HARTSELLE – Brad Phillips, a Hazel Green native who has spent 15 seasons coaching at Troy University and the University of South Alabama, has been hired to replace the late William Booth as Hartselle High School baseball coach.
Phillips, USA’s pitching coach the past six seasons who was with the Trojans for nine, is following a Hall of Fame coach in Booth who led the Tigers to a 1,217-520 record and nine state championships in 36 years. The Hartselle City Schools Board of Education approved the hiring of Phillips at a special meeting Tuesday night.
Booth died May 15. A day later, the Tigers began the Class 6A state championship finals series and finished runner-up after falling 2-1 to Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in the three-game series.
“We are excited to announce coach Phillips as the next head baseball coach at Hartselle High School, and we are excited about the future of our baseball program under his leadership,” Jake Miles, the school’s athletic director and assistant baseball coach, said in a news release. “It became pretty evident as our search began that the best fit for our future and school was coach Phillips.’’
Phillips played college baseball at Gadsden State Community College and the University of Montevallo. He earned his degree in 2004 at Troy University, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach in 2003-04.
He coached Charles Henderson High School to the state playoffs four straight seasons, including a Class 5A state championship appearance in 2008. Phillips then coached at Niceville (Fla.) High, leading the Eagles to two straight playoff appearances.
Phillips has coached at USA for six years and was also pitching coach at Troy for nine seasons. Among his staff’s highlights was in 2016 when Troy was third in the conference with a 3.79 ERA, earning him the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award.
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