Buddy Bolding

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Buddy Bolding is head coach of the Longwood University baseball team. Longwood is an NCAA Division I Independent competitor.

Buddy Bolding
Title Head Coach
College Longwood University
Sport Baseball
Team record 818-435-4 (.652) (30 seasons)
Born September 14, 1946
Place of birth Norfolk, Virginia
Career highlights
Awards
NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year 1991, 1982; Virginia College Division Coach of the Year 1997, 1993, 1991, 1984; Longwood Male Coach of the Year a record seven times

Contents

[edit] Coaching Career

Bolding is the 26th winningest coach in NCAA Division I Baseball.

[edit] Longwood University

The Lancers finished 23-26-1 in 2008. Bolding has carried Longwood to 27 winning seasons in 30 years. Coach Bolding has an outstanding overall record of 818-435-4 since taking over the program during the fall of 1978.

Bolding's tenure at Longwood is highlighted by six appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, and two trips to the Division II College World Series. Bolding's 1982 team was the first team to reach the national championship with a 31-10-1 record. More recently, the 1991 squad completed a school-record 41-8 campaign while advancing to the final four of the national championship.

Longwood was third in the North Atlantic Region Tournament in 1993 after winning seven games in a row at season's end, finishing 26-9-1. Bolding teams have also notched third-place finishes in the North Atlantic in 1992 and the South Atlantic Region Tournament in 1984 and 1987. Bolding reached the 800-victory milestone March 8, 2008 with a 6-5 victory past Binghamton University at Lancer Stadium during a doubleheader sweep (6-5, 4-3). Bolding reached 700 victories in 2007, 600 victories in 2000, 500 victories in 1997, 400 victories in 1993, 300 victories in 1990, 200 victories in 1986, and 100 victories in 1983.

Seven of Bolding's former players have been chosen in the Major League Baseball Draft (MLB) since 1988. Kansas City chose Longwood outfielder Frankie Watson (7th-R) and shortstop Kelvin Davis (24th-R) in 1988, while in 1992, the Royals drafted Lancer shortstop Michael Tucker (1st-R, #10 overall) and catcher Scott Abell (37th-R). Outfielder LaRon Wilson (17th-R) was drafted by the New York Mets in 2002, and catcher Jeremy Knicely (42nd-R) was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003. Former Longwood standout Brian Medley signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Padres in 2004, and Lancer slugger Charlie Yarbrough (7th-R) was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2006.

Tucker played for Kansas City (twice), Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago (Cubs), San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, and New York (Mets). He was the 10th pick in the 1992 draft and played on the U.S. Olympic team that summer.

Bolding is serving this year as one of just 31 coaches nationwide on The USA TODAY/ESPN Board of Coaches for its weekly national poll. He is a former member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division II National Committee, and was an area representative for the North Atlantic Region of the ABCA -- one of eight nationwide as a liaison between the region’s coaches and the ABCA advisory committee.

Highly regarded by his peers, Bolding has served on NCAA regional selection committees nine times. In 1983 he was a member of the Olympic baseball tryout staff for Virginia. He was voted South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1982, and Virginia College Division Coach of the Year in 1997, 1993, 1991, and 1984. Bolding has been chosen Longwood Male Coach of the Year a record seven times.

[edit] Staunton River High School

Coached the Staunton River High School Golden Eagles to the Pioneer District Championship Title in 1977.

[edit] Playing Career

Pitched for Carson-Newman College of the Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) in the 1968 season.

Pitched for the Elizabethton Twins in 1972.

Participated in Track and Field at Milligan College of the Volunteer State Athletic Conference (VSAC) in 1972 and 1973. Bolding holds the school record for Pole Vault. He also competed in the Discus, Javelin, High Jump, 1-Mile, and 1-Mile Relay events.

[edit] Personal

The Hardy, Va. native has built the program at Longwood by recruiting mostly in-state players. An estimated 30 former Lancer baseball players are now involved in coaching on the high school or college level, the majority in Virginia. Bolding is known to be close to his players.

"I feel he's a player's coach," former All-American shortstop John Sullivan once told a sportswriter. "He gets the most out of you he possibly can. When I got there I was a decent player, and when I left I was an All-American."

A highly successful high school coach, Bolding guided Staunton River High in Bedford County to a 47-22 mark in three years before coming to Longwood.

Bolding served as a U.S. Army medic in Vietnam, then received his B.S. in health, physical education and recreation from Milligan (Tenn.) College in 1973, and his M.S. from the University of Tennessee in 1974.

He and his wife, Andrea, have three children: Lauren, Suzanne, and Brad -- all of whom attended and two who graduated from Longwood (Brad also played as a Lancer before graduating from Old Dominion University).

[edit] External links

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