ATEC, ABCA Announce 2021 College Baseball Coaches of the Year

Learn about the 2021 National & Regional Coaches of the Year, powered by ATEC.

ATEC Sports and the American Baseball Coaches Association named eight National Coaches of the Year – one for each level of play – for 2021. Headlined by Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Lemonis, the 2021 NCAA Division I National Champion, the ABCA/ATEC national coaches of the year led their programs to new heights and national titles.

2021 ABCA/ATEC National Coaches of the Year

NCAA Div. I: Chris Lemonis, Mississippi State

NCAA Div. II: Jeff Gregory, Wingate (NC)

NCAA Div. III: Troy Brohawn, Salisbury (MD)

NAIA: Jeremy Sheetinger, Georgia Gwinnett

NJCAA Div. I: Mitch Thompson, McLennan (TX)

NJCAA Div. II: Jeff Willis, LSU Eunice

NJCAA Div. III: Doug Wren, Tyler (TX)

Pacific Association Division: Anthony Ferro, Butte (CA)

Lemonis led his Mississippi State Bulldogs to their first baseball national championship in 2021. In Omaha, Mississippi State knocked off Big XII power Texas and Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt on the way to its 2021 title. The Bulldogs (50-18) roster combined to hit .278/.375/.439 on the season, and the defense posted a .975 fielding percentage.

In NCAA Division II, Jeff Gregory led his Wingate (39-13) club to its first-ever DII baseball national championship. Salisbury (34-4) Head Coach Troy Brohawn led the Sea Gulls to their first NCAA Division III national title.

At the NAIA level, Georgia Gwinnett (51-10) Head Coach Jeremy Sheetinger guided the Grizzlies to a World Series title, the program’s first national championship.

In the junior college ranks, McLennan (47-16) Head Coach Mitch Thompson led his program to the NJCAA Division I World Series title. Jeff Willis and his top-ranked LSU-Eunice (51-7) squad won the NJCAA Division II World Series. Tyler (40-16), piloted by Head Coach Doug Wren, swept the NJCAA Division III World Series on the way to a national championship in 2021.

Out west in the Pacific Association Division, Butte College Baseball (23-3) Head Coach Anthony Ferro guided the Roadrunners to a Golden Valley Conference title.

In addition to naming national coaches of the year, ATEC and ABCA honored regional coaches who excelled in 2021.

2021 ABCA/ATEC NCAA Div. I Regional Coaches of the Year

Northeast: Bill Currier, Fairfield (CT)

East: Alex Sogard, Wright State (OH)

Atlantic: Elliott Avent, North Carolina State (NC)

Southeast: Tony Vitello, Tennessee (TN)

Midwest: Link Jarrett, Notre Dame (IN)

South: Chris Lemonis, Mississippi State (MS)

Central: David Pierce, Texas (TX)

West: Jay Johnson, Arizona (AZ)

2021 ABCA/ATEC NCAA Div. II Regional Coaches of the Year

East: Scott Loiseau, Southern New Hampshire (NH)

Atlantic: Marc Marizzaldi, Seton Hill (PA)

Southeast: Jeff Gregory, Wingate (NC)

South: Joe Urso, Tampa (FL)

Midwest: Chase Sain, Trevecca Nazarene (TN)

Central: Kyle Crookes, Central Missouri (MO)

South Central: Kevin Brooks, Angelo State (TX)

West: Joe Schaefer, Northwest Nazarene (ID)

2021 ABCA/ATEC NCAA Div. III Regional Coaches of the Year

New England: Ed Flaherty, Southern Maine (ME)

New York: Joe Brown, Cortland (NY)

Mid-Atlantic: Mike Dickson, Rowan (NJ)

South: Troy Brohawn, Salisbury (MD)

Mideast: Craig Rainey, Adrian (MI)

Central: Pat Bloom, WashU (MO)

Midwest: Chris Olean, St. Thomas (MN)

West: Jared Hood, East Texas Baptist (TX)

2021 ABCA/ATEC NAIA Regional Coaches of the Year

Opening Rd.: Ryan Dupic, Concordia (NE)

Opening Rd.: Ben Reel, IU Southeast (IN)

Opening Rd.: Adrian Dinkel, Southeastern (FL)

Opening Rd.: Kirk Kelley, Oklahoma Wesleyan (OK)

Opening Rd.: Patrick McCarthy, Faulkner (AL)

Opening Rd.: Brook Fordyce, Keiser (FL)

Opening Rd.: Nate Breland, Central Methodist (MO)

Opening Rd.: Jeremy Sheetinger, Georgia Gwinnett (GA)

Opening Rd.: Brad Neffendorf, LSU Shreveport (LA)

2021 ABCA/ATEC NJCAA Div. I Regional Coaches of the Year

Appalachian: David Shelton, Walters State (TN)

East: Preston McDonald, Florence-Darlington Tech (SC)

Mid-South: Tom Arrington, San Jacinto-North (TX)

Midwest: Matthew Torrez, Indian Hills (IA)

Plains: Darren Burroughs, Cowley (KS)

South: Bobby Sprowl, Shelton State (AL)

South Atlantic: Adrian Morales, Miami Dade (FL)

South Central: Travis Lallemand, Crowder (MO)

Southwest: Mitch Thompson, McLennan (TX)

West: Athony Gilich, Central Arizona (AZ)

2021 ABCA/ATEC NJCAA Div. II Regional Coaches of the Year

Central: Ron Riggle, Lincoln Land (IL)

East: Mike McCarry  , Lackawanna (PA)

Great Lakes: Eric Laskovy, Kellogg (MI)

Gulf: Jeff Willis, LSU Eunice (LA)

Mid-Atlantic: Rodney Bennett, Frederick (MD)

Midwest: Mike Davenport, Madison (WI)

North Plains: Todd Rima, Kirkwood (IA)

Plains: Kurt Russell, Western Oklahoma State (OK)

South Atlantic: Cody Ellis, Patrick Henry (VA)

West: Kevin Kimball , Phoenix (AZ)

2021 ABCA/ATEC NJCAA Div. III Regional Coaches of the Year

Great Lakes: John Parisho, Owens (OH)

Great Lakes: Bill Fratto, Oakton (IL)

Mid-Atlantic: Reece Honeycutt, Rockingham (NC)

North: Matt Clingersmith, Niagara County (NY)

North Atlantic: Rob Valli, Rowan-Gloucester (NJ)

North Plains: Jason Fischer, St. Cloud Tech (MN)

South: Brian Bauerle, Coastal Bend (TX)

South: Doug Wren, Tyler (TX)

2021 ABCA/ATEC Pacific Association Division Regional Coaches of the Year

No. California: Anthony Ferro, Butte (CA)

So. California : Chris Stevens, Allan Hancock (CA)

Northwest: Bryan Winston, Spokane (WA)

Members of the American Baseball Coaches Association All-America and Coach of the Year Committees selected the 2021 National Collegiate Coaches of the year, and those committee members will also select high school honorees for 2021. ABCA and ATEC will honor National and Regional Coaches of the year January 6-9, 2022 at the 78^th annual ABCA Convention in Chicago, Illinois.