Lancaster Bible College and the Lancaster Bible College Athletic Department are pleased to announce Caleb Abney has been hired to lead the baseball program.
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Abney was a four-year member of the Covenant College baseball program, graduating from the College in 2011 with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies. In addition to his college career, he was the lone American player on the Pakenham Pumas Baseball Club team located in Melbourne, Australia. Abney earned his master's degree in Kinesiology from the University of Georgia in 2012.
Abney said he was drawn to the Lancaster Bible job because of the program's mission and culture.
"I really believe in the college's overall mission and vision of fostering an environment for excellence and spiritual growth," said Abney. "I would like to parallel that mission in the baseball program and help stimulate spiritual growth in my players."
After completing his education, Abney dove headfirst into his baseball career working with the Atlanta Braves as part of the teams marketing department. After his time with the Braves, Abney worked with the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a minor league affiliate for the Tampa Bay Rays. In his role with the team, Abney gathered, edited and archived game videos. He also was a part of the coaching staff assisting with pregame warmups.
Abney continued to grow as a coach, landing a job as the hitting and outfield coach for NCAA Division II King University in Bristol, Tenn. At King University, he also assisted the program's recruiting coordinator. Abney would then join the Minnesota Twins organization as a hitting coach for the team's Gulf Coast League team. During his time with the organization, Abney made routine trips to the Dominican Republic to work with the Twins Academy located in the country.
"I am very thankful to have worked with high-level athletes, learning their best practices and developing a diverse set of experiences," said Abney. "This has allowed me to see things more clearly and implement some of those processes by tailoring them to the program and athletes I am working with helping progress them forward. I believe bringing those more progressive techniques will give the team an advantage."
Abney would return home to join the Covenant College coaching staff as an assistant coach. He had an immediate impact on the program, guiding an offense that led NCAA Division III in doubles, was second in runs scored, fourth in homeruns and eleventh in hits.
As for his vision for LBC's program, Abney said, "I envision a team that plays with class and respect while playing the game hard. A team that is going to be a threat from day one and that is going to make other teams work extremely hard. I also see a team that will do their best to emulate Christ in everything we do and shine our light into the world."
Lancaster Bible Interim Director of Athletics Rod Baughman said he was thrilled Abney was joining the Lancaster Bible coaching staff and believes he is a great fit for the institution. "We are so excited to have Caleb joining our team as the next leader within our Baseball program," said Baughman. "We believe he is a tremendous young baseball mind and that he will quickly develop players and recruit mission fit and athletically capable student-athletes. In addition to what Coach Abney will bring from a baseball perspective, we are equally as excited for him to begin mentoring our young men. These are exciting days in our program as we welcome Caleb and his wife Savannah into our Charger Nation family!"
In the coming weeks, Abney and his wife Savannah will be relocating from their home in Georgia to the Lancaster area.