Crowley is Trojans' head coach

Adam Crowley has moved up at Gordon Lee as the Trojans' baseball coach.

Crowley, who worked at the Chickamauga, Ga., school as an assistant, will take over the team from Kevin McElhaney.

"We didn't know how long Kevin would keep the job," Gordon Lee athletic director Clay Crowder said. "He wasn't looking to keep it long-term. Being the head football coach, there's a lot of time that goes into that."

Crowley is an East Ridge graduate who played at Chattanooga State and signed with Lee University. He left East Ridge, where he was an assistant coach, to join the Gordon Lee staff last year.

"Adam came in and did a very good job. He's very knowledgeable about the game," Crowder said.

Crowder, a left-handed pitcher for the Pioneers, learned from some good coaches. He played for Wayne Huling and Lee Coffman at East Ridge and worked as an assistant to Coffman. He also worked with Joe Wingate at Ooltewah and said he has learned a lot also from Steve Garland, the former Soddy-Daisy coach now coaching at East Hamilton.

"All of they have contributed to my coaching ability," Crowley said. "I always want to put pressure on the other team -- bunt, hit-and-run -- and try to create chances to score. Gordon Lee is a small school, but the players are knowledgeable and are usually good athletes."

Crowley might have succeeded Coffman at East Ridge but decided instead to move to Gordon Lee.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity. My family and I moved down here (to Chickamauga)," said Crowley, who teaches eighth-grade math. "We live about two blocks from the school, and both of my kids are in elementary school here."

"We're fortunate to have somebody like Adam. He is a good person and a good teacher," Crowder said.