Hill came to Longwood in the summer of 2024, where he worked as the Director of Pitching Development and Pitching Analytics.
In his second season on staff, the Lancer pitching staff helped Longwood to its best season in Division I history. The Lancers finished 34-27, which included five Big South Tournament wins and a trip to the Big South Championship game. Longwood finished as the Big South Runner-Up.
The team posted a 20-win improvement, which matched the biggest year-over-year improvement in team history that was also done in 1990 to 1991. The 1991 team advanced to the Division II World Series.
The Lancer pitching staff recorded 509 strikeouts, two shy of the team record, while also ranking third in the Big South in ERA. Longwood led the Big South in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (4.05) and also led the league with 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. The team also ranked third in the league in WHIP (1.51) and hits allowed per nine innings (9.56).
In the Big South Championship, Longwood pitchers had five straight games, all wins, where a pitcher posted a career-high in innings pitched. In addition, reliever/closer JR Fordham was a Big South All-Tournament Team selection, one of four Lancers selected along with fielders Jon Howard, Ben Pulliam and Jae’dan Carter, also a team-best. The five tournament wins more than doubled the team’s previous best effort.
Fordham and starter Jaxon Lloyd were named First-Team All-Big South at the conclusion of the regular season, the first time the Lancers have had two players selected to the first team since joining the Big South. Freshman starter Brady Hoover also was an All-Freshman Team honoree.
In addition, Fordham is third all-time in team history for saves in a season with nine, and his 2.23 ERA ranks seventh all-time.
In his first season at Longwood, he helped Guillermo Garcia, Jr. rank fifth in the Big South in strikeouts.
Hill came to Longwood after a season on the staff as a pitching intern at Richmond, where he helped the Spiders to the Atlantic 10 Championship game. He then worked as an intern at Cressey Sports Performance, helping build individualized programs for strength and conditioning for high school, collegiate and professional athletes.
A player at Roanoke College, he posted a 2-4 record in his collegiate career across 31.1 innings of work. He graduated in 2023 with his degree in health and exercise science.
Hill is tied to Longwood through his father, Eric, who is a 1994 graduate and was part of the 1991 team that went to the semifinals of the Division II World Series while going 41-8.
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