Originally posted on the News & Record. Click here to view full article. 
 

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Shane Schumaker, among the top hitters at UNC Greensboro despite spending just two seasons at the school, has been named the head baseball coach at Northwest Guilford.

Schumaker, who accepted the position on June 6, finished his two-year career at UNCG batting .357, which was third in program history. He was also second in career triples with 11.

"My first initial reaction is excitement," Schumaker said. "I know that the program has been pretty successful for numerous years and I'm just looking forward to getting back into baseball. And so when they made the offer, I was excited to get back to coaching baseball and to be a part of a special program over at Northwest."

His initial impression made Schumaker comfortable.

"Really good because of Jason (Allred), the AD, and Dr. (Brian) Muller, the principal," he said. "They both have a great vision, we think a lot alike, their support has been awesome from the start and they I think are the reason we are going to be successful."

Schumaker was head softball coach at the since-closed Marymount California University. The school competed in the NAIA but closed in August 2022 because of financial struggles and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also coached at El Camino College, where he played junior college ball. Also, Schumaker was an associate head coach at UNCG, and also coached at Loyola Marymount and California State-Dominguez Hills, where he also earned a master's degree in kinesiology and administration.

He also spent 14 years owning and operating a baseball and softball training facility, and has held positions with the NCSA recruiting service and National Scouting Report.

Schumaker said he had been looking at coaching positions recently, but applied for the Northwest job feeling that it was the right fit for him and his family, who lives near Northwest.

"My kids are going to be going to Northwest," he said. "I have a rising seventh grader and a rising sixth grader. Our friends and family are in the district, so it seemed like a good fit because the community and everything has just felt great, working with a lot of kids at NCBA that are going to that high school, so a lot of good things, just a good atmosphere, great facilities, they are moving up to 8A and most importantly, I think one thing I learned during COVID was how much I missed coaching."

Schumaker hopes that his experience will help in sending his players up to the college level.

He said he likes for his teams to play more of a style from the 1980s as opposed to the more common style of today's game. He wants to emphasize being good people in the community and representing the program well on and off the field.

"I think the whole philosophy is you do the right things," he said. "You play for your team, the little things matter and as far as an approach, I'm more of a 'Hey, let's put the pressure on the defense as much as possible,' so we'll play small ball, hit it in the gaps, we'll run, all of those types of things … If we hit a home run, that's great, but we are going to run the bases well, we are going to play stellar defense and we are going to throw strikes."

Schumaker, who has previously taught physical education and health-related courses at the colleges where he worked, is expected to be a teacher in Northwest's physical education department, filling Avery Booker's role both in coaching and teaching. Booker resigned after two seasons.