Rockbridge Hires New Coach

LEXINGTON, Va. - The Rockbridge Rapids have signed Evan Wise as their head coach for the 2012 season.

Wise, who is currently an assistant coach at USC-Sumter, served as the Rapids pitching coach in 2010.

This past summer Wise was the skipper of the Morganton Aggies in the Southern CollegiateBaseball League (SCBL). Under his leadership the Aggies were the SCBL Regular Season Champions and Runner-Up in the SCBL Championship.

Wise said, “I am very excited to be returning to the Rockbridge Rapids and continuing to build on the success they have experienced under the leadership of Coach Greg Keaton.”

Wise replaces Keaton, who headed up the Rapids for the past two summers, as head coach because of Keaton's increased responsibilities USC-Sumter. Keaton will stay with the organization as Special Advisor for Recruitment and Operations for the Rapids. In this role, he will work closely with Wise and GM Ken Newman.

The Rapids have also re-signed J.R. Blevins as Assistant Head Coach for the upcoming season. This will be his third year with the Rapids. Blevins was formerly an assistant at USC-Sumter and is currently an assistant at Fairmont (W. Va.) State University.

"I am very pleased that we will continue to build on our success with these talented individuals. They are familiar with the Valley Baseball League and our organization's goals and objectives. Most importantly, they are members of the Rockbridge Rapids family," Newman said.

Rockbridge is coming off of a season in which the organization made its first-ever playoff appearance and advanced all the way to the championship series.

The Rapids fell in three games to Covington in the championship.

"We are proud of our accomplishments in 2011, in particular being the Valley Baseball League runners-up," Rockbridge Community Baseball, Inc. President Bill Luton said. "We have the best fans in the league and look to the 2012 season as an opportunity for continuous improvement on and off the field."