St. Anne-Pacelli hires new head baseball coach

Another former Muscogee County baseball standout is back as a coach.

Brent Benefield, who graduated from Hardaway in 2002, was named the new Pacelli head baseball coach on Wednesday. Benefield, 33, takes over the Vikings program after coaching for 5 Star National, a travel baseball program based in Warner Robins.

“We are excited to welcome coach Benefield to the Viking family,” Pacelli athletic director Buster Connally said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge to our program.”

Benefield has been a baseball instructor for players from ages 8 to 22 since 2007 and has spent his summers managing travel teams. During his tenure with 5 Star National, numerous athletes went on to play collegiately and professionally. According to the team’s website, 49 players from the team were drafted from 2009 to 2016.

Benefield had an impressive run as a Hardaway baseball player. He went 5-1 on the mound as a junior with a 1.79 ERA and followed that up with a 10-1 mark and a 1.03 ERA as a senior. In his final two seasons, Hardaway went 65-8 and made it to the Class 5A semifinals both years.

Benefield was a First Team All-Bi-City selection in 2001 and was the All-Bi-City Player of the Year in 2002. Following his high school days, he played collegiately at Georgia, Middle Georgia College and Columbus State.

Benefield replaces Hart Mizell as Vikings head coach. Mizell resigned after two seasons to become an assistant baseball coach at Telfair County, his alma mater.

The Vikings posted a 9-17 record in Mizell’s last season at the helm.

“I want to thank everyone at Pacelli that supported the baseball program over the past two years,” Mizell said. “I enjoyed coaching a great group of young men and I look forward to seeing them develop in the future. I wish the best of luck to coach Benefield with the program, and I hope they have success.”

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 11:15 AM with the headline "St. Anne-Pacelli hires new head baseball coach."