2014 Mercer Baseball Media Guide
assoc. head coach
BRENT SHADE
SIXTH SEASON AT MERCER DEFIANCE ‘01
Dedication and passion are two words that can be used to describe associate head coach Brent Shade, who is entering his sixth season mentoring Mercer’s pitching staff and his fifth as the Bears’ recruiting coordinator. Shade, who spent the previous four years as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Furman, joined Mercer’s staff for his first season in 2009. The Toledo, Ohio native was recently promoted to the title of Associate Head Coach in June of 2012.
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Under his guidance, the Orange and Black’s pitching staff has grown by leaps and bounds in his first five years. The quality of player signing with Mercer has also greatly improved, with his recruiting classes ranking among the best in the competitive southeast region. Just a few of Shade’s notable signees with the Bears include First Team All-American Nick Backlund, Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year Chesny Young and First Team Academic All-American Derrick Workman. 2013 saw the Mercer baseball program reach new heights with its highest national ranking in program history, its first Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Title in program history and its second NCAA Tournament appearance, via an at-large bid, in school history. Shade’s pitching staff helped the Bears to a 43-18 overall record in 2013, setting the school record for most wins in a single-season. Under Shade’s tutelage, his very talented pitching staff posted a 4.15 team ERA and led the A-Sun Conference with 477 strikeouts. Mercer also graded well on the national stage numbers wise, ranking 13th in the country with a 2.79-to-1.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 21st in strikeouts and 27th with just 2.82 walks allowed per nine innings. 2013 was a memorable one for Shade, as one of his first recruits at Mercer, senior reliever David Teasley, broke the all-time NCAA record for most relief appearances in a career with 152 outings. Two of Shade’s pitchers received noteworthy postseason honors as sophomore Dimitri Kourtis was named an A-Sun All-Conference first team selection while junior Brandon Barker was named the A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year and also selected as an A-Sun All-Conference second team performer. 2012 was Shade’s best year yet in command of a Mercer pitching staff that arguably had its best collective season in program history. Despite having just one senior who threw a considerable amount of innings, Shade guided the Bears to a new program record 3.32 team ERA. Mercer finished the season ranked second in the A-Sun Conference in both team ERA and strikeouts (448) despite having six freshman pitchers throw 19.0 innings or more. The Orange and Black finished 2012 ranked 38th in the nation in team ERA and 23rd with a 2.6-to-1.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Junior David Teasley was named an A-Sun All-Conference second team member while freshman Dimitri Kourtis was voted onto the A-Sun All-Freshman team under Shade’s watch. Mercer’s pitching staff, led by a core group of veterans, took another big step under Shade proving to be one of the best in the country in 2011. The Bears not only finished first in the Atlantic Sun Conference in team ERA (3.58) and second in strikeouts (452), they ranked 52nd and 32nd in the nation in each respective statistic. Mercer’s 3.58 ERA at the end of the 2011 campaign ranked as the fourth lowest team ERA in program history. Under Shade’s guidance, junior Brandon Love was selected to the A-Sun All-Conference first team while DJ Johnson and Brandon Barker were named A-Sun All-Freshman selections. Shade also saw his second pitcher drafted while in Macon, when senior Justice French was selected in the 25th round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds. In 2010, Shade managed one of the best pitching staffs in the conference, utilizing a young but talented group of hurlers. The Bears posted a team 5.76 ERA in 2010, ranking third in the conference and 124th in the nation. The 5.76 ERA was the lowest mark posted by the Orange and Black since the 2007 season. Using Shade’s aggressive approach on the mound, Mercer ranked in the Top-100 nationally in three more statistical categories including 7.1 strikeouts per nine innings (99th), 10.4 hits allowed per nine innings (99th) and just 3.4 walks allowed per nine innings (79th). The Bears improved pitching was never more evident than in the 2010 Atlantic Sun Tournament. Mercer pitching allowed just 12 runs throughout the entire tournament, the fewest by a champion since FAU allowed only 11 runs in four contests in 2004. Individually, two of Shade’s recruits in freshman David Teasley and Matt McCall were rewarded for their individual accomplishments by being named to the 2010 A-Sun All-Freshman team. MERCERBEARS.com