Gary Gilmore Baseball Camps: Camp Staff
Gary Gilmore - Head Coach
In his 19 seasons as a college head coach, Gary Gilmore’s teams have averaged over 38 wins a year, including 10 40-plus win seasons. In his 11 years at Coastal, Gilmore’s ball clubs have finished in the top four of the Big South Conference standings 10 times, including regular season titles in 1999, 2002 and 2005. Coastal also was one of only seven schools in Division I to win 40+ games from 2001-05. He has coached 47 All-Big South Conference players and four Big South Players of the Year. Five NCAA berths, six 40+ win seasons in the last eight years, nine-straight winning seasons, numerous draft picks with more to come, and a stadium that will become one of the nicest in the country are just a part of the exciting things going on in Coastal Carolina baseball. In all, Coach Gilmore has been named the Regional Coach of the Year five times, conference Coach of the Year four times and a National Coach of the Year Finalist twice. Over 60 of his players have gone on to sign professional contracts, with seven making it to the major leagues. Gilmore has won over 425 games at Coastal and is nearing 700 career wins as a head coach. Gilmore led Coastal to a 50-win season in 2005 as the Chants earned a number-one seed in the NCAA Tempe Regional. That team had six players drafted in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, including Mike Costanzo, who earned First Team All-America honors by three different publications.
Kevin Schnall - Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Kevin Schnall enters his ninth season on the Chanticleer coaching staff. A former All-Big South performer for Coastal from 1998-99, Schnall coaches the catchers and will split the hitting duties with assistant Brendan Dougherty. Schnall also enters his second year as the recruiting coordinator after assisting with recruiting for five seasons. During the last six seasons, Schnall’s catchers have thrown out 180 of 415 runners trying to steal. Under his direction, Coastal catchers also have handled one of the nation’s best pitching staffs, which ranked among the top-20 three of the last six seasons. Schnall is credited with developing individual players such as catcher Randy McGarvey, Jr., who started his career as a walk-on and finished as a two-year starter and 2002 draft pick of the Houston Astros, and Chad Oxendine, who started his Coastal career as a middle infielder and went on to become an All-Big South catcher in 2004 and played in the Chicago White Sox minor league organization. Schnall also coached Mike Fuentes in 2005-06, who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 29th round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft. In 1999, Schnall produced one of the most memorable single seasons in Coastal history. He became just the second Chanticleer in Big South history to bat over. 400 in a season (.405), was named Big South Player of the Year and led the Chants to a 43-15 record. He finished his career as an NCBWA Second Team All-American and was a finalist for the Rotary Smith National Player of the Year award. For his playing and coaching success, Schnall was inducted to the Coastal Carolina Buddy Sasser Hall of Fame in 2005. Schnall’s collegiate success earned him notice from the Cincinnati Reds, who made him their 25th-round pick in 1999.
Brendan Dougherty - Assistant Coach/Infielders
Brendan Dougherty is in his fourth season as an assistant coach of the Coastal Carolina baseball team. Dougherty is in charge of the infielders as well as handling the team defense. Dougherty is no stranger to Coastal, having played for the Chants in 1996 and 1997. Dougherty had a .287 batting average for CCU with 40 runs-batted-in in 104 games, most of them at shortstop. He was an excellent defensive shortstop, setting CCU’s single-season and career records for assists. Doughery returned to the Conway campus in 2005 from a two-year stint as an assistant at Army, where he coached the infielders and worked on hitting. The Black Knights won the Patriot League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals in both of Dougherty’s years. In 2005, Army went to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional and went 1-2 with a win over South Alabama. In his first year at West Point, Dougherty helped second baseman Nate Stone to an All-America honor from the American Baseball Coaches’ Association, the first Army player in 40 years to accomplish that feat. In that first season, the Black Knights set school records for base hits, doubles, home runs and total bases. Dougherty spent the 2003 season at Auburn, working with the Tigers’ infielders, outfielders and catchers, while assisting with bunting and baserunning. Auburn hosted a regional in that year and went 42-21 with an 18-12 record in the Southeastern Conference. Dougherty started his playing career at Potomac State Junior College, where he posted a .370 career batting average. A Third Team All-American in 1994, he was named an National Junior College Athletic Association All-American the following year in leading the school to a national championship. He also was named to the Junior College World Series All-Tournament team that season. Dougherty will be inducted into the Potomac State Hall of Fame this April.
Drew Thomas - Assistant Coach/Pitching Coach
Drew Thomas is in his third season with the Coastal Carolina University baseball coaching staff as the pitching coach. Thomas comes to Coastal from the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., where he had worked since 2003. He was the roving pitching instructor for the Florida Collegiate Instructional League and also was the pitching coach for the Pendleton Academy. Thomas helped develop Chris Perez, a first round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006, and also worked with former Chanticleer Steven Carter. He pitched in the San Diego Padres organization in 1998-99, and played for the Canton Crocodiles of the Frontier League in 1999-2000. While with the Crocs, Thomas was the 2000 Frontier League Relief Pitcher of the Year, a League All-Star, and a Second Team Baseball America All-Independent Team member.