The Shadow
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The sheriff is now also the skipper.
Kevin Hall was named head varsity baseball coach at Covington High School Monday night by the Covington School Board.
“It’s both an honor and a privilege that Mr. (Bob) McClintic, Dr. (Shannon) Fuhrman and the school board have the confidence in me to appoint me to this position,” said Hall.
Hall, whose full-time position is serving as the sheriff of Alleghany County, has assisted on the Cougar baseball staff for the last 10 years as well as being an assistant football coach.
“I have big shoes to fill coming in for Coach (Mick) Strand,” said Hall. “He led the team to four straight regional appearances and last year led them to the state tournament.
“I really never felt like an assistant working with Coach Strand,” Hall continued. “He let me be a big part of things, especially last year working with the pitching staff.”
Hall played for both Joe Carpenter and Gary Rice at Alleghany and played one year of college baseball at Ferrum, and lists his coaches as being some of the most influential people in his life.
“My dad was the only coach I knew of until I started playing in Little League,” said Hall.
“Garland Altizer, Bud Dobson, Rick Fuhrman, Gene Lee, Jim Birchfield — they all left an impression with me,” he added. “And Coach Rice, he taught me a lot about baseball and about life.”
Hall homered in Rice’s first win back in 1982. The veteran Alleghany coach eclipsed the 500 win mark this past spring.
The Cougars were 14-11 in 2012 and earned just their second state tournament berth in school history.
“Coaching baseball, and coaching in general — I use it as a stress relief from my day job,” said Hall. “I’m excited about the opportunity.”
The Cougars open the 2014 season on Monday, March 17 at Alleghany.
