ETBCA Hall of Famer Buzz McNish hired as Fulton baseball coach after 11 seasons at West

Fulton announced Buzz McNish as its next baseball coach Wednesday. McNish is an East Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer and has coached West for the past 11 seasons.

McNish took over at West in 2011 after 11 years at the helm of Lenoir City's program. He led the Rebels to to four winning seasons from 2016-2019 and finished with an overall record of 171-161-1. West went 18-19 in 2022 and was eliminated from the playoffs by Karns in the district tournament.

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McNish is also involved in youth baseball at the national level. He previously coached USA Baseball in the Tournament of Stars, which helps select the 18U national team and has served as National Tournament Director for the National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF). He was the NABF Man of the Year in 2010.

Fulton struggled in 2022, going 3-17 with all three wins against first-year program Austin-East. The Falcons' last winning season was in 2010. McNish replaces coach Matt Byrd, who led Fulton for two seasons. 

Contact Emily Adams at eaadams@gannett.com or on Twitter @eaadams6.