Percy AbellThe 2009 season is the 12th year for head coach Percy Abell at the helm of the Hornet baseball program.
Abell has led the Hornets to seven-straight 20-plus win seasons, topped by the 2008 team that went 32-13. That win total of 32 also eclipsed the Lynchburg College single season record for wins in a season. In 2004, the Hornets were awarded as statistical national champions in the categories of batting average, slugging percentage and runs per game.
During his tenure at LC, the Hornets have been ranked as high as No. 17 and No. 20 in the ABCA Coaches National poll, along with receiving votes numerous times. He has coached five All-Americans along with one Academic All-American. He has also mentored 13 All-Region performers and one South Region Player of the Year. Abell has led the Hornets to seven ODAC Tournaments, reaching the championship game once, while guiding LC to the NCAA South Regional in 2008. He has a career mark of 239-189, posting a 109-79 mark in conference. Six former players now have jobs coaching collegiate baseball around the country as assistants or head coaches.
A 1999 inductee into the Lynchburg College Sports Hall of Fame, Abell is a 1987 graduate of LC as well as an all-ODAC selection in 1984 and 1987. He was team captain and team MVP twice each, and was named all-region in 1987 when he hit .466 with 13 doubles, 29 runs, and 21 RBI. Abell started all 113 games he played in and ranks second in all-time career batting average at .393. He also served as an assistant with the Hornets from 1988-89.
Abell was head coach at William Campbell High School in Naruna, Virginia, from 1991-97. He led his 1996 William Campbell team to a 20-4 record and a berth in the Virginia High School League state playoffs. Abell was named Region III Coach of the Year in 1996, District Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1996, and Area Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1996.
Abell is a native of Charlottesville, Virginia, and a 1983 graduate of Western Albemarle High School. He and his wife Amy, a 1997 Lynchburg College graduate, have two children, Shawn and Kelsey.
Shawn Abell
Graduate Assistant Coach
Shawn Abell returns to his alma mater to coach under his father Percy Abell for the second time since his graduation in 2006. Abell finished his tenure as one of the most decorated players in Hornet history, as he was named the 2005 Lynchburg College Senior Male Athlete of the Year, along with receiving first-team All-ODAC and All-South Region laurels in 2004 and 2005. Abell also was chosen as a 2004 third-team All-American.
After graduation, Abell signed and played with the Broxton Rox of the Canadian American Independent League in Broxton, Mass. He then returned to LC for the 2006 season as the Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach, before leaving to accept the assistant coaching position under former LC pitcher Jon Martin at Vassar College (NY). After a one year stint at Vassar, Abell returned to the commonwealth for a two-year run as the Head Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Division-I Longwood University.
Shawn will be working with infielders, catchers and hitters this season, along with his recruiting efforts. Abell lives in Rustburg, VA with his wife Randi.
Kyle Bradley
Graduate Assistant Coach
Kyle Bradley enters his first year as a Hornet assistant coach, after playing the last four seasons for the Lynchburg College baseball team. Bradley was a standout for LC, playing second base, shortstop and third base along the way. He was a member of the 2008 squad that set the school record for wins with 32, and was also a 2006 All-ODAC first-teamer at second base. Bradley graduated in 2009 with a sports management degree, and will be working towards his masters in educational leadership. Bradley will be assisting with the Hornet infielders and hitters.
Chris Knowles
Graduate Assistant Coach
Chris Knowles returns to Lynchburg after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Division III Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. In 2008, the Mules made the Centennial Conference playoffs for the first time in five seasons, and Knowles helped Muhlenberg to 38 wins in his two seasons.
Knowles was a starting outfielder for the Lynchburg College team that led the country in batting average, slugging percentage and runs scored in 2004. Since graduating that year, he coached American Legion baseball for two summers and spent two seasons as a coach at Jefferson Forest High School in Virginia. Knowles also was a stadium operations intern for the Lynchburg Hillcats of the Carolina League in 2003 and has worked numerous baseball camps and clinics.
He is pursuing his master's degree in educational leadership and will focus on hitting and the outfielders.
For more information about Lynchburg College Baseball, please contact head coach Percy Abell at (434) 544-8496 or by email at abell@lynchburg.edu.
