By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

Lowndes Academy has a new head baseball coach.

Matt Marshall, Lowndes Academy athletic director, announced Friday that the school hired Shane Moye of Pike Road, a former college baseball player and current instructor at Strike Zone in Montgomery, as fulltime junior varsity and varsity head baseball coach, as well as physical education teacher.

“Lowndes Academy would like to welcome Mr. Moye, his wife, and his week-old baby girl to Lowndes Academy,” Marshall said.

Moye is currently employed as a hitting/pitching instructor with Strike Zone and will join Lowndes Academy on July 1, Marshall said.

“We’re really excited about him coming down. He’s very passionate about baseball,” Marshall said. “You can tell that in the way he talks about it. I know personally we’ve had several kids that used him at Strike Zone where he’s currently employed.”

Moye said he is versed in a little bit of everything about baseball including defense.

“We’ll work on all sorts of things… having good approaches and understanding the game a lot better,” he said. “I’m super energetic and passionate about baseball, so I think that will rub off on the kids to understand that if you play hard and you give all you’ve got then you start winning. Sometimes talent isn’t all you need.”

Moye is 26 years old.

“I’m excited for the opportunity that Lowndes has given me to be a head coach being so young,” Moye said.

He said he would stress to the kids “to become team players, understand that they represent themselves as well as Lowndes with pride.”

Marshall said he thought Moye would get good results at Lowndes Academy.

“I think the kids will love to play for him. I mean it’s going to be an exciting time for Lowndes,” Marshall said.

Moye is coming in as a fulltime coach, according to Marshall, in the stead of coach Art Sullivan, who coached the team this past season after two volunteer coaches moved on.

Moye is a native of Pensacola, Fla. and a 2004 graduate of Pensacola Catholic High School where he received All-Area honors in 2003-04 and led his team to a state title as a junior.

He played at Alabama Southern Community College in 2005, and at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. in 2006 where he was named Panhandle Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Moye played at AUM in 2008-09 where he earned All-Southern States Conference honors before serving as a graduate assistant coach in 2010.

He spent 2007 as an assistant coach at Pensacola Catholic High School, and has been coaching at Strike Zone for three years.

Moye and his wife, Kayla, have a 10-day old daughter Parker Elizabeth Moye.

Moye said he would put on a baseball camp at Lowndes Academy July 16-20 for ages 7-13 from 8 a.m. until noon and 14-18 from 1 – 3 p.m.