Lawrence Nesselrodt

The 2019 season will see Lawrence Nesselrodt entering his 35th year of coaching college baseball and his 27th year as a Head Coach. This will be his 11th season leading the Golden Bears, where he is already the school's record holder for most career victories by a baseball head coach.

He is a graduate of Petersburg (WV) High School where he played football, basketball and baseball.  His high school days were highlighted by Petersburg advancing to the 1976 West Virginia high school baseball state title game in Class A / AA.  

He earned an Associate of Arts degree at Garrett Community College in McHenry, MD where he starred as a shortstop on the baseball team and earned the team MVP award in 1980 and 1981. Coach Nesselrodt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing/Management at Davis and Elkins College where he played second base and shortstop for the Senators in 1982 and 1983. The Senators won the WVIAC Northern Division Title both of those years. Nesselrodt also played shortstop in the Pen Mar League with the Oakland (MD) Oaks from 1977 through 1993 and was inducted into the Maryland Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Nesselrodt served under his college coach, Phil Caruso, at Garrett Community College in 1984 as an Assistant Coach and was named Head Coach in 1985 at age 23. During his nine-year head coaching tenure at Garrett Community College, Nesselrodt led the team to a 201-179 record.  Eight players who played for him throughout his tenure at Garrett were selected in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

He has also served as the Head Coach at Davis and Elkins College from 1994 through 2001. During those eight years, the Senators won the WVIAC Northern Division Title and advanced to the WVIAC Championship in 1995 and 2000. In 1995, the Senators advanced to the NAIA Regional Tournament, the team’s only regional appearance since 1980. In addition, Nesselrodt was awarded the WVIAC Coach of the Year in 1995.

Coach Nesselrodt then served seven years as Assistant Coach at West Virginia State University under legendary coach Cal Bailey from 2002 through 2008. His years at WV State were highlighted with five WVIAC Championships and a fifth place finish in the NCAA Division II World Series.

Beginning 2002, Nesselrodt spent seven years as Head Coach in the prestigious Shenandoah Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League where his teams won regular season Division Championships in 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008, and the Tournament Championship in 2007. Lawrence was awarded the Valley Baseball League Coach of the Year while coaching at Waynesboro, VA in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  His time in the Shenandoah Valley League saw him coach ten players who went on to play Major League Baseball, three of whom played in the Major League All-Star Game (Will Harris, Chris Perez, and Gaby Sanchez). Additionally, two of his summer collegiate players went on to earn World Series rings, Will Harris with the Houston Astros, and Jon Jay with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nesselrodt, who entering the 2019 season has already notched 559 career collegiate coaching victories, has left a record of success behind at every stop he has made in baseball, which includes already being inducted into five Hall of Fames as a member: Petersburg (WV) High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Maryland Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, National Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, Davis and Elkins College Athletic Hall of Fame, and Garrett Community College Athletic Hall of Fame.  

Lawrence and his wife, Beth, reside in Charleston, WV. He has two adult stepchildren: stepdaughter Amy Combs (husband Chris Combs), of Charleston,WV, and stepson Danah Mallory (wife Megan Mallory) of Tucson, AZ.  Lawrence and Beth have three grandchildren: Andrew, Macy, and Lilly.