In addition to preparing people for success through academic endeavors, Pitt Community College features an intercollegiate athletics department that is educating and empowering student-athletes for success in life, higher education and the workforce by emphasizing teamwork, character and sportsmanship.
The college fields four intercollegiate teams—men’s baseball, men’s basketball, women’s fast-pitch softball and women’s volleyball—that compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) Region X Conference.
PCC athletic teams have been extremely competitive over the years and have won consistently at the regional and district levels. In addition to capturing conference titles, several teams have made appearances in national championship events.
Bulldog athletes must maintain grade point averages that meet or exceed NJCAA, PCC and PCC Athletic Department guidelines in order to participate in athletic competition. They are subject to the same academic standards as all other students when it comes to admission, academic standing and graduation requirements.
Baseball
Started in 1995, PCC’s baseball program has emerged as a perennial national contender that has produced a number of athletes who have continued their playing careers at four-year institutions and professionally.
Two former Bulldogs, Freddie Bynum and Lonnie Chisenhall, have reached the Major Leagues with the Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians, respectively.
Since 2006, the baseball program has competed under the direction of Tommy Eason, a former East Carolina University standout and minor leaguer. In his first seven seasons, Eason guided the Bulldogs to a 240-110 record, three Region X Conference Tournament championships, and the college’s first-ever appearance in the NJCAA Division I World Series in Grand Junction, Colo.
Basketball
In a state rich in basketball history, PCC took its first turn on the hardwood in 1969, struggling at first –even disappearing entirely for a season—before finding momentum and success with Charles Coburn as coach. Coburn, a former PCC basketball player and the college’s first athletic director, compiled a 169-151 record at Pitt before stepping down in December 1993 due to illness.
Though PCC discontinued basketball after Coburn’s retirement, the program was resurrected15 years later and returned to NJCAA play at the start of the 2008-09 season.
The Bulldogs are now led by Pitt County native Darrick Mullins, who took over midway through the 2010-11 season. After posting a 7-9 mark with a team that had gone 0-7 before his arrival, Mullins went 20-12 in his first full season as coach.
Softball
Like baseball, PCC’s fast-pitch softball program has also flourished on the diamond and in generating players who transfer to four-year colleges and universities to continue their academic and playing careers.
In addition to producing numerous All-Region X Conference performers, the program made back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Division I Fast-Pitch Softball Championship in St. George, Utah, in 2010 and 2011.
Since Junior Bailey took the helm in 2006, the PCC softball program had recorded a 217-115-1 mark entering the 2013 season.
Volleyball
Tom Marsh, a PCC psychology instructor, is responsible for getting Pitt’s volleyball program off the ground in 2000 and leading the Bulldogs to three regional championships and a pair of national tournament appearances.
William Way took the reins when Marsh first retired from coaching in 2005 and led PCC to an 85-50 record but never could achieve post-season success. Marsh returned to the sidelines in 2009 and guided the Bulldogs to a 92-44 mark before retiring once again at the end of the 2012 campaign.
PCC hired Caitlin Wooten to lead its volleyball program in February. The Maryland native has previous experience as an assistant volleyball coach with N.C. Wesleyan College (three seasons) and as an East Carolina Junior Volleyball Club coach.
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