Supplee joins Deacs from Division III Lynchburg College
By Steven Wright, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WFUBaseball)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Erik Supplee has been named the new director of baseball operations at Wake Forest, as announced by head coach Tom Walter.
“We are very fortunate to get someone of Erik’s caliber in our program. He has a great rapport with young people, is an excellent communicator and brings a wealth of pitching knowledge to the program,” said Walter.
Supplee comes to Wake Forest after serving two seasons as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the Lynchburg College Hornets.
In each of Supplee’s seasons at LC, the pitching staff saw significant improvements. The pitching staff earned run average lowered from 4.67 in 2010, to 3.99 in 2011, to 3.67 in 2012. Lynchburg pitchers also had a great deal of individual success with five pitchers being selected to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference All-Conference team and three to the South Region All-Region team.
Supplee also recruited and oversaw the development of two pitchers named as the 2011 ODAC Rookie of the Year and the 2012 Virginia State Rookie of the Year.
The Hornets had a banner year in 2012, winning the ODAC Tournament for the first time in 22 seasons. The 2012 squad also set a school and ODAC record with 34 wins by posting a record of 34-10.
In the summer of 2012 Supplee served as the head coach of the Wisconsin Woodchucks in the prestigious Northwoods League. That summer, the Woodchucks set a franchise record with 43 wins and reached a national ranking of as high as third in the country according to Perfect Game. Three Woodchucks were named to the postseason all-star team along with seven players being placed on Perfect Game’s top 75 prospect list and two being placed in the top six. On Supplee’s Woodchuck roster were current Demon Deacon pitchers Jack Fischer, who was named the 2012 Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year, and Austin Stadler.
“Jack and Austin absolutely loved playing for Erik this past summer,” added Walter.
Prior to his time at Lynchburg, Supplee served as the pitching coach at Longwood University during the 2009 season. While at Longwood, he mentored two pitchers that went on to sign professional contracts with the New York Yankees.
Supplee began his coaching career at Millersville University in 2008. During that year Supplee worked with the outfielders and assisted with the pitching staff. In 2008, the Marauders won the PSAC East regular season title after finishing 9-37 the previous season.
Supplee has also served as the pitching coach for the Lehigh Valley Catz of the Atlantic Collegiate League in the summer of 2008 and the Covington Lumberjacks of the Valley Baseball League in the summer of 2009.
As a player, Supplee pitched four seasons at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. For the Red Foxes, Supplee posted a career record of 18-10 with a 3.79 earned run average. He helped Marist win the 2005 MAAC regular season and conference championships, which resulted in the program’s fourth trip to the NCAA Division I Regionals in six years. Supplee graduated from Marist in 2007 with a B.A. in History.
