Peabody names Ripley's Jake Ramsey as new baseball coach

Two weeks after Todd Lumley coached in his final game for Peabody baseball, the administration has named his replacement.

Ripley coach Jake Ramsey was named the new baseball coach on Monday at the school.

"The biggest thing that attracted me was the administration and the culture that football has set," Ramsey said. "I have previous relationships with the football coaches and (Trenton Special School District Director of School) Tim Haney. Coach Lumley has built a great program."

Ramsey has been at Ripley for the past five years, and he played baseball at Milan and Bethel.

Lumley retired after the 2019 season after coaching Peabody for the past 15 seasons, including 20-win seasons in eight of the past 10 years. The 2019 team finished 19-10.

"There is pressure and excitement," Ramsey said about taking over a program like Peabody. "Every baseball coach wants to go somewhere where there are expectations. If there wasn't pressure, it wouldn't be the right job. I want to build off of Coach Lumley. I want to put together a great staff, and the kids at Trenton deserve that."

Ramsey coached Ripley to a 19-13 record in 2019 before being eliminated by Bolivar in the District 15-AA season.

"It was excruciating and something I hope to never do again," Ramsey said about leaving Ripley. "This is my first time doing that. It is hard to look at your kids and tell them that you are leaving. It was (the) right decision for my family, for my wife to get closer to home."

Peabody returns the No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers from this season in juniors Noah Halbrook and Eli Hammonds. Lumley also talked about a strong eighth-grade class that will be freshmen next season.

So Ramsey is ready to come in and get to work trying to get the Golden Tide back to the Class A state tournament next year for the third time in program history (2015, '17).

"I am not a big talker; I am a doer," Ramsey said. "We want to get our boots on the ground. One of my No. 1 things is relationships, and I really mean that – kids, parents, faculty, staff, administrators and community – getting in there and getting to know everybody."

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.

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