Simpson to serve as Athletic Director at Gettys

A Pitching Coach in baseball is kind of like the Road Commissioner. You don’t hear too much about him unless things are going really bad.

Last year, Cole Simpson served as the Pitching Coach for the Easley High School baseball team. Kaleb “KO” Owens and Walker Cox took center stage on the pitching mound for the Gill Payne-led Green Wave team.

“He (Payne) is probably the best role model you can have,” said Simpson, a graduate of Pendleton High School and the new Athletic Director at Gettys Middle School. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about him (Payne) and obviously this year I’ve seen it. He’s a really good coach and a really good mentor. I’ve heard his name from a lot of different people. I don’t think he’s going anywhere anytime soon and that’s good.”

Simpson will be setting up the athletic events at Gettys this upcoming year and making sure all of the games run smoothly.

Coach Payne contacted Simpson’s former high school coach and college coach before officially hiring him.

“He (Simpson) really fit in great,” said Payne. “He’s an easy-going guy. Plus, for the first time for me and (Coach) Spitz have been coaching together, we had somebody full time with the pitchers. I think we saw that made a huge difference.”

Simpson had a standout baseball career at The Citadel, starting in the outfield three of his four years in college. His favorite memory at The Citadel was hitting two home runs against the University of South Carolina – one at home and the other on the road.

“It was a good time,” Simpson said. “I pitched in high school, but only three innings in college.”

Weightlifting at Gettys: Simpson said he has been working with Gettys Principal Jacob Nelson on an updated weight room in the middle school. Simpson has a new weight room at Gettys where he will help instruct in the PE Classes with new barbells, plates, racks and turf. Plus, Simpson will help coach speed agility.

Simpson on Cox: At press time, Simpson took some time to reflect on the talented 6-foot-6 Walker Cox who was gearing up to pitch on Saturday night at the Senior League World Series in Easley.

“He is going to be good,” Simpson said. “There are some schools talking to him and he’s having a good summer. I think he has a good future ahead of him. If he can take that leadership role this year – like Kaleb Owens did – I think he’s going to set himself up to be a did.”