The Averett University Baseball team added two new coaches to the coaching staff in the summer of 2023. With Tyler Smith, a Averett alumni and former player for the program, and Gavin Birkhimer, a 3 year player and alumni at UVA Wise, joining the staff this season, the Cougars are gearing up for the spring season ahead.
“Averett appealed to me for a lot of reasons,” Gavin Birkhimer, Baseball Assistant Coach, said. “The culture is what sold me, during my tour I fell in love with the “One Team” concept, lastly my coach from UVA Wise spoke very highly of Coach Flemming, so I knew this would be a great place to improve and learn.”
While coming from a division II level school in UVA Wise, Birkhimer now has to learn a different brand of baseball.
“It took some time to adjust to Averett since it is very different from UVA Wise,” Birkhimer said. “Coach Flemming and Mclaughlin have spent a lot of time with me in the office to gain a better understanding of how Averett Baseball operetes, making me feel at home.”
Birkhimer not only played baseball at the Division II level but also in the world of JUCO baseball, giving him the opportunity to see the game from many different perspectives.
“Some of the biggest skills from being a player I learned are working hard and battling adversity,” Birkhimer said. “I was never the biggest of the best players but learning from mistakes you’ve made and grinding are 2 of the biggest traits I like to see in players.”
Former 4 year Pitcher for the Baseball team Tyler Smith returned to the Baseball program as a coach this past summer to help bolster the team to success.
“I couldn’t walk away from baseball after how last season went,” Tyler Smith, Baseball Assistant Coach, said. “ Last year I was looked up to as a leader and now being the coach of my former teammates creates an irreplaceable level of respect for each other.”
With Smith being apart of the program for so long, it allows him to understand inner workings better than someone who may be new to the operations of coaching baseball.
“Knowing how the players like to be coached has been huge for my personal understanding,” Smith said. “I am honest with the players, holding them accountable when it comes to it is vital compared to a coach who tells the player what they want to hear.”
The Averett Baseball program looks to cause chaos in their 2nd year in ODAC competition. With 4 coaches on staff this year marking the most since 2018, the pieces are falling into place for the Cougars in the 2024 spring season.
