Springs Youth Baseball Camp, Fountain Fort Carson High School, Fountain, Colorado

Youth Skills Camp

Featuring Chris Berry

Chris Berry, who has coached at Baylor, Arkansas State, Young Harris College and Rockford College, has joined head coach Mark Johnson's baseball staff at Sam Houston State.

At Arkansas State, Berry's first recruiting class was voted best in the Sun Belt Conference by Collegiate Baseball . Berry served seven seasons at Baylor University where he served as a volunteer assistant before assuming the duties of pitching coach for the Bears. Before being promoted to pitching coach at Baylor, Berry worked under pitching coach Steve Smith, building a highly decorated pitching corps.

During his season as pitching coach, Berry directed the Bears to a 4.13 staff ERA, helping Baylor finish the season ranked 26th nationally by Collegiate Baseball after advancing to the NCAA Regionals.

Berry’s pitching staff recorded 37 victories on the season, while notching 18 saves. In 2005, the Bears posted a team ERA of 3.23 to rank 12th nationally, and Berry helped direct the bullpen trio of Ryan LaMotta, Jeff Mandel and Abe Woody into one of the best groups of relievers in the country as they combined for a 2.21 ERA, striking out 150 batters against just 56 walks. That group helped the Bears advance to the College World Series quarterfinals following the 2005 regular season. Under Berry’s tutelage, the Bears had seven pitchers selected in the Major League Baseball Draft over his final two seasons at Baylor.

Berry spent a year at Young Harris College in Young Harris, Ga., serving as an assistant coach. He also coached at Rockford ( Ill.) College and worked as an assistant to the Director of Stadium Operations for the Rockford Cubbies, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

"We are excited to announce that Chris Berry has accepted the pitching coach position here at Sam Houston State," Johnson said. "His experience as a college pitcher and as a coach at successful NCAA Division I programs like Baylor and Arkansas State will be a great asset for us. We are very fortunate to have a man of his baseball experience join our staff."

Berry received his bachelor's degree in recreational administration from Bluefield College in Virginia where he was an Academic All-League pitcher with a 3.40 grade point average. He served as a graduate assistant baseball coach at Rockford College in 1997 and 1998 and as and assistant coach at Young Harris College.

Berry is married to the former Connie Kath, and the couple has two children, Kennedy (9), and Jackson (5).