Baseball Head Coach
Ray Hedrick
(Randolph-Macon, 1997)
804-752-7303
Contact Coach Hedrick
In just four seasons, Randolph-Macon alum Ray Hedrick has resurrected the Yellow Jackets program and returned it to prominence in both the ODAC and the South Region.
R-MC captured its first league championship since 1987 and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977 in 2008. For his efforts, Hedrick was named ODAC Coach of the Year.
Over his first four years at the helm of the Jackets program, Hedrick has amassed 81 wins, including a school record 25 in ’08, while leading R-MC to three straight berths in the ODAC Postseason Tournament.
No stranger to the baseball community, Hedrick served as top assistant and recruiting coordinator at three different schools before his return to his alma mater in Ashland in the fall of 2004.
The success of the program over the past four seasons has led to 12 All-Conference players, including the 2006 & 2008 ODAC Pitcher and the 2006 & 2008 ODAC Rookie-of-the-Year award winners.
In addition, Randolph-Macon Baseball was proud to have their first South Region Pitcher-of-the -Year and All-American awarded in 2007 senior Travis Beazley. Beazley capped off a two year career under Hedrick by being selected in the 38th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Boston Red Sox, the first such player to be taken from R-MC.
Prior to his hiring as Randolph-Macon's head coach, Hedrick was the top assistant to Paul O'Neil at Division II UNC Pembroke (2001-2004) and at Division III Shenandoah University (1998-2000). At both institutions, Hedrick helped O'Neil resurrect programs that had not tasted success in years into national powers, while quickly establishing himself as one of the top young coaches and recruiters among the college baseball coaching ranks.
Hedrick served in a variety of areas for O'Neil in their six seasons together. A relentless recruiter, Hedrick headed up the efforts in that area. On the field, Hedrick coached the bases while working with the hitters and the defense. By stressing offensive productivity, both institutions broke school records and finished ranked nationally in batting, scoring, home runs and slugging percentage. He brings that same mentality to the Randolph-Macon offense.
In seven seasons as an assistant, Hedrick's teams amassed 175 wins, including record-setting campaigns in 2000 at Shenandoah, and the 2001 and 2003 seasons at UNCP. Hedrick's recruits played a major role in the success of each program. Out of his six various recruiting classes, Hedrick had several all-conference, all-region and all-state players, as well as three All-Americans, including a player who won the triple crown in the Dixie Conference (now USA South) while leading the country with a .506 batting average in 2000.
A Springfield, Virginia native, Hedrick played two years of JUCO baseball at Prince George's Community College for legendary coach William "Bumps" Vaughan. He went on to finish his degree and playing career at Randolph-Macon College, helping lead the Yellow Jackets to the ODAC championships in 1997, which was the last time that R-MC qualified for the tournament before last spring.
After graduating from Randolph-Macon in 1997 with a B.A. degree in political science, Hedrick served as an assistant for Vaughan at PGCC. Hedrick also worked with the Bowie Baysox, the AA Eastern League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, before joining O'Neil in 1998.
In addition to his duties as an assistant, Hedrick served three summers (2001-2003) as head coach of the New Market Rebels of the prestigious Valley Baseball League. During his tenure, Hedrick amassed 77 wins and led the Rebels to two championship appearances, winning the league in 2002 and falling seven outs short of repeating in 2003. Over the course of those three summers, Hedrick coached over 30 players that are now playing on the professional level, including current major leaguers Mike O’Connor (Washington), Chris Ray (Baltimore), Jared Burton (Cincinnati) and Brett Gardner (NY Yankees).
Hedrick, 33, is married to the former Sheree Rogers of Woodstock, Virginia. They have one daughter, Maris who turned two in June of 2008.
Lucas Jones
Assistant Coach
804-412-1364
Contact Coach Jones
Former First-Team All-American and Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Year Lucas Jones enters his second season at R-MC in 2008-09.
Jones made an immediate impact on the Yellow Jackets program this past spring, helping the school capture its first league championship since 1987, while making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977.
A former standout at ODAC rival Lynchburg College, Jones works with Hedrick on all day-to-day operations of the R-MC baseball program including spearheading recruiting efforts, on field instruction, while over seeing the team’s academic performance and strength and conditioning program.
Under the tutelage of Jones, R-MC hit .325 as a club in 2008, while First-Team All-ODAC leftfielder Mike Wallace led the league in hitting and fellow first teamer Greg Meleski broke both the single season and career hit record.
Jones took over for Evan Brannon who left the R-MC program in December of 2007 after three seasons to take an Area Scouting Supervisor position in Florida with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization.
Jones came to R-MC after spending 2007 with the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth University where he served as a volunteer assistant under Paul Keyes. While at VCU, he was a member the staff that helped guide the Rams to the 2007 CAA Championship and an appearance at the NCAA Tournament in the Myrtle Beach, SC Regional.
As a player at Lynchburg, Jones hit .426 in his three years in the program, starting all possible 121 games over that span. In 2005, he earned the ODAC, State and Regional Player of the Year Awards, and took home first-team All-American honors. Jones was also the conference baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was a first-team academic All-American.
“I’m am truly fortunate to have the opportunity to join the staff of a baseball program and educational institution with great people that are committed to excellence,” said Jones.
Daniel Rollins
Student Assistant Coach
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Daniel Rollins joins the Yellow Jacket baseball staff as a student assistant coach after three years as a member of the team. Rollins, a native of Hartfield, VA, was a member of the Head Coach Ray Hedrick’s first recruiting class in 2005. That class, all of which will be seniors in 2008-2009, has lead the program to 66 wins in three seasons, including three straight trips to the ODAC Baseball tournament, an ODAC championship in baseball (2008) for the first time in 21 years and a trip to the NCAA South Regional for the first time in 31 years. In each of those three seasons, Rollins served in roles both on the mound and at the plate, logging innings as a relief pitcher and as a backup catcher until injuries and the opportunity to graduate early ended his playing career.
“Daniel was one of the first guys to take a chance on Randolph-Macon and our baseball program and is a big reason through his attitude and effort why our program is where it is today. Mark my words, he will be very successful in this coaching profession and we are excited to have him with us,” said head coach Ray Hedrick.
Rollins has spent a majority of the summer working the camp circuit throughout the Mid-Atlantic and southern U.S. His primary responsibilities will be to assist Coach Hedrick and Coach Jones in the day to day operations of the program while he completes his degree work at Randolph-Macon.