Highland Community College Names Softball Coaches for the 2021-22 Season
Highland Community College is pleased to announce that Gregory Cary has been named the new Head... Read More
Highland Community College Names Softball Coaches for the 2021-22 Season
published July 23, 2021Highland Community College is pleased to announce that Gregory Cary has been named the new Head Coach of the HCC Scotties Softball Team beginning with the 2021-22 season. Jean Melo Fernandez has been selected as Assistant Coach.
Coach Cary earned an Associate of Arts from State University of New York at Corning Community in May 2010 before obtaining his Bachelors in communications from State University of New York at Purchase College in May 2014.
Cary comes to Highland most recently from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, where he was Head Coach for the past two years. His team finished 4th place in the NAIA World Series where they went 6-2 with the two losses to the eventual National Champion. During his two seasons at Bethany, his teams had a 3.54 Team GPA the first year and a 3.56 team GPA his second year.
Prior to Bethany, Cary was at State University of New York Oneonta in Oneonta, N.Y. where he was the assistant softball coach for two years working with outfielders and hitters in addition to recruiting duties.
During the 2017 -2018 season, Cary was the head softball coach at Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, N.Y. While there, the team saw improvements from the previous season in batting average, on-base percentage, runs batted in, and fielding percentage.
For the 2016 season, Cary was the assistant softball coach at Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi, West Virginia. Working with outfielders there, Cary was able to help the outfield squad achieve a .935 fielding percentage, in addition to this three of the four regular starters earned academic all-conference honors.
Before that, Cary spent two seasons as the head softball coach for Monroe College in Rochelle, N.Y. His team had the highest team GPA on campus for the 2014-15 academic year. Four student-athletes continued on to play for NCAA Division I or II institutions. The team also set program team records in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.428), stolen bases (54), and fielding percentage (.953).
Cary has chosen his assistant Jean Melo Fernandez. A native of Puerto Rico, Melo Fernandez earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in 2014 and then followed up with a Master’s in Business Management in 2020, both from Monroe College in New Rochelle, NY. He was the Equipment Manager for the Monroe Softball Team during his graduate years, he also served as the Interim Assistant Softball Coach during that time. For the past year, Melo Fernandez has been a volunteer coach for Coach Cary’s Softball Program at Bethany.
“We are very happy to welcome Coach Cary and Coach Melo Fernandez to the staff of Highland Community College,” stated Dr. Bryan Dorrel, HCC Athletic Director. “Coach Cary has extensive experience as a coach and recruiter. He has demonstrated his ability to produce competitive athletic teams who also understand the meaning of being a college student, as evidenced by the high GPA’s and graduation rates of his players. I believe he and his assistant will continue the tradition of success on and off the softball field that has become a part of the tradition here at HCC."
“I would like to thank President Fox and Dr. Dorrel for this opportunity. I look forward to leading this program to continued success and to becoming a part of the long-standing Scottie community!”
