommy Atkinson
919.497.3328
tatkinson@louisburg.edu
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Assistant Coach Jerry Edwards, enters his ninth season in the collegiate coaching ranks, his second season at Louisburg College with the Hurricanes. Coach Edwards will serve the Hurricanes as the varsity pitching coach and the head of the developmental team. Prior to his arrival at Louisburg College, Coach Edwards spent three seasons with the Tigers of Hiwassee College in Madisonville, TN. Coach Edwards had the opportunity to coach many outstanding student-athletes during his stint at Hiwassee including several All-Conference and All-Region performers. Before heading up the Tigers, Coach Edwards spent time serving as a pitching coach at Lander University in Greenwood, SC and at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY. Coach Edwards was instrumental in guiding the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky to a 2000 regular season championship and two consecutive OCS tournament bids. In 1999, Coach Edwards realized his greatest accomplishment as an assistant coach when he helped guide the Bishops of NC Wesleyan to the NCAA Division III National Championship. His pitching staff went through the entire tournament undefeated; winning all five games during the course of the tournament.
Coach Edwards graduated from North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC with a BS in Physical Education and Eastern Kentucky University with a MA in Sports Administration. He is married to the former Amy Drexler and the couple has a son, Jacob and a daughter Claire.
Assistant Coach Jerry Edwards
919.497.3266
jedwards@louisburg.edu
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Russ Frazier (Head Coach 1959-1999)-Only one word can describe Louisburg College Baseball over the last 40 years and that is EXCELLENCE. Russ Frazier became the Hurricanes baseball coach in 1959 and led the Hurricanes to national prominence during his tenure of 40 years. Coach Frazier directed the Hurricanes to 22 conference titles, nine district championships and nine trips to the National Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado, while compiling a record of 1034- 390. Russ Frazier built a program rich in baseball talent with a firm commitment to academics. Over 70 percent of his players have gone on to graduate from four-year schools.
Twelve former Hurricanes have made it to the Major Leagues, including Otis Nixon, Greg Briley, and Chad Fonville. Over 75 Louisburg College players signed and played professional baseball. Very few junior college programs parallel Louisburg College’s baseball tradition. The dedication of Coach Frazier and all the players that donned the navy and red have made the program one of the finest junior college baseball programs in the nation.
In the spring of 1999, Russ Frazier retired as the Hurricanes’ baseball coach. In June, while serving as Athletic Director, he named Billy Godwin as his successor. On October 2, 1999, in ceremony at Frazier Field, Coach Frazier’s jersey number 18 was retired and a sign to signify his place in Louisburg College baseball history is now hanging underneath the scoreboard in left field.
On January 7, 2005, Coach Frazier received college baseball’s most prestigious honor when he was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Hall of Fame.
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For more information, contact:
Head Coach Tommy Atkinson at
tatkinson@louisburg.edu
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