As Sul Ross State embarks on a new challenge with the transition to NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference, the Lobo baseball program is getting a new leader.
Having coached across all levels in the NCAA including high school and minor league baseball, Caleb Abney will now be taking over the helm.
Abney served as the head baseball coach at Lancaster Bible College from 2021-2023, a Division III program in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
He will replace Ely Gallego who spent the last two seasons as the head coach.
"It is an honor to join Sul Ross athletics and to be trusted to lead the baseball program into this new era of excellence in Division II competition," Abney said. "I am so grateful to Amanda Workman and the rest of the athletics staff. They have been exceptional in this process and I am looking forward to rewarding their belief in me.
"I am excited to collectively chase uncommon excellence for the baseball program, and to help guide and push these young men to realize their highest potential - as people, as students, and as championship-caliber baseball players."
Abney has an extensive coaching career which began at the high school level as a varsity head coach at Westminster Christian Academy in Watkinsville, Georgia.
The Kennesaw, Georgia native later received an opportunity to coach at his alma mater, Covenant College, in Lookout Mountain, Georgia where he served as an assistant coach.
Abney took his talents to the Division II level at King University in Bristol, Tennessee as an assistant coach.
For five months, he also was a volunteer assistant coach at Division I Austin Peay State in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Along the way, Abney was the hitting coach for the Watertown Rapids in Watertown, New York from 2017-2018 in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.
In addition, he also was the head coach of the Staunton Braves of the Valley Baseball League, a high-level collegiate summer league, in 2021.
Abney relishes the opportunity to take on a new challenge in a competitive Lone Star Conference that features Angelo State, a program that has played in the national title game the last two seasons.
"I love meeting challenges and seeing what I'm made of and challenging others around me to see what they're made of," he said. "The excitement around the transition up to a higher level is super intriguing and exciting to me."
>> THE BIG LEAGUES:
Abney has been very fortunate to have worked for three different Major League Baseball organizations.
His first opportunity came with the Atlanta Braves as he served on the business side, working as a marketing trainee and ticket event team supervisor.
In 2015, he worked in player development as a video intern with the Tampa Bay Rays' Single-A affiliate Bowling Green Hot Rods.
Four years later, Abney served as the hitting coach for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, the Single-A affiliate to the Minnesota Twins.
Abney got to see firsthand how the best players in the world carried about their lives on the path to the show.
He's been able to take all the things that he's learned by implementing it into his coaching style at the college level.
"Just seeing that in three different organizations provides you a more diverse understanding of what those organizations are trying to do," Abney said. "It just broadens your scope of weapons that you can use to make a program better."
>> ALPINE'S BASEBALL TRADITION:
Indeed, Alpine, Texas might be located in the heart of football country, however baseball has deep roots that have been ingrained in the community for decades.
The Lobo baseball program has had its fair share of success.
Since 1996, Sul Ross State has qualified for the postseason seven times, making its last trip to the conference tournament in 2023.
"We are excited for coach Abney to take the reins of our baseball program. He stood out from a very competitive pool of 56 candidates," said Sul Ross State Athletic Director Amanda Workman. "His experience stretches across all three levels of the NCAA as well as several Major League Baseball organizations.
"His emphasis on developing players both on and off the field and his enthusiasm for Sul Ross State University made him an excellent candidate. He is a great addition to our staff and the Alpine community."
As a player, Abney was named academic all-conference four times during his career at Covenant College from 2007-2011 as a first baseman.
He hopes to turn some heads this coming spring by making some noise in the LSC and shocking the opposition.
"I would love to find a way to get the most out of those guys and find a way to inspire them to work in smarter ways to realize their greatest potential," Abney added. "There's no reason that we shouldn't belong. I have every reason to believe that we're going to be successful in the conference from the start."
