Lancaster named Division II Coach of Year

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on June 19, 2008 1:54 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive College baseball coach Carl Lancaster has been named the 2008 ABCA Division II national coach of the year.

The Wayne County native becomes the first coach in Trojan history to win national coach of the year honors in any sport. The award comes nearly three weeks after Mount Olive emerged the 2008 Division II College World Series champion.

Lancaster was also named the ABCA South Atlantic Region coach of the year and Conference Carolinas coach of the year for the second consecutive season. His last two teams have compiled a 107-19 record.

Lancaster credited the recognition and his long-time success to the players and assistant coaches Aaron Akin and Rob Watt.

"I'm very humbled," said Lancaster. "It's quite an honor the boys got for me. But it's more than one person. I can't say enough about the job Coach Akin and Coach Watt do. This is their award, too."

In 22 seasons, Lancaster has fashioned a 726-354 career record. He'll begin the 2009 season ranked in the top 15 in career wins and winning percentage (.672) among active Division II coaches, and among the top 30 all-time in career wins.

Mount Olive collected a school-record 58 wins this spring, shattering last year's record of 49. Lancaster's team earned its first-ever No. 1 rankiing in late February and held that spot for 15 of the final 16 weeks of the season.

The Trojans "three-peated" as Conference Carolinas regular-season and tournament champions, and claimed their first-ever South Atlantic Regional title. They wound up a perfect 4-0 in the CWS and beat Ouachita (Ark.) Baptist 6-2 in the championship game, which was televised nationally.

A school-record five Trojans were selected in this year's Major League Baseball draft and four players earned All-America honors.