 |
Newberg girls wrap up summer league schedule
B. Scott Anderson: Learning a little from
Bailey
|
Bailey leaves George Fox for Oregon State |
The baseball coach accepts an assistant coaching job
with the national champions |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
CORVALLIS — George Fox University
baseball coach Pat Bailey resigned from his job last week to accept
an assistant coaching job with the Oregon State University baseball
program.
Bailey was announced as the new assistant coach, taking over for Dan
Spencer, the team’s assistant head coach and pitching coach. Spencer
resigned recently to accept the associate head coach position at his
alma mater, Texas Tech.
“This just became the right situation at this point in time,”
Bailey said. “My daughter just got married and my son is 24, so they
can’t use the tuition remission there at George Fox anymore, but all
things considered, it’s an honor and a privilege to work at Oregon
State University.”
Bailey guided the
Bruins to 12 straight winning seasons, including a 30-11 mark this
past spring, and a 353-158 overall record. His win-loss percentage
of .691 ranks in the top 20 among active Division III coaches. The
Bruins collected eight Northwest Conference titles during that time.
Bailey was named NWC coach of the year or co-coach of the year each
of those eight championship seasons.
The Bruins made eight post-season appearances during Bailey’s
tenure, playing in the NAIA Far West regional in 1996 and 1997, and
NCAA Division III regional tournaments six times in the 2000s. The
2004 Bruins went 4-0 to win the West Regional and 5-1 in the NCAA
Division III World Series, defeating Eastern Connecticut State
University in the championship game for the first NCAA national
title for a George Fox team.
The Bruins posted numerous records under Bailey, including two
national records that still stand. The 1999 team set an NAIA
national record for slugging percentage (.692), which is the
third-highest mark in college baseball history at any level. The
2005 team set an NCAA Division III national record for fielding
percentage (.979). George Fox has ranked in the top six nationally
in defense each of the past five years.
“We are just extremely excited to be able to hire a guy of Pat
Bailey’s caliber as a person and as a coach,” said Oregon State head
coach Pat Casey, a former coach at George Fox and a Newberg native.
Casey and Bailey first became acquainted when Bailey was coaching
at West Linn and Casey was coaching at George Fox. After Casey took
the job at Oregon State in 1995, he suggested George Fox athletic
director Craig Taylor hire Bailey as the new baseball coach. Taylor
did.
“And then he re-wrote every record that I ever set there,” Casey
said of Bailey. “He won a Division III national championship there,
which is phenomenal. And like I said, it’s hard to find a coach that
has the background he has, the experience and the expertise in all
areas of the game. But all of that is equal to what kind of person
he is. He’s somebody special for us to have him on our staff and in
our family.”
Family is a key word for Bailey. He said during his conversations
with OSU Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis and Casey, the word
“family” came up several times. It was the fact that the players,
coaches and staff in the program (are) a family. That’s exactly what
Bailey had been preaching while he was at George Fox.
“That’s very important to me,” he said. “I consider baseball to be
my mission field. I want to help men become the men they’re intended
to be. I want them to be good fathers, I want them to be hard
workers and I want them to be great husbands to their wives. I see
being a coach as a wonderful opportunity to be able to influence
young men’s lives.”
Taylor said Bailey defined the baseball program at George Fox.
“When you think of Bruin baseball, you naturally think of Coach
Bailey,” he said. “He has continued the success first begun for us
in baseball by Pat Casey and has established our program, both on
and off the field, at the highest levels. I am pleased that he is
getting an opportunity at a D-I program, and know he will be just as
successful there. While I am sad to see him go, he leaves behind a
solid foundation, and I am excited about the next phase of our
baseball program.”
In addition to his coaching at George Fox, Bailey was a teacher in
the Department of Business and Economics, associate director of
athletics, director of the Bruin Athletic Association for athletic
support, and chairman of the Sports Hall of Fame Committee. Casey
said Bailey’s exact role at Oregon State is still to be determined.
“We’ve discussed it and we’re going to get a game plan laid out and
once we have an opportunity as a staff to meet, which will probably
be at the end of the week, we’ll make that available to (the
media),” Casey said. |
|
From
July 14, 2007, Newberg Graphic
Click Here to Subscribe |
|
|
