2011 Fourth Annual "First Pitch" Dinner

Saturday February 11  5:00 - 8:00.

BBQ chicken dinner, a silent auction and raffle prizes.

Tickets are $20.00

Guest Speaker Chris Richard former Durham Bull and Major League player

Tickets available from any baseball player or by contacting Coach Dease at dean.dease@orange.k12.nc.us

11/1/10- Duke University head baseball coach Sean McNally will speak at the 2011 "First Pitch" dinner for the Orange Baseball team. 

Sean McNally, a 1994 graduate of Duke University, returns for his fifth year as head baseball coach. With a philosophy based on the concept of striving for excellence in the classroom, involvement in the community and achievement on the field, McNally has led the program to great success during his tenure.

With a 116-107-1 record in his first four years, McNally is off to the best start by any coach in Duke history. In 2009, McNally became the first coach to reach 100 wins by his fourth year and the first to compile two 30-win seasons during that span. McNally has also led Duke to more ACC wins in each of his first four seasons, capped by a 15-15 ACC record in 2009. Expectations and optimism are high for the program's continued rise up the national ladder in 2010.

McNally coaches the hitters and the infielders directly, the same responsibilities he handled at the professional level during his time in player development with the Cleveland Indians. Under McNally, Duke has hit at least .299 in each of the last three seasons while ranking among the top four in the country in fielding percentage for two straight seasons.

The 2009 season featured Duke's second straight 30-win campaign, as the Blue Devils went 35-24 while racking up the second most ACC victories in school history. Duke took two series from top-10 opponents, taking down No. 1 North Carolina and No. 7 Georgia Tech before making a run in the ACC Tournament that included a win over No. 13 Clemson.

Additionally, the Blue Devils posted a 3.233 team GPA and placed an ACC-record nine members of the All-ACC Academic Baseball Team. Duke also finished among the national leaders in fielding percentage in 2009, posting a .979 fielding clip to rank fourth in the country.

Duke saw a school-record seven players drafted under McNally in 2009, including four seniors and three juniors. In McNally's four years, 10 players have now been drafted including two-time draftee Nate Freiman, who left the board in the 8th round as a senior.

The 2008 season was also an indication of Duke's progress as the team posted a 3.15 GPA and was awarded the ACC Top Six for Service Award for the team's various community service initiatives. On the field, McNally guided the team to one of the most successful seasons in school history, posting a 37-18-1 record with wins over several ranked teams including No. 2 North Carolina, No. 17 Georgia Tech and a series win over 16th-ranked Virginia. Additionally the Blue Devils led the nation in fielding percentage in 2008 with a .978 clip after committing an ACC-low 47 errors in 56 games. The fundamental approach allowed Duke to go a perfect 27-0 in non-conference play in 2008 and 7-2 in one-run games.

Since taking over, McNally has produced five All-ACC performers, including 2009 selections Andrew Wolcott (First Team), Freiman (Second Team) and Jeremy Gould (Second Team). Duke's three selections in 2009 were the most by a Duke team since 1998. McNally also tutored two-way outfielder Alex Hassan, who collected second team honors in 2008, and pitcher Tony Bajoczky, who earned second team honors in 2007.

In addition to the national and conference recognition that Duke has received, McNally has put Duke baseball on the map in the professional ranks after producing 10 draft picks in the last three years. A school-record seven Blue Devils were selected in 2009, extending a streak of three consecutive seasons with at least one player drafted. Among the selections were seniors Freiman (8th Round), Wolcott (17th Round), Matt Williams (18th Round) and Tim Sherlock (40th Round) and juniors Hassan (20th Round), Christopher Manno (38th Round) and Michael Ness (47th Round). Duke also had three recruits drafted in 2009.

Three Blue Devils were taken in the 2007 draft, including outfielder Jimmy Gallagher (7th round - Chicago White Sox), infielder Brett Bartles (30th round - Cincinnati Reds) and Bajoczky (34th round - Boston Red Sox). In the 2008 draft, Freiman was selected (28th round - Texas Rangers) but elected to return to Duke for his senior season.

McNally has also made significant strides on the recruiting trail, bringing in a 2010 freshman class that included three draft picks and a 2009 class that included two draftees. McNally's 2009 group was ranked as the 25th-best class in the nation by Baseball America. The jump in recruiting has been one of the most significant factors in the turnaround in Duke baseball, as Duke now boasts a roster that is filled with some of the ACC's top programs.

The consistent emphasis placed on academic achievement under McNally continues to be evident. After dominating the All-ACC Academic Baseball Team with nine selections and the ACC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Freiman, the Duke baseball team has put more members on the ACC academic squad under McNally than any other program. Freiman also became Duke's first First Team Academic All-America under McNally in 2009. A former Third Team Academic All-America himself, McNally has also seen a combined 60 representatives make the ACC Academic Honor Roll (3.0 GPA for the academic year) over the past four seasons. Twenty-one of those awards came in 2009.

Each year, the Duke Baseball program has taken a more active role in the Durham community as well, culminating in ACC Top Six for Service awards in 2008 and 2009. Some projects completed included time spent at the Miracle League of the Triangle, the Duke-sponsored Verizon "Read with the Blue Devils", a free baseball clinic at Watts Elementary School, serving meals at the Urban Ministries Soup Kitchen and trips to the Central Regional Hospital and the Duke Children's Hospital. Each class, freshman through seniors, also designed and organized their own project which they participated in as a group.

During his playing career at Duke, McNally was a four-year starter and served as team captain for his final two seasons. As a senior in 1994, he received All-ACC honors and set single-season school records for batting average (.408) and slugging percentage (.775) while finishing the season with 89 hits, 19 doubles, eight triples, 17 home runs and 71 RBI. He ranks among the top five in school history with 17 triples and 181 RBI in his career and among the top 10 in runs scored, batting average, hits and doubles.

Following four seasons in the Blue and White, McNally was selected in the 16th round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft by the Kansas City Royals and played nine seasons of professional baseball. He reached as high as the Triple-A level with Calgary (Florida Marlins) in 2002, and Buffalo (Cleveland Indians) and Tucson (Arizona Diamondbacks) in 2001. In 1999, McNally was named to the Texas League (AA) All-Star Team after posting a .282 batting average along with 36 home runs and 109 RBI. Overall, he played for six professional organizations, including Kansas City (1994-99), Florida (2000), Cleveland (2001), Arizona (2001), Texas (2002) and Montreal (2002).

Prior to taking the reigns of the Blue Devil baseball team, McNally spent three years coaching in the professional ranks for Cleveland Indians affiliates Burlington (A) and Akron (AA). He served as the hitting coach for both squads before being promoted to manager of the Burlington Indians in 2005. As the hitting coach for the Akron Aeros in 2004, McNally instructed several professional players on their way to the majors, including Ben Francisco (OF, Philadelphia Phillies), Ryan Garko (1B, San Francisco Giants), Franklin Gutierrez (OF, Seattle Mariners), Joe Inglett (IF, Toronto Blue Jays) and Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B, Oakland Athletics).

McNally also served as an academic advisor within the Duke Athletic Department from 2003-04, where he managed the Verizon "Read with the Blue Devils" community outreach program. In addition to his coaching responsibilities with the Blue Devils he has taken on several athletic department projects as well. McNally served as the coaching representative on the Executive Committee for the construction of the Strategic Plan for Duke Athletics, a yearlong process in 2007-2008.

In the summer of 2009 McNally was the keynote speaker at the North Carolina High School State Athletic Association (NCHSAA) day long convention at the Greensboro Coliseum for baseball coaches state wide. He also wrote a chapter for the book Practice Perfect Baseball along with other accomplished college baseball coaches published in 2010 by Human Kinetics.

McNally is married to the former Kim Voyticky, an All-ACC performer in track and field at Duke. The couple has two children, a three-year-old daughter named Michaela and a one-year-old son named Jackson.  Text from goduke.com

2/22/10- The 2010 "First-Pitch" was a success despite the weather.  After being snowed-out and rescheduled the third annual benefit dinner and fund-raiser went off without a hitch, just a week late.  Over 200 tickets were sold to this year's event. 

One of the featured speakers had to cancel but UNC assistant coach Matt McCay filled in admirably.  His message was from the heart regarding baseball and his experiences from middle school through professional baseball.  He emphasized the life lessons the game can teach young people.  McCay was quick to credit the Orange baseball program for much of his success.

2009 Orange Baseball "First Pitch" Dinner a Fun Time for All.