Jared Barkdoll named head coach of Florence RedWolves

FLORENCE, N.C. — The Florence RedWolves, a summer-league squad in the Coastal Plain League, have announced the hiring of Jared Barkdoll from Francis Marion to be the head coach for the 2012 season.

Barkdoll, a Greencastle native and alumnus of Greencastle-Antrim High School, played for the RedWolves during the 2006 and 2008 seasons while playing at Francis Marion. He is in his third season as an assistant coach with Francis Marion in Florence working with hitters, catchers and recruiting. Barkdoll served as an assistant coach with Thomasville under Jeff Steele during the 2011 season.

“We are very excited to have our first player come back and serve as our head coach”,  said Jamie Young, general manager for the RedWolves.

“Jared was a big part of our 2008 run that led us all the way to the championship game, so he has been there and done that with us and we believe that he will transfer that desire to get back to that point with our 2012 roster.”

Barkdoll will be replacing Blake Newsome from UNC-Pembroke. The Florence RedWolves are a member of the Coastal Plain League, celebrating its 16th season in 2012 with 15 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

“I am very excited to have the opportunity to coach the summer league team that I played for,” said Barkdoll.

“Florence has become my home town and when I was playing at Francis Marion, I wanted to play for the RedWolves, now I am coaching at FMU and I wanted to be the head coach for the RedWolves and I am getting that chance.”

Young said of Barkdoll, “We were very impressed with the job he did in Thomasville and Steele was very complimentary of his coaching ability, so we felt he was the best hire for us. It will also be good for our organization to have our head coach right here in town; he can represent us during off season events/functions and he can come out to the office for us to work on putting the 2012 roster together.  So overall it will be a big advantage to have Barkdoll on our staff.”

Barkdoll is excited about his additional coaching duties.

“I look forward to the task of putting the team together and working with organization to bring the first CPL championship to Florence. The fans here deserve a championship as they are great in supporting the team, as well as all that. The Barth family has put into this organization, and I will work very hard to bring that to Florence.

“This is also a great opportunity for me in my coaching career to have a chance to be a head coach in one of the top summer leagues in the country and I appreciate the CPL and the RedWolves for giving me the chance.”

Barkdoll was a four-year starter as a catcher for Francis Marion from 2006 to 2009 and owns or tied many of the school records such as RBIs, total bases, and doubles and is second all time in hits.  His career average was .344 and he had a .993 fielding percentage.  He was a 42nd round draft pick in 2005 by the New York Mets. He earned a B.S. degree in sociology in 2009.

As a senior, he earned All-Region and All-Conference honors after batting .386 with  three homer and 41 RBIs, despite missing 10 games with an injury.  He compiled a .992 fielding percentage — only two errors and two passed balls in 44 games — while throwing out 12 of 38 runners attempting to steal.

He helped FMU to a four-year record of 149-71-1 and a pair of NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances.  As a freshman in 2006, FMU advanced to the College World Series in Montgomery, Ala., and as a senior, he helped the Patriots to their first-ever Peach Belt Tournament title.

While at FMU, he served on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). He was a second generation Patriot as his father, Tod, also played baseball at Francis Marion.

The CPL gives college players a chance to refine their skills with the use of wooden bats. Players are housed with local host families for the summer and past experiences have been very positive for both players and hosts. Furthermore, the CPL has had more than 930 alums drafted and 46 alums made their major league debut thus far.