FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss head baseball coach Scott Berry announced Friday the appointment of Brent Shelton as an assistant coach.
Shelton comes to Southern Miss after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant for coach Jeff Johnson at Chipola College where he served as recruiting coordinator, as well as coordinating administrative duties and working with the Indian hitters and infielders.
“I am extremely pleased to have a coach of Brent’s caliber join our staff,” said Berry. “He has played a key role in the success that Chipola has had over the past few years. His ability to not only coach but to communicate with our student-athletes with no doubt be a valuable asset to our program here at Southern Miss.”
Shelton coached 41 position players in his five years at Chipola that went on to play at four-year universities and 16 position players went on to sign professional baseball contracts, including two players that have made Major League Baseball rosters including Rene Tosoni of the Minnesota Twins and Tyler Flowers of the Chicago White Sox.
The Tallahassee, Fla., native moved into the collegiate coaching ranks in 2003 as an assistant at Chipola College for one year. At Chipola, he was responsible for the administrative activities, worked with the hitters and also coached first base. Shelton re-joined the Chipola staff during the 2006 season, where he helped the Indians to an appearance in the FCCAA State Tournament during that season. Shelton also was an assistant on the Indians’ 2007 and 2008 FCCAA State Championship and NJCAA National Championship Team during the 2007 season.
Upon graduation from University of Florida, Shelton entered the coaching profession as an assistant at P.K. Yonge Lab School in Gainesville, Fla. While working with one of the top high school baseball programs in Florida for one season, he coached two players that played minor league baseball, Flint Wipke (Angels), and Ryne Malone (Cubs). Shelton returned to his alma mater, Liberty County High School in Bristol, Fla., where he spent a year as an assistant in baseball and football. During the 2004-05 seasons, Shelton served as the head baseball coach at Sneads High School in Sneads, Fla., compiling a 25-24 record during two seasons while taking the Pirates to their 3rd state tournament appearance in the school’s history.
Shelton also spent nine summers as a head coach of SWAT and the Panhandle Indians in Florida, where he coached 32 players who played at two-year or four-year colleges and three players who signed a professional contract.
Shelton replaces former volunteer coach Richy Harrelson, who left earlier this summer to take an assistant coaching position at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville.
