BRIAN
25
ROUNTREE
Assistant Coach - Pitching & Recruiting
B A S E B A L L
LATechSports.com
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@LATechBSB
Of the 14 players drafted, three pitchers were selected in the first 30 rounds of the 2008 draft for the first time in school history. In all, six players from Tech were drafted in 2008, the most in school history. Adam Cobb and Albie Goulder joined Burnett, Jones, Knotts and Moseley as major league draftees from the 2008 team. Rountree is now focused on the continued development of the young Bulldogs. In addition to handling the duties as pitching coach, he is Tech’s recruiting coordinator. The Atlanta, Ga., native has recruited most of the players on Tech’s current roster and has built a solid reputation as a hardworking recruiter. “Coach Rountree brings a professional approach to recruiting and handles himself in a professional way,” head coach Wade Simoneaux said. “He does an excellent job of bringing in excellent talent to this university.” In 2007, the South Carolina graduate helped mold a staff that tied a fiveyear-old school record for most strikeouts in a season with 452 and had two allWestern Athletic Conference selections in Andrew Alsup (first team) and Moseley (second team). He also helped lead Burnett to the WAC strikeout title as he fanned 115 batters on the season. Burnett’s opponent’s batting average was a miniscule .221, also a league-best. “Brian’s tireless efforts at recruiting have put our ballclub in a position to compete in this conference,” Simoneaux said. “Since I’ve been here, our recruits have gotten better and better. He has developed many pitchers that were borderline college pitchers into possible draft choices.” His 2002 pitching staff posted Tech’s lowest team ERA since 1993 at 4.71 despite playing nine games versus teams that were in the College World Series. Rountree originally came to Tech from South Carolina in 1996 with former Tech head coach Randy Davis. Simoneaux is the third head coach that Rountree has worked with at the university. Prior to coming to Tech, Rountree spent four years as an assistant at South Carolina. He is a 1990 graduate of USC with a degree in criminal justice. Rountree spent the summer of 2001 as the head coach of a collegiate summer league team in Thomasville, N.C. The team competed in the Coastal Plains League. Rountree played baseball at South Carolina and spent two years in the Detroit Tigers organization after college. One season was spent in the Rookie League with Bristol (Tenn.) and one season with Fayetteville (N.C) of the South Atlantic League, which completed the baseball playing career of the 6-4 righthander. While at USC, Rountree led the Gamecocks in starts and strikeouts as a junior and again as a senior. He was the captain of the 1989 Gamecocks who advanced to the NCAA Tournament in Miami, Fla. His 125 strikeouts in 1988 still rank as the seventh best single season total in USC history. Rountree recorded 13 wins in two years at South Carolina. He transferred to USC after a standout career at DeKalb Junior College in Georgia. While at DeKalb, Rountree earned All-America honors as a sophomore with a 12-1 mark and a 0.78 earned run average. He was also named 1987 Georgia Junior College Player of the Year. In high school, Rountree was a standout at North Clayton High School in Atlanta. He shattered the school mark for career wins with 26 and still holds most of the school’s career records. One of Rountree’s favorite aspects in coaching is building relationships with the players as they improve over time. “Watching players develop in our program on the field and in the classroom is a rewarding experience,” Rountree said. “I enjoy seeing our players set goals, work their plan and accomplish them.” Rountree is married to his wife, Kim of San Diego, Calif. for the past nine years. Kim is a medical assistant at New Beginnings Wellness Center & Spa in Ruston and has two daughters, Kaysee and Shelby Griffith. Kaysee is a nurse, while Shelby is currently a student at Louisiana Tech.
B U L L D O G
Brian Rountree is entering his 19th season at Louisiana Tech as the Bulldogs pitching coach. His 19 years of service is one of the longest tenures of all coaches currently working at the university behind only head track and field coach Gary Stanley, assistant track and field coach Larry Carmichael and football’s Ed Jackson. The 2013 pitching staff far exceeded expectations and became the most successful staff since Rountree began at LA Tech. Last season, Bulldog pitchers recorded a 4.48 team earned run average in 56 games, making the 2013 season the most successful for any Bulldog staff since the 1993 season. Sophomore Phil Maton picked right up where he left off a year ago and led the Western Athletic Conference in strikeouts with 89, while posting a 2.70 ERA in 2013, which was second best among all WAC pitchers. Senior pitcher Trevor Petersen also made his mark on the season after moving up to seventh place all-time in the Louisiana Tech record books with 68 career appearances on the mound. In 2012, Rountree’s pitching staff impressed, as freshman right hander Phil Maton led the way with a Louisville Slugger Freshman all-American honor after leading the Bulldog staff with a 2.93 earned run average and eight wins in his freshman campaign. Rountree also welcomed the addition of Jamie Gilley to his staff as the junior college transfer led Tech in strikeouts with 82 in 2012. Gilley was ranked 10th in the country in strikeouts per nine innings with 11.07. Caleb Dudley continued to lead the way for Rountree’s pitching staff as the junior broke the all-time record for career saves at Tech with 23 in 2012. Dudley now holds the single-season saves record, career saves record and career appearances record under Rountree’s direction. The 2011 pitching staff shattered two school records as the staff pitched 517.2 innings and recorded 18 saves to set the single-season marks in each category. Dudley set two single-season records as he finished the season with 12 saves while making 32 appearances. The rotation was anchored by sophomore Trevor Peterson, who led the team with 16 starts and left-handed pitcher Mike Jefferson, who pitched one complete game in 14 starts. Jeb Stefan returned after missing 2010 following Tommy John Surgery to lead the team with seven wins as the number three pitcher. Kyle Roliard rounded out the rotation. Peterson and Jefferson picked up six wins apiece in 30 combined starts. Peterson led all Bulldog pitchers with 16 games started, pitching 83.1 innings and compiling a 6-4 record with a 5.08 ERA. Jefferson led all starters with a 3.56 ERA and 86 innings pitched and led the conference with 11 pickoffs. Stefan led the WAC in fewest hits allowed by a starter (63) and led Tech with seven wins and pitched two complete games in 14 starts with one shut out. Roliard picked up one win in 35.1 innings as the dual-player made 13 appearances on the mound. Dudley broke Tech’s single-season saves and appearances records in 2011, while becoming one of the best finishers in the country. He went 5-2 in 2011 with a 3.30 ERA, 12 saves and 44 strikeouts in 57.1 innings pitched. He made 32 appearances, including two spot starts for the Bulldogs. He goes into the 2012 season only four saves away from tying Buddy Aulds for the top spot in Tech’s history (18). Mike LeBreton recorded a 3.19 ERA in 20 games, picking up two wins and one save in 42.1 innings. His 3.19 ERA was the lowest any Bulldog pitcher with at least 40 innings pitched recorded in a season since Andrew Alsup’s 3.05 ERA in 2006. In the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, Roliard and Jefferson signed after being selected in the 13th round and the 22nd round, respectively. Roliard signed with the Kansas City Royals and Jefferson signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both Roliard and Jefferson received first team all-WAC honors in 2011. Under Rountree’s tutelage, two players received Verizon WAC Pitcher of the Week honors, Ben Carlisle (3/7) and Dudley (twice; 4/4 and 5/2). Dudley also received CBI National Pitcher of the Week honors (5/4) after pitching eight perfect innings out of the bullpen vs. Nevada and UT Arlington. Despite facing numerous injuries throughout the 2010 campaign, a total of 17 Bulldogs made an appearance on the mound, led by a senior Jamey Bradshaw and a duo of underclassmen in Trevor Petersen and Mike Jefferson, who combined to toss 218.1 innings while fanning 175 batters. The LA Tech pitching staff accrued four complete games on the season as starting pitchers tossed five-plus innings on 33 occasions. In June 2010, Jefferson was selected by the New York Mets in the 46th round of the MLB Draft. In 2009, Rountree coached an extremely young pitching staff that had just one senior on the staff in two-time MLB draftee Dylan Moseley. However, the young staff helped the Bulldogs to a 29-22 record on the season. In the process, three youngsters emerged as possible rising stars on the staff in true freshmen Jeb Stefan and Kyle Roliard, and redshirt freshman Mike Jefferson. Stefan led the team in strikeouts while recording a 4-5 record in 13 games started while Roliard piled up a 4-0 record with 17 appearances out of the bullpen. Jefferson led Tech with 25 appearances while totaling a 3-3 record on the year. Under Rountree, 16 Bulldog pitchers have been drafted or signed free agent contracts with professional baseball teams in the last 11 seasons, including Jefferson, Roliard, Luke Burnett, Jericho Jones, Alan Knotts and Dylan Moseley in 2008. Burnett was selected and signed by the Seattle Mariners. Jones was selected and signed by the Chicago Cubs. Knotts was selected and signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Moseley opted to return to Tech for his senior year after being selected by the Cubs.
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