Newberry College Athletics

Jay Snyder begins his second season as head coach and his 17th season on the Newberry College Wolves baseball coaching staff.

He was named head coach of the Newberry College baseball program on June 20, 2024, succeeding former long-time head coach Russell Triplett.

In his first year Snyder led the Wolves to a spot in the 2025 South Atlantic Conference Tournament.

Despite numerous injuries, the Wolves posted a 25-27 overall record including a 14-16 mark in league play.

The Wolves were especially effective at home, winning 17 of 24 games at Smith Road Complex.

Highlights included 6-5 home win over #1 ranked and 2025 NCAA Tournament team North Greenville, three-game home sweeps of Coker and Anderson and a season three-game road sweep at Barton.

Freshmen pitcher Chansen Cole was named first team All-South Atlantic Conference while outfielders Kade Faircloth and Wilson Wages were named to the SAC All-Defensive Team.

Faircloth also was named an NCAA Division 2 national gold glove award winner.by the American Baseball Coaches Association.  He was also selected to the ABCA Southeast Region All-Defensive Team.

For the 12^th consecutive year, the Newberry College Wolves baseball team has led the South Atlantic College in team GPA with a mark of 3.629 for the 2024-25 academic year. 

Faircloth, Jesse Free, Hunter French, Brayden Gilson and Wilson Wages were named to the NCAA Division 2 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Baseball Team.
 
During Snyder's 16 years as an assistant he helped the Wolves achieve consistent success on the field and in the classroom, winning 460 games and leading all South Atlantic Conference baseball programs in team grade point average for 11 consecutive years.

In 2024, the Wolves rallied from a tough 4-14 start to win 22 of the team’s final 36 games including 17 of the final 24 conference games to finish in a tie for third in the South Atlantic Conference standings.  The team advanced to the championship game of the SAC opening round tournament.

Center fielder Donovan Ford earned All-America honors, pitchers Matias Marchesini and Hunter French joined Ford on the all-conference team and five student-athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team.

The Wolves posted winning seasons in 11 of the last 12 campaigns (2013-24) he served as an assistant coach, including a streak of six consecutive years (2019-24) with a winning record in league play, posting a combined 103-35 in SAC contests during that span.  Newberry posted at least 30 victories in seven of those 11 seasons (2013-24) including a pair of school record breaking 40-win campaigns.

Newberry won the South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2023 while winning a school record 43 games, posting the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory while hosting the NCAA Regional Tournament at Smith Road Complex.

The team set school records for highest team batting average (.326), hits (632), on-base percentage (.425), RBI (413), runs scored (499), and stolen bases (172).  Braylin Marine earned All-America and All-Region honors and was named SAC Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.

In 2019, the Wolves achieved a 41-16 record, which included winning streaks of 12 and 13 games, a South Atlantic Conference championship, while hosting a regional for the first time in school history. Danton Hyman and Quinton Driggers earned unanimous first team All-Region honors becoming the second and third Wolves in school history to be voted on unanimously.

The 2015 team won a school record 21 league games and finished second in the SAC standings and was part of a streak of four consecutive 30-win seasons from 2014 through 2017.

During Snyder’s 17 seasons Newberry baseball student-athletes have South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year three times, two SAC Scholar Athletes of the Year, one SAC Elite 23 award winner, two national gold glove winner, regional player of the year twice, All-America four times, 22 all-regional selections, 56 all-SAC honors, 39 SAC player or pitcher player of the week selections, 24 SAC All-Tournament picks, 25 CSC Academic All-District selections, seven CSC All-America, 20 SAC all-defense, and eight southeast region player or pitcher of the week.

Originally from Milton, Pa., Snyder began his coaching career at Keystone College where he served as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. Keystone recorded the top four batting averages in school history under Snyder, helping his hitters rank in the top-10 nationally in five offensive categories. During his four years at Keystone, the team won four straight Northeastern Athletic Conference championships. churned out 32 all-conference players, had six players sign professional contracts, four conference Players of the Year, three Pitchers of the Year, two ECAC championships and one All-American.

Snyder spent the 2008 and 2009 summers working as a hitting coach for the Danbury Westerners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. 

Snyder started his playing career at Keystone College where he played two seasons and was named MVP in 2002.  After receiving his associate’s degree from Keystone, he went on to LaSalle University where he would continue playing and earn his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. During his time at LaSalle, Snyder was voted as a two-year Team Captain while playing in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Snyder and his wife Samantha are the proud parents of a daughter, Rowan.