Ouachita Stories

Jeremy Haworth, a former standout baseball player for the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers, has been named head baseball coach at Ouachita effective Jan. 1, 2012, according to Athletic Director David Sharp.

Haworth succeeds Chris Moddelmog who coached the Tigers for the past three seasons. Moddelmog resigned to co-own and manage a family sporting goods store in Fort Collins, Colo.

"I appreciate the service of Coach Moddelmog to our baseball program,” said Ouachita President Rex Horne. “Coach Mog, his wife, Mallory, and their daughters have been a real asset to our Ouachita community.

"I am most excited that we have named Jeremy Haworth to be our next head baseball coach,” Dr. Horne added. “Jeremy and his wife, Emily, are Ouachita people. Jeremy was a star baseball player for us and has already established himself as a coach. His experience as a player and a coach on several levels, including Division I, will allow him to come in and lead our young men effectively.

“I am pleased that Jeremy understands our university and mission,” he said. “He will bring an excitement to our team and campus beginning in January."

“I appreciate all that Coach Moddelmog has done for our program in the past three and a half years,” agreed Coach Sharp. “We are going to miss him and his family.

“I am excited to have Jeremy Haworth back at Ouachita. He was an outstanding player for us,” Sharp emphasized. “I am confident his passion for and knowledge of the game of baseball will spread to his teams. I look forward to working with him as he builds our baseball program.”

Haworth, the 2007 Player of the Year for the Gulf South Conference West Division, currently is the assistant baseball coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He played two years at Ouachita as a third baseman and pitcher before completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in health science at UALR.

He also has been an assistant baseball coach with the Lakeside High School American Legion AA team in Hot Springs and with the Edmond Santa Fe High School American Legion AAA team in Edmond, Okla., as well as a recreation leader for the Arkadelphia Human Development Center.

“I am extremely excited at this opportunity that Coach Sharp has given me to come back to a school that I love so much and to coach a team that I played for at one time,” Haworth said. “It’s a privilege to be the head coach at Ouachita Baptist. I’m not going to take that for granted.”

Voicing confidence that Ouachita can compete for national titles after a runner-up finish in the NCAA Division II Championship in 2008, Haworth said, “I know the school can win. I have seen it win and I know what it takes to win and do it with integrity and character.”

In his coaching roles, Haworth’s teams have been the 2005 American Legion AAA State Champions, 2008 American Legion AA State Champions and the 2011 Sun Belt Tournament Champions.

In addition to his Player of the Year award, Haworth was named to the 2007 All-GSC 1^st Team as a third baseman as well as the Daktronics All-Region 1^st Team, the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Region 1^st Team and the ABCA All-America 2^nd Team. In 2006, he was named to the All-GSC 2^nd Team as a pitcher.

While in high school, Haworth was named to the McDonald’s All-State 1^st Team as a pitcher and to the Daily Oklahoman All-State 1^st Team as a third baseman.

By Trennis Henderson OBU
Vice President for Communications