Landon Powell completed his 10th season as the head coach of North Greenville University baseball in 2024. During his nine seasons in Tigerville, the former Major League Baseball player and University of South Carolina standout has amassed a record of 389-130-1 (74.9%), including five Conference Carolinas Tournament Championships, four regular season conference championships, six Southeast Regional appearances, three Southeast Super Regional appearances, and the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championship. For four consecutive seasons, the Crusaders were ranked #1 nationally in Division II at some point during each season.
Since arriving at North Greenville, his tireless efforts in recruiting the right type of player has paid major dividends. The Crusaders teams over the past seven seasons have been filled with highly talented players, many of whom have gone on to play professionally. Regarding recruiting, Powell added, "Having a unique perspective of coming from the professional world of baseball to the college level, I wanted to look for players that had the skills that I knew pro scouts would like, but may have been overlooked by major division 1 programs. I knew it would not be easy but I was also very confident that we could develop players. So far, God has been very good to us and has blessed us with some very good players over the past seven years."
Upon Powell's hiring in the summer of 2014, he inherited a program that was coming off an 8-35 record in the 2014 season, and was projected to finish last in the Conference Carolinas to begin his tenure in 2015. However, Coach Powell's impact was immediately felt as the Crusaders improved by 22 wins and would go on to win the Conference Carolinas Tournament for the first time in program history, securing its first trip to the NCAA Division II baseball regional tournament.
The program saw more improvement in the 2016 season with 35 wins, a .307 team AVG, and a 3.26 team ERA. A 16-inning thriller that resulted in a 5-4 NGU victory over Mount Olive was the highlight of the season. For the 2017 season, the Crusaders set the bar even higher with 38 wins and a program-best 21-1 record at home. Starting pitcher Tucker Burgess went on to make the Southeast All-Region Second Team. Coach Landon Powell won Conference Carolinas Coach of the year honors.
In 2018, the Crusaders made a historical run with 46 wins including 21 conference victories. NGU dominated the Conference Carolinas Tournament and entered the Southeast Regional as the #1 seed. Connor Grant and Tucker Burgess made the Southeast All-Region First Team.
Another dominating season would follow in 2019, with the program winning 45 games, winning another conference championship, and once again entering the Southeast Regional as the #1 seed. The Crusaders hit .324 as a team and the pitching staff compiled an impressive 3.11 ERA. Professional scouts took notice as 6 Crusaders went on to sign professional contracts. NGU went on to win the regional and hosted the first ever NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional.
In 2020, the hopes were high again as the team was bringing back a loaded roster. The Crusaders started off the season on fire, compiling a 19-5 record before Covid cut the season short.
The 2021 Crusaders squad was full of excitement as the team set multiple records on offense.The team finished the Covid condensed season with 34 wins, a conference tournament championship, and was rewarded as the host team for the Southeast Regional. Leading the way was first team All-American/Perfect Game Player of the year catcher, John Michael Faile who ended his season with a .438 batting average to go along with 23 home runs and 78 runs batted in. Leadoff hitter Gehrig Octavio was the Conference Carolinas regular season batting champion. The 'Flyin' Hawaiian hit .460 during the regular season from the leadoff spot. Marek Chlup, Brady West, and Faile ended up the season with double digit home runs. The individual accolades did not stop with Faile, as a school record nine Crusaders earned All-Conference honors, including Pat Monteith, who took home the Conference Carolinas Co-Freshman of the year. The electrifying offense averaged over 10 runs per game and had the fourth highest OPS (1.04) in NCAA Division 2 history. On the mound, aces Zach Taglieri and Logan Chapman led the way with 7 wins a piece. Reliever Brent Herlong played a vital role out of the bullpen appearing in 18 games while posting an impressive 1.84 ERA. Freshman Reece Fields emerged late as a top arm for the Crusaders and pitched his best game of the year with a dominant performance against Mount Olive in the Conference Carolinas tournament championship game. The Crusaders went on to win this game 15-1 giving Coach Powell his fourth conference tournament championship. Sophomore John Michael Faile earned conference player of the year honors.
In 2022, NGU was finally able to put it all together as a pitching staff that finished the season ranked 8th in the nation in earned run average and a lineup that finished 16th in the nation in batting average won the university's first-ever NCAA National Championship, going a perfect 4-0 in the program's first trip to Cary, North Carolina. Marek Chlup was named Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, 1st Team All-Southeast, and 1st Team All-American while Reece Fields was named the Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Year as well as 1st Team All-Southeast.
The defending National Champions put together yet another dominant season in 2023, capturing the regular season championship for the fourth time under Powell. NGU led the Conference Carolinas with a .321 team batting average while also leading in earned run average with a team ERA of 4.08. After a disappointing showing in the Conference Carolinas Tournament, the Crusaders bounced back to take three of four games to win the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional #1 Tournament. North Greenville then went on to sweep the Southeast Super Regional to advance to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship for the second year in a row.
One of Powell's major goals when coming to North Greenville University was to try and create the best environment possible for helping players to pursue a career in professional baseball. His strategy has paid off as he has seen eighteen of his players go on to be drafted or sign professional contracts since his arrival in 2015. The players include the following: Allen Staton - St. Louis Cardinals - 2015, Adam Boghosian - Washington Nationals - 2015, Ryne Frankoff - Philadelphia Phillies - 2015, Hunter Dilworth - Independent - 2016, Clark Scolamiero - Cleveland Indians - 2017, Nathaniel Maggio - Independent - 2017, Zak Kamerman - Independent - 2017, Andrew Frazier - Independent - 2017, Connor Grant - Miami Marlins - 2018, John Jones - Oakland Athletics - 2018, Kipp Rollings - 2019 - Seattle Mariners, Utah Jones - 2019 - Seattle Mariners, Michael Giacone - New York Yankees - 2019, Adam Sasser - Independent 2019, Daniel Kight - Independent - 2019, Caleb Murphy - 2020 - Independent, Jeff Chandler - Independent - 2019, Brady West - Independent - 2021,
Playing Career
Powell, a native of Apex, North Carolina, was rated the second best high school baseball player in the draft by Baseball America coming out of high school. Considered a five-tool player, he led the Cougars of Apex High School to the 2000 4A state championship as a junior. However, Powell chose to forgo the draft and enrolled at the University of South Carolina where he played four seasons of collegiate baseball. Powell was one of the leading offensive threats for the Gamecocks, finishing with a career batting average of .306 as a switch-hitting catcher, with 44 home runs, 61 doubles, and 193 RBI. The two-time team captain also earned multiple All-American nods, including his senior season when he was given five All-American nods, as well as an All-South Eastern Conference honor. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of South Carolina 2006 and recently completed his Masters in Education from North Greenville University in 2017.
The former College World Series All-Tournament team honoree and member of the CWS all-time legends team holds school records for a catcher in career putouts (1,768) and assists (190), and ranked third all-time in Gamecock history in games played (251), including 242 as a catcher. He also ranks second all-time in doubles (61), is tied for third in at bats (866), and stands fourth in both hits (265) and total bases (468), and fifth in home runs (44). In 2014, Powell was inducted into the University of South Carolina Hall of Fame. In 2020, Powell was honored by his high school (Apex High School) by being selected for their Hall of Fame as well.
Landon Powell was drafted in the first round, 24th overall in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Athletics of Oakland California. In his major league career, Powell hit 13 home runs, 59 RBI, and was known as one of the better defensive catchers in Major League Baseball. One of Powell’s career baseball highlights came in May of 2010, where he caught Dallas Braden’s perfect game for the Athletics. Powell also had brief stints with the Houston Astros in 2012, and the New York Mets in 2013.
Powell retired from playing baseball after the 2013 season and landed his first coaching gig at Furman University, just down the road from North Greenville. His responsibilities at Furman included coaching hitters, catchers, and was also the interim pitching coach.
“It is awesome to have a platform like this at North Greenville. Baseball and the Gospel don’t meet up in a lot of ways, and it is nice to be able to have two things that I love,” remarked Powell. “My father used to tell me, baseball is vehicle not a destination. It isn’t about where baseball can take you, it’s about what it teaches you.”
Personal
Powell and his wife Allyson reside in Greenville and have two children, Holden and Ellie. Their other daughter, Izzy, passed away in 2013 from a rare autoimmune disease. That journey was chronicled by ESPN E60 in a documentary called "
The Backup Catcher." The family started a charity event called Donors on the Diamond, in honor of their late daughter. Powell also is on the board of directors for Donate for Life, an organization which helps promote organ, eye, and tissue donation.
