North Carolina A&T Aggies baseball

North Carolina A&T Aggies
2016 North Carolina A&T Aggies baseball team
Founded	1902
University	North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Conference	MEAC Southern Division
Location	Greensboro, NC
Head coach	Ben Hall (2nd year)
Home stadium	War Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 7,500)
Nickname	Aggies
Colors	Blue and Gold[1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
2005
Conference tournament champions
2005
Conference champions
MEAC: 1974, 1993, 2005 CIAA: 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1969, 1970

The North Carolina A&T Aggies baseball team represents the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. They compete in the Southern Division of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Aggies play their home games at War Memorial Stadium, and are currently coached by Ben Hall.

Venue

The Aggie baseball program plays all home contests in War Memorial Stadium. The stadium, which was built in 1926, has a capacity of 7,500.^[2] The stadium has served as the home of various local minor league baseball clubs from the 1930s to 2004.^[3]

Team achievements

North Carolina A&T joined the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as a founding member in 1969. Before that, the Aggies were members of the NCAA Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA), where they won 14 conference titles, including a six-season streak from 1950 to 1955.^[4] Since joining the MEAC, A&T has claimed 3 conference titles.

Year Coach Conference Record Conference Tournament Champion 1950 Joseph Echols CIAA 1951 Leroy F. Harris CIAA 18-0 1952 Leroy F. Harris CIAA 1953 Leroy F. Harris CIAA 1954 Leroy F. Harris CIAA 1955 Melvin Gromes CIAA 1957 Melvin Gromes CIAA 6-7 1958 Melvin Gromes CIAA 8-4 1959 Melvin Gromes CIAA 10-1 1960 Melvin Gromes CIAA 12-0-1 1961 Melvin Gromes CIAA 15-5-1 1968 Melvin Gromes CIAA 13-6 1969 Melvin Gromes CIAA 1970 Melvin Gromes CIAA 1974 Melvin Gromes MEAC 16-8 1993 Keith Henry MEAC 12-22 Yes 2005 Keith Shumate MEAC 27-27 Yes Total conference championships 17[5]

Notable players

Aggies in the MLB
MLB Draft selections
Total selected:	18
First picks in draft:	0
1st Round:	0
MLB achievements
Total Players:	2
All Stars:	1
In the World Series:	0
Hall of Famers:	0

Many North Carolina A&T Aggie players have gone on to play baseball in Major, Minor, and Negro leagues. Of the 18 Aggie baseball players that have been selected in the Major League Baseball draft, Lloyd Lightfoot holds the distinction of being the highest drafted at #214 to the Baltimore Orioles in 1968.^[6]

Aggie baseball players that have gone on to play professionally include: Negro League players Edward Martin,^[7] James Robinson & Hubert "Burt" Simmons^[8] and Major league players Tom Alston & Al Holland. Other notable former Aggie baseball players include: Hugh Evans who later transitioned into officiating for the NBA and Artis Stanfield, the first African-American to win the NCAA batting championship.^[9]

Coaches and staff

Head coaches

The current coach of the Aggies is Ben Hall. Prior to joining NC A&T, Hall held previous assistant coaching positions at Winthrop University and Wingate University.^[10]

Current coaching staff

Number	Name	Position	Season at N.C. A&T
	Ben Hall	Head Coach	2nd
	Tyrone Dawson	Assistant Coach/ Recruiting Coordinator/ Infield & Hitting Coach	2nd
	Jamie Serber	Assistant Coach/ Pitching Coach	1st
	Aaron Lynch	Assistant Coach	1st
#20	Brian Poag	Student Assistant	1st
Reference: NCATAggies.com[11]

Current roster

North Carolina A&T Aggies 2016 baseball roster[12]
Players			Coaches/Administration
Pitchers #11 - B. Smith #14 - Jamal Clark #12 - Justin Godette #11 - Kirby Whicker #15 - Jordan Virgil #19 - Joshua Thompson #22 - Danny Garrett #23 - Jason Gifford #24 - Kaesen Wilson #26 - Nathan Blake #28 - Marquise Edwards #29 - Bryce Keziah #38 - Luke McCreesh #40 - Dontoyas Boyd #44 - Evan Miranda Catchers #39 - Arric DeVond	Infielders # 3 - Kyle Clary # 4 - Timothy Ravare # 8 - Perry "AJ" Hunt #12 - Adan Ordonez #13 - Milton Rivera #27 - Lance Jensen Outfielders # 1 - Myles Sowell # 6 - Erik Montero #18 - Brandon Wilkerson #33 - Ryan Jantsch #35 - William Hodges		Coaches Ben Hall (Head Coach) Tyrone Dawson (Assistant Coach) Jamie Serber (Assistant Coach) Aaron Lynch (Assistant Coach) #20 - Brian Poag (Student Assistant)

See also

• List of NCAA Division I baseball programs

References

1. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Graphic and Editorial Standards and Guidelines (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
2. "World War Memorial Stadium". http://www.ncataggies.com/. NC A&T Sports Information. Retrieved 11 October 2014. External link in |website= (help)
3. NCAT Alumni Baseball Association. "NCA&T Baseball Home Field". www.aggiebaseballalumni.org. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
4. NCAT Alumni Baseball Association. "NCA&T Baseball History". www.aggiebaseballalumni.org. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
5. NCAT Alumni Baseball Association. "NCA&T Baseball Championships". www.aggiebaseballalumni.org. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
6. "North Carolina A&T State University Year by Year Team Information". http://www.thebaseballcube.com. The Baseball Cube. Retrieved 16 October 2014. External link in |website= (help)
7. "Professor Ed Martin remembered as strong advocate for children and youth". http://news.vanderbilt.edu. Retrieved 16 October 2014. External link in |website= (help)
8. "Bert Simmons (NC A&T) – Negro League Star Passes Away". http://blackcollegenines.com. Retrieved 16 October 2014. External link in |website= (help)
9. "Resolution 61 & Joint House Resolution 660: A joint resolution commending the Basketball, Baseball and Wrestling Teams of North Carolina A&T State University" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
10. "Ben Hall Bio". http://www.ncataggies.com. NCAT Sports Information. Retrieved 15 October 2015. External link in |website= (help)
11. "Baseball-Coaching Staff". http://www.ncataggies.com. NC A&T Sports Information. Retrieved 11 October 2014. External link in |website= (help)
12. "NC A&T Baseball - 2016 Roster". www.ncataggies.com. North Carolina A&T Sports Information. Retrieved 16 October 2014.