The man underneath the helmet: Paul Henry

“Baseball is just one of those things that I could never see my life without,” said head baseball coach Paul Henry.  The Pennsylvania native grew up just east of Pittsburgh with his two younger brothers and his baby sister.

He played baseball at Kiski Area High School and, during his senior year, his team was just a few games over .500.  They had to play in a “pigtail” game in order to have a seed in the district tournament.

They ended up facing the best team in the district, who had a perfect record, and came out of the game with a win.  His team went on to placing fourth in the state tournament.

The following fall, Coach Henry went on to play ball at Penn State-Behrend.  In his career there as a catcher, he did not make a single error defensively and posted a .260 batting average.

In his senior year, he collected zero passed balls. Not only did he succeed on the playing field, but he also performed well in the classroom, which fully supports his coaching philosophy that school should come first.

In his four years, he received his bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry.  After graduation, he was offered an assistant coaching job at the college and received his master’s degree in business administration.

While coaching there, he developed five first-team and nine second-team all-conference players.  One of his pitchers was named conference pitcher of the year.

One of his biggest achievements there was coaching a d3baseball.com All-American.  After receiving his degree, a close friend of former MC head coach Daniel Washburn recommended that Henry come help out at Maryville College.

With last season being his first at Maryville, Henry trained the catchers and worked with all the players to become better hitters.

This year will be his fourth year as a coach, but his first year as head coach of Maryville.  Needless to say, he is “very excited to be here and excited for the opportunity.”

With the unique mix of “big-game” experienced players and young, talented underclassman, he feels as though the future, both immediate and long term, for the baseball will be very bright.

His goals for the team will be pretty consistent each and every year: win out in the conference tournament and then go on into the national tournament.  Coach Henry feels that not just Maryville College, but baseball as a whole should teach players how to be responsible citizens.

He strives for his players to be mature and honest, as well as leaders.  He wants them to trust in each other and have the commitment to come together as a team and win.

The young staff and players do not seem to bother him.  He foresees the seniors showing a lot of leadership and experience to welcome the newer players onto the team.

There is nothing he would love to see more than a large number of smiling faces for the games upcoming in the spring to support him and the players.