Moddelmog takes job at Ouachita Baptist

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Chris Moddelmog, Fort Scott Community College's head baseball coach the past five season, has accepted the head coaching position at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark.

In the last three seasons, Moddelmog's Greyhound teams won 106 games and qualified the past two years for the final eight in the Region VI Playoffs, the first times Fort Scott has done so since the post-season switched to its current format three years ago. Overall, including tenures at other colleges, Moddelmog compiled a record of 203-178.

Ouachita Baptist was the NCAA Division II national runner-up last season, falling in the finals to Mount Olive. OBU had received an at-large bid to the tournament.

"OBU presents a situation that I couldn't pass up," Moddelmog said Friday afternoon. "It was a chance to get back to the four-year level, back to the south, weather, obviously. We like the fact that they're a good Division II program. It's going to be a very good challenge."

Moddelmog will take over for Scott Norwood, who moved into the head coaching position at Division I Arkansas-Little Rock.

Moddelmog's teams got better each season at Fort Scott, culminating in the two appearances in the Region VI final eight. In 2007, the Greyhounds had to go on the road in the first round and beat Colby in three-games in a wild first-round series. This season, Fort Scott defeated Dodge City at home, rallying to win in three games after losing the first game of the series.

"Fort Scott's been great to my family and it's a great place," Moddelmog said. "My daughter was born here. And we've been fortunate enough to bring in great kids. Players make coaches successful and we've had good student athletes who have come in and done things right and helped the program get to where it is. We've had 33, 35 and 38 wins the last three years. There are a lot of great people here and hopefully they can keep it going."

A look at the records on the wall along the hallway that leads to the LaRoche Locker Room inside the Dave Regan Clubhouse next to Lions Field shows that most of the records -- and most of the top-five marks -- in single-season and career statistics at FSCC are held by players who played for Moddelmog.

Among moments from his tenure that Moddelmog noted as most remarkable are the 16-game winning streak the Greyhounds enjoyed late in the season that helped them secure home-field advantage in the first round of the Region VI Playoffs.

"Beating Colby and going to tournament for the first time was also big," Moddelmog said. "The sophomores that I'm leaving with, so to speak, are one of the best groups of kids I've ever been around. I guess it's kind of fitting to leave with those guys. They were the epitome of what Greyhound baseball has been all about."

Moddelmog's teams were also among the best academically in the Jayhawk Conference. His 2004 team had the best grade-point average in the nation and each of his past four teams had GPA's over 3.0.