Chris Lawson is out and former assistant head coach(in the mid 90s)Steve Priode is the new head coach at Pikeville High School.

 

 

I personally am surprised by this...I thought Coach Lawson would be the head coach at Pikeville for a long time...He has had good success as the head coach at Pikeville...8 59th District titles and 4 15th Region titles in his 9 years as head coach.

 

http://www.news-expressky.com/articles/2006/09/01/sports/01lawson.txt

This is actually pretty old news...Pikeville fans, players, etc. have known about this for a while now.

 

The coaching staff will include Steve Priode at the helm, Chad Salyer as the assistant, and possibly another not yet named.

 

A tough situation for Coach Priode to step into, but with the experience and expertise he holds, hopefully Priode will lead the Panthers into another successful season!

WHAT HAPPENED?

Coach Lawson' coached teams have just about every record in the PHS record books, mostly coming from the 1999 and 2005 teams. He was a great coach and more importantly a fair coach. I can honestly say he put the best 9 players on the field each day. I hated to see him leave. IMO one of the all time greats in 15th region history. Had he coached another 20 years or so like Adkins and Collins, I think his win totals would have been similar if not better. 4 regions in 9 years says it all. I am glad my son got to play for him, so is my son. He has nothing but respect for Coach.

 

Coach Priode has a big shoes to fill and I think he will fill in admirably. I wish him nothing but the best. I know he has a learning curve but he played under Charlie Adkins and in a premier program. He was instrumental in resurrecting the Pikeville College Program when it was about to fold in the early 80's. His coaching staff includes Chad Salyers who played at Ashland and Georgetown College, and Don Isner who played double A ball in the Cardinals organization. Great selections in my opinion. Looks as though he is off on the right foot. Good luck!

Coach Lawson' coached teams have just about every record in the PHS record books, mostly coming from the 1999 and 2005 teams. He was a great coach and more importantly a fair coach. I can honestly say he put the best 9 players on the field each day. I hated to see him leave. IMO one of the all time greats in 15th region history. Had he coached another 20 years or so like Adkins and Collins, I think his win totals would have been similar if not better. 4 regions in 9 years says it all. I am glad my son got to play for him, so is my son. He has nothing but respect for Coach.

 

Coach Priode has a big shoes to fill and I think he will fill in admirably. I wish him nothing but the best. I know he has a learning curve but he played under Charlie Adkins and in a premier program. He was instrumental in resurrecting the Pikeville College Program when it was about to fold in the early 80's. His coaching staff includes Chad Salyers who played at Ashland and Georgetown College, and Don Isner who played double A ball in the Cardinals organization. Great selections in my opinion. Looks as though he is off on the right foot. Good luck!

 

Agreed. :thumb:

Chris Lawson's first two teams won back to back region titles(98 and 99)and was one win away from being the Panthers first teams to advance to the state final 4...of course that was before the new postseason format came into play. I hope Coach Priode can get off to a great start like Coach Lawson did and make some deep runs in the postseason...that would be a great way for him to get started.

 

Coach Priode is a GREAT guy and I wish him nothing but the best...Good luck Coach. Pikeville has been one of the top baseball programs in Eastern Kentucky for the past decade and I really believe that Coach Priode is a coach that will keep them were they have worked so hard to get.