Mike Pritchard begins his fourth year as the head baseball coach at Centre College. Pritchard came to Centre from Hanover College, where he served as the pitching coach for three years.
The Colonels have won 50 games in his first three years, one more than the previous four years combined. Centre has also won 19 SCAC games in his first three years compared to only 16 total conference wins in the five years prior to his arrival.
In his first year at Centre, the Colonels made a 12-game improvement, the eighth largest in Division III that year, going from a 4-29 record in 2004 to a 16-20 record in 2005. The team also made a four-game improvement in SCAC play winning five games in 2005 compared to only one in 2004.
The pitching staff cut its team earned run average almost in half from 12.58 in 2004 to 6.62 in 2005 and walked 54 fewer batters. The team's earned run average has continued to drop each year, with the Colonels' posting a 5.76 team ERA this past season.
In 2007, Pritchard guided Centre to its first conference tournament appearance in eight years, winning only its second conference tournament game in the 16-year history of the SCAC. In his three years, the Colonels have broken nine school records and have had 14 all-conference players, including three named the Centre Male Student Athlete-of-the-Year.
While at Hanover, the pitching staff broke nine school records in leading the Panthers to a 72-48-1 record the past three seasons. Four pitchers earned all-conference recognition and three earned all-region honors.
Pritchard, a 1999 graduate of the University of Dayton, pitched for the Flyers and was a team captain his senior year. After graduating, he served two seasons as an assistant coach at Dayton working primarily with the outfielders. A native of Watsontown, PA, Pritchard grew up only 15 minutes from Williamsport, Penn., home of the Little League World Series. |
