Marty Gordon
Another Christiansburg High School baseball player is headed to Athens, West Virginia to play for Concord University.
Rising senior Gavin Dow announced his commitment this past weekend to play at the school. Of course, CHS and Concord are no strangers on the diamond.
Concord recently appointed Drew Bailey, a Christiansburg graduate, as its new head baseball coach. In four seasons previously at Bluefield State, Bailey compiled a record of 95-79, highlighted by the most successful season in program history as BSU went 33-15 this spring and won its second HBCU World Series last week in Montgomery, Alabama—the second such title in the last four seasons.
Under Bailey’s guidance, Bluefield State steadily improved from 15 wins in his first season to the program-record 33 win
While Bluefield State was Bailey’s most recent head coaching stop, the Christiansburg native brings nine years of coaching experience to Athens. From 2014-17, Bailey was an assistant coach at Bluefield University where he helped the Rams to a 32-21 record in his final season.
The first head coaching opportunity Bailey received was for the 2018 season at Division III Averrett University in Danville, Virginia.
Beginning in 2018, Bailey was the head softball coach at Bluefield University. After his stint as the head softball coach in Bluefield, Virginia, Bailey was a volunteer assistant coach for Concord during the fall of 2020 before being hired away by Bluefield State in January 2021.
Meanwhile Concord has become Christiansburg-West with as many as four other former Blue Demon players dotting the school’s baseball roster over the past three years. Those include MJ Hunter, Connor Brizendine, Dawson Gragg and Marshall Basham. Recent graduate Jeremiah Thompson is also headed this fall to Concord and its baseball program.
The Bailey and Christiansburg connection is a main reason for Dow in making his decision.
“The main reason I chose Concord is because I wanted an opportunity to play for coach Drew Bailey,” Dow said. “Also, they have my academic major and the other key part was their nice facilities and the upgrades there making to them.”
Concord University is a public university and has a current enrollment of 1,375 students. The university is known athletically as the Mountain Lions and is an NCAA Division II school, and a member of the Mountain East Conference.
Dow has primarily played third base while on the field at CHS but moved over to shortstop this past year. He was second team for the River Ridge and Region D all-star teams after leading the team in hits and average (.375).
“In college, I hope to continue to grow as a player and contribute to the success of the team,” he said. “I also hope to accomplish winning the conference championship and make the NCAA Division II tournament.
“Another goal of mine is to keep the Christiansburg legacy going at Concord University as there’s been many great players from Christiansburg that went on to be successful at Concord. All in all, I just wanna win,” he said.
At Concord, Dow plans to major in business and minor in education.
