Elon Phoenix Summer Prospect Camp

Winning baseball continues to be the tradition for Mike Kennedy and the Elon University Phoenix as the skipper enters his 27th season as head coach in 2022-23.   His previous 22 Elon teams have collected 18 winning records and 16 campaigns of 30 or more victories, all while consistently playing against many of the country’s finest programs. His 2006 squad set a school record with 45 victories while the 2008 team captured the program’s first NCAA Division I league tournament title. Kennedy’s program won four Southern Conference regular-season crowns as well as two league tournament titles. With each victory tallied, Kennedy adds to his record for the most wins by an Elon baseball coach that he set in 2003. In his 22 seasons, Kennedy has guided the Phoenix to 714 victories. In the last 20 seasons, Elon has had 27 victories over opponents ranked in the top-25. In his tenure, Kennedy has led his program to 54 victories over Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. The 2013 squad claimed the program’s ninth consecutive top-three SoCon finish, as the maroon and gold tied-for second in the regular season. Kennedy’s Phoenix then put together a run through the SoCon Tournament, winning five straight games after dropping its tournament opener, to win the league title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In NCAA Regional play in Charlottesville, Va., the Phoenix notched one of many firsts under Kennedy as the team advanced to its first-ever regional final. Prior to the start of the 2009 season, Kennedy was selected to serve as the pitching coach for USA Baseball’s National Team (Collegiate) during the summer. With USA Baseball, Kennedy was reunited with his mentor Rick Jones, a former head coach at both Elon and Tulane.   Under Kennedy’s guidance, Team USA’s pitching staff recorded a 2.16 ERA in the squad’s 24 games that summer. In 212.2 innings, the staff surrendered 51 earned runs on just 118 hits. The pitchers also fanned 282 hitters and held opponents to a .164 batting average. Under Kennedy, Team USA threw the first-ever no-hitter against international competition. The squad captured the 2009 World Baseball Challenge title. In 2009, the Phoenix took home the regular-season SoCon title for the second straight year and third time in four years. Kennedy’s squad finished the SoCon season with a 22-3 record and went 41-18 overall. Elon earned a berth as the number two seed into the Atlanta Regional of the 2009 NCAA College Baseball World Series. The team also collected the program’s first top-25 finish at the Division I level, ranking 24th in the final Baseball America poll. Elon also checked in at 27th in the last National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top-30 poll and was among the squads receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top-25.   The 2003 campaign was one for the record books. On the heels of the university’s first-ever at-large bid to an NCAA Division I tournament in any sport, Kennedy, a 1991 Elon graduate, made his mark by putting his name at the top of the list of Elon’s all-time winningest coaches. With a 19-4 victory over Liberty, Kennedy set the record for most wins by an Elon baseball coach, claiming his 197th victory at the helm of the program. For the former Elon catcher, it was a fitting start to a coaching career at his alma mater. After serving the program as a volunteer and graduate assistant coach for four seasons, Kennedy was named to the head coach post on Sept. 12, 1996. In the 19 seasons (1997, 2000-17) that Elon players have been eligible for postseason honors, Kennedy has coached 44 first-team all-conference honorees, 44 second-teamers, three third-team picks, 28 conference all-tournament selections, three all-region tournament picks, 25 all-state honorees, three league players of the year, two league pitchers of the year, three league freshmen of the year, four freshman All-Americans and two academic All-Americans. In his full tenure at Elon, 53 players have gone on to play pro baseball. A native of Fayetteville, N.C., Kennedy was a two-time honorable mention All-American catcher for Elon from 1988-1990. He experienced 102 victories during his career, as Elon posted a .756 winning percentage his last two years. The career .311 hitter batted .321 with seven homers and 36 RBI during Elon’s 1990 NAIA District 26 championship season. Kennedy signed with the Oakland Athletics organization as a ninth-round selection in the 1990 amateur draft, making stops in Scottsdale, Ariz., Medford, Ore. and Modesto, Calif. Prior to becoming head coach, Kennedy spent four seasons as Elon’s pitching coach. The pitching staff finished among the country’s top-20 NCAA-II teams in ERA four years – sixth in 1993, third in 1994, 18th in 1996 and fifth in 1997. Active in his profession, Kennedy is a frequent speaker and clinician at various schools and camps throughout the region.  He and his wife, Liz, make their home in Burlington and have a daughter, Blair, and a son, Ryan.

Lincoln Hewett was named a volunteer assistant coach of the baseball program in October 2022, as announced by head coach Mike Kennedy.

“We are excited to have Lincoln join the Elon Baseball family,” Kennedy said. “His passion and energy for the game and teaching it will be an asset to our program. I believe Lincoln has a bright future in this profession, and we are excited he has chosen to come on board.”

No stranger to the Triad, Hewett came to Elon after a two-month stint as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Greensboro College. Before that, he held the same role for three years at Pfeiffer University, where he worked with the Falcons’ hitters and outfielders.

Hewett also served as the hitting coach for the Coastal Plain League’s High Point-Thomasville HiToms in the summer of 2021. Under his direction, the HiToms led the CPL in home runs and total bases and ranked second and third, respectively, in runs and RBIs.

A 2019 graduate of Greensboro College, Hewett hit .335/.406/.513 with a team-best 48 RBIs en route to all-conference and ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region third-team honors as a senior. He also played two years at South Georgia State College.

A Gainesville, Ga., native, Hewett played high school baseball at North Hall, where he was named to the all-region and all-area teams three times and the Under Armour Preseason All-America team twice.