GREENSBORO, N.C. --- University of Lynchburg baseball head coach Lucas Jones won the American Baseball Coaches Association and ATEC Sports Division III coach of the year award announced Wednesday.
"This particular recognition represents the whole to get to that elite level. It represents the group," Coach Jones said. "That's what excites me about something like this."
In his sixth season as the skipper of the Hornets, Jones brought a national championship trophy home to the Hill City.
As a Lynchburg, Va. native and All-American at Lynchburg in 2005, Jones and the Hornets won the first national championship in program history and only the second NCAA title in the history of Lynchburg's athletic department. The women's soccer team won the national championship in 2014.
Jones led the Hornets to a program and conference-record 48 wins in 2023. Lynchburg also won its 10th Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship, its first regional championship, and its first super regional championship during the historic campaign.
At the program's first appearance at the national championship, Lynchburg won its first four games in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Lynchburg punched its ticket to the championship series with a 7-1 win over East Texas Baptist behind a complete-game pitching effort from Wesley Arrington.
Zack Potts and Brandon Pond also pitched complete games in the postseason tournament. Lynchburg's pitching staff ended the season with the best ERA in Division III at 3.23.
Associate head coach Travis Beazley and assistant coach Michael Solbach worked most closely with a pitching staff that featured two All-Americans in Potts and Jack Bachmore.
Oscar Garcia and Gabe Garcia, brothers and assistant coaches for the Hornets, were also on Jones' staff. Oscar Garcia worked with the hitters from the dugout during games while Gabe Garcia coached first base in his first season with the team.
"The best thing that I have done as a coach is hire these people," Jones said. "They are relentless workers, and they have a perspective that puts the players first."
RELATED: WFXR News' report on Lynchburg's path to a national championship
Over his six seasons as head coach, Jones and the Hornets have won 166 games with a .661 winning percentage. His 166th win in Lynchburg came on June 8, 2023 as the Hornets defeated Johns Hopkins 7-6 in the national championship.
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Jones is a three-time ODAC coach of the year, winning the honor in 2021 and 2022 with Lynchburg and in 2016 at Washington and Lee.
Jones began his coaching career at VCU where he earned his Master's degree. From there, he spent three years each as an assistant coach for Randolph-Macon and George Mason. He took his first head coaching job at Patrick Henry Community College where he won the NJCAA Region X Coach of the Year award in 2014. Jones assumed the post in 2017 at Lynchburg from his mentor and longtime Hornets head coach Percy Abell, who retired from coaching after 20 seasons with 428 wins.
"They don't give this award to teams full of average Joes," Jones said about his coach of the year award. "They give it to teams that perform."
His team accomplished the greatest feat in Division III sports by winning the national championship. Lynchburg is the first ODAC school to lift a national championship trophy in baseball.
Lynchburg men's soccer head coach Chris Yeager was named coach of the year in 2010. Dr. Todd Olsen won the award after bringing the women's soccer team to a national title in 2014, and director of equestrian Phillip Williamson earned the same honor after winning a second-straight national championship in 2023.
2023 ABCA/ATEC National Coaches of the Year
NCAA Div. I: Jay Johnson, Louisiana State
NCAA Div. II: Kevin Brooks, Angelo State (Texas)
NCAA Div. III: Lucas Jones, Lynchburg (Va.)
NAIA: Tyler LaTorre, Westmont (Calif.)
NJCAA Div. I: Marty Smith, College of Central Florida
NJCAA Div. II: Chris Razo, Heartland (Ill.)
NJCAA Div. III: Rob Valli, RCSJ Gloucester (N.J.)
Pacific Association Division: Kurt Lupinski, Lower Columbia (Wash.)
High School Div. I: Rusty Cagle, Lewisburg (Miss.)
High School Div. II: Heath Gerstner, McPherson (Kan.)
High School Div. III: Scott Steltz, Chatham Central (N.Y.)