NEWS

Aldie Senators

Erik Lemley (University of Virginia-Wise ’06) enters his third season with the Aldie Senators, and his sixth season coaching at his alma mater, where he is the recruiting coordinator and hitting coach. A four-year catcher at UVA Wise, Lemley began his coaching career as an assistant and then head coach at Notre Dame Academy in Middleburg, Virginia.

Charles Town Cannons

Brett Fuller (West Virginia University ’8 7) returns for his second year as head coach, having spent 2013 as president and 2012 as a coach with the Luray Wranglers (before moving it to Charles Town). Fuller has coached at Clarke County High School, Notre Dame Academy and Middleburg Academy.

Cannons staff include general manager and assistant coach Mike Smith, pitching coach Chris Glaize; and assistant coaches Ridge Fuller and Doug Walker. Smith (Penn State) has coached at Shenandoah University and two West Virginia high schools, and also spent eight seasons in the VBL in various positions with different teams, including assistant coaching stints with the Royals, Express, and Charles Town. He is an associate scout for the Kansas City Royals. Glaize (Liberty), currently head coach at Brookville High School, was pitching coach during the 2013 season in the Myrtle Beach College Summer League. Fuller (Hampden-Sydney) and Walker (University of Maryland) were assistant coaches with the Luray Wranglers in 2012, then with the Cannons in 2013 and 2014.

Charlottesville Tom Sox

Head coach Mike Goldberg (Davidson College) will lead the TomSox in their inaugural season. He is a volunteer assistant coach at Richmond University this season. Goldberg was director of operations for Virginia Commonwealth University in 2014 and assistant coach for the Gastonia Grizzles of the CPL.

Associate head coach Jim McKew (Marquette) is currently in his second season at George Washington University as the director of operations. Assistant coach Travis Thomas (VMI) is coaching at Lenoir Rhyne and spent the 2013 season with the Rockbridge Rapids.

Covington Lumberjacks

Charlie Bernert, Ohio Valley University, returns for his second year as head coach and his fifth with the Lumberjacks. Eustaquio Ramirez returns for his second year as an assistant. He was an assistant coach at Florida Memorial University last year. Joseph Pagan joins the staff from Hallandale High School in Miami, Florida.

Front Royal Cardinals

Brad Neffendorf, head coach of Campbellsville University, returns for his second year with Front Royal. He also coached one season with the Winchester Royals.

His assistant coaches are Adam Lairamore, of Lindsey Wilson College; Logan Dalton, of Volunteer State Junior College; and Keaton Neeb, an assistant coach on Neffendorf’s staff at Campbellsville. Neeb spent three years in the Valley League as a player and has been an assistant coach for four years.

Harrisonburg Turks

Bob Wease has been head coach of the Turks for 14 years and president and general manager for 25 years. Wease played in the Valley League as a teenager and spent five more seasons in the league, while also playing for Shenandoah University and James Madison University. After VBL turned into a collegiate league, Wease played more than 20 years in the Rockingham County Baseball League. In 2013, he was named to the RCBL Hall of Fame. Wease has been a two-time VBL manager of the year, and has a career record of 336-203.

Wease’s staff includes veteran bench coach Mark Klosinski (Clemson), a Harrisonburg resident in his ninth year with the Turks, and two assistant coaches from Oklahoma City University, Bobby Spain and Chris Munoz. Spain played for the Turks in 2006, and the following season, earned NAIA All-American honors before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played five years of professional baseball and was an all-star for the class-A South Atlantic League. Munoz, also an assistant coach at OCU, was a standout player as well. During his senior year, he was one of nine players named to the Rawlings-NAIA Baseball Gold Glove Team. Munoz played in the Frontier League in 2013, and coached at Rio Hondo Community College in California.

New Market Rebels

First-year head coach George Schaefer (Charleston Southern ’13) is currently an assistant coach at Iona College in New York. He previously served as director of baseball operations at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, while earning a master’s in politics and policy. Schaefer spent the summer of 2014 as head coach of the Geneva Red Wings in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.

JJ Reilly and Nick Chinners, both Charleston Southern alumni and currently assistant coaches at Blythewood High School in South Carolina, will serve as assistant coaches. Reilly began his coaching career at CSU in 2008, having previously served as assistant general manager of the Florence Red Wolves of the Coastal Plains League in 2006 and 2007.

A four-year starter at first base for Charleston Southern, Chinners was named to the All-Big South Conference team in both 2010 and 2011 and ranks in the top four in numerous career offensive categories for the Buccaneers. He is the all-time hits leader at Charleston Southern.

Staunton Braves

George Laase returns for his third season. He was an assistant coach with the Braves in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2012, and played for the Braves in 2003 while attending Fairmont State. Laase works at R.E. Lee High School in Staunton.

Matt Maher, who played for Bridgewater College, has assisted for the past three seasons. He is head freshman coach at Nottingham High School in his home town of Hamilton, New Jersey. Taylor Davis, who played for the  Braves last year and is a senior at Ferrum College, will oversee the team’s pitching staff. Davis has been a part of the Braves organization since he was a youngster, serving as batboy and then equipment manager. Last season, he made nine appearances and posted a 1.54 ERA.

Strasburg Express

First year head coach Stephanos Stroop returns to Strasburg, where he was an assistant coach last season. Stroop is currently the pitching coach at St. Catherine College. While earning his master’s in sports management at Georgetown University, Stroop spent two years as an assistant coach and pitching coach at George Washington University, and also scouted for the Washington Nationals.

He is assisted by Noe Ruiz and Stephen Dickerson. Ruiz was a hitting coach with the Express in 2013 and currently in his second year as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, where he will graduate with a master’s in business administration this spring. Ruiz also brings experience as a former assistant coach and director of baseball operations at Texas A & M International, also his alma mater.

Dickerson, slated to be the pitching coach and also in charge of collegiate relations for Strasburg, is currently a pitcher and senior at Philadelphia University.

Waynesboro Generals

Head coach D.J. King returns for a second year with Waynesboro. King is an assistant coach at University of South Carolina-Aiken. He is assisted for the second year by Matt Williams, assistant coach at Valdosta State. Ross Gusky, also an assistant at Valdosta State, joins the staff this season.

Winchester Royals

Stu Richardson, a veteran of more than 46 years as a player and coach at the high school and collegiate levels, returns for his second season as the 2015 Winchester Royals head baseball coach. Richardson previously coached in the Coastal Plain League and the Hawaii Collegiate League. From 2004-2009, he was owner and CEO of the Woodstock River Bandits, and for two seasons in 1977 and 1978, head coach of the New Market Rebels.    

Richardson’s staff includes two coaches with Valley League experience. Associate head coach and pitching coach Lyndon Coleman (Barry ’13), currently the infield coach for St. Petersburg College in Clearwater  Florida, played for the Covington Lumberjacks in 2011, where he batted. 343 in 29 games. Assisant coach Max Kreuter (Flagler ’12) pitched for the New Market Rebels in 2010. He is currently an assistant coach and pitching coach with Dunedin High School in Florida.

Woodstock River Bandits

Head coach Phillip Betterly, currently pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Sewanee: The University of the South, in Tennessee. He has coached at Shenandoah University, and both his alma maters: Frostburg State University, where he earned a master’s degree, and Methodist University.  He was an assistant coach for the Florence Red Wolves and also an assistant coach with the New Market Rebels in 2010. 

Woodstock returns both its assistant coaches. In his 26th year of coaching, Donn Foltz (James Madison Univerity) has been a member of the coaching staff since the River Bandits inaugural 2004 season. He is the head varsity coach at Central High School, in Woodstock. Andrew Montague, who caught and pitched at Virginia Military Institute, is head coach at Massanutten Military Academy.