Chapel Hill High School’s new baseball coach Bryan Tuck is keeping busy in his first year in charge of the Diamond Tigers, leading the team to a 4–4 start.
Last year, for the first time since the 2011–2012 season, Chapel Hill won the conference championship. The Tigers also made it to the quarterfinals in the state playoffs, before losing 3–1 to the eventual state champions, New Hanover.
Chapel Hill’s most successful season in recent memory was in large part due to its pitching, but after losing eight senior pitchers, including 21st-round draft pick Jake Smith, there is a big hole to fill in the bullpen.
“Our pitchers are young in terms of experience, and the biggest point of emphasis this season will be the pitching staff,” Tuck said.
After getting off to an 0–3 start, allowing just over nine runs a game, Tuck has rallied the Tigers and won the last four out of five games. Next the Tigers will host Southern Durham for a double header on April 5.
Senior captain and four-year varsity veteran Colin Liebe has high hopes for his team this year.
“My goal for this team is repeat as conference champions, and we can do this if we work hard and mature as a team throughout the year,” Liebe said.
Senior captain Solomon Donaldson and the rest of the Chapel Hill baseball team have warmly welcomed Tuck as their new head coach.
“Coach Tuck is very well-suited to be a high school coach because he is able to let us have fun while also getting work done,” Donaldson said. “He has helped me develop as a leader and has taught me about accountability.”
Another focus for Tuck is the revitalization of baseball in Chapel Hill.
“One of my main goals as coach is to build community support for baseball. We draw from Smith and McDougle, and I try to support them however I can so that the number [of players] does not decline,” Tuck said.
Tuck, who was born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina, recognizes that falling numbers is of greater concern in Chapel Hill than in his hometown.
“Living in Chapel Hill, there are more clubs or sports that kids can get into than kids living in rural parts of the state. There are limited resources, so sports thrive in those areas,” Tuck said.
After former head coach Lee Land stepped down at the end of the 2017–2018 season, athletic director Tim Bennett selected Tuck to take over the Tiger baseball program, marking his first head coaching job at the varsity level.
Though Tuck had been the junior varsity coach at D.H. Conley High School for eight years, his coaching career began when he was 16 years old after his friend’s father needed help coaching a recreation team for 14- and 15-year-olds.
As a senior at D.H. Conley, Tuck helped coach the freshman baseball team, and he has been coaching ever since.
“I loved every minute of coaching in high school, and I knew that it was something I wanted to do,” Tuck said.
The year after graduating high school, Tuck began coaching the junior-varsity baseball team at his alma mater.
Tuck also coaches the Canes Central 16-under baseball team in the summer and fall. He interacts with college coaches every weekend, and the relationships he makes with the coaches extend to high school players interested in playing at the next level.
