Belton, TX – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor head baseball coach Micah Wells has submitted his resignation, effective August 2nd. Wells will be taking a teaching position in order to spend more time with his family. Cru assistant baseball coach Derek Dunaway has been named interim head coach and will guide the UMHB baseball program through the 2011 season.
“As much as I hate to leave this program and my players, I have always had a love of teaching,” Wells said. “I feel like I am leaving this program with a winning tradition and there is a solid foundation for this program to continue to compete at the highest level in the future. The timing is just right for me and my family at this time.”
Wells guided the UMHB baseball team to a 170-180-1 record in nine seasons as head coach, including a 22-19 mark in 2010. He led the Cru baseball program to four straight American Southwest Conference Championship tournaments and became the first coach in the program's history to lead UMHB to an ASC tournament berth. The Cru was ASC West Division quad-champion in 2008 and Wells earned ASC West Division Co-Coach of the Year honors that season. The UMHB baseball team was also nationally ranked in both 2008 and 2009, peaking with a national ranking of 18th in 2008. The Cru had not been nationally ranked since making the move to NCAA Division III prior to cracking the top 25 in March of 2008.
Wells is a 1997 graduate of UMHB and he was a four-year letterman and starting catcher for the Cru baseball team. He also spent two years as a graduate assistant coach and one year as a full-time assistant coach before taking over head coaching duties when Mickey Kerr moved to a full-time teaching position in 2001. Wells was named UMHB Male Senior Athlete of the Year in 1997. Wells and his wife, Tara, have two children.
“We are saddened to lose a coach of Micah's caliber but we are glad that he will have the opportunity to spend more time with his family,” UMHB Vice-President for Athletics
Ben Shipp said. “His contributions, first as a player, and then as a coach, have helped build a successful baseball program. We thank Micah for all of his hard work and wish him continued success in his new endeavor. At the same time, we are also excited that Derek Dunaway will take over the program on an interim basis. Derek has been a big part of Cru baseball as a player and assistant coach and we have high hopes and expectations for the program under his leadership this year.”
Dunaway takes over as interim head coach after spending the last five seasons as assistant coach for the Cru. He has worked primarily with the pitching staff and recruiting efforts during that time and has coached eight ASC All-West Division pitchers during his tenure. Dunaway also spent three years as an assistant coach at East Texas Baptist University and served as ETBU's compliance coordinator in 2005. Dunaway is a 2001 graduate of UMHB and he was a four-year letterman as a starting pitcher for the Cru. He still holds UMHB career records for victories and innings pitched and his career strikeout record stood until 2007. Dunaway's wife, Farrah, is also a UMHB graduate and the couple has two children.
“I am very excited to have this opportunity and I know the challenge ahead of me,” Dunaway said. “UMHB and the Cru baseball program have been a big part of both my life and my family's life. I appreciate the confidence
Ben Shipp and the UMHB administration have in me to do this job. I also want to thank Jesus Christ, my Savior, without him, none of this is possible.”
The Cru finished the 2010 season with a 22-19 overall record and UMHB posted a 13-8 mark in ASC play. The Cru advanced to the ASC Championship Tournament for the fourth straight year before falling to Mississippi College in the first round.
