Kelly Bratton
PULASKI, Tenn. - Kelly Bratton returns to His Alma Mater as the RedHawks new head baseball coach. Bratton has accepted the head baseball coaching position at Martin Methodist College as announced by the RedHawks Director of Athletics, Jeff Bain.
Coach Bratton has served as the Columbia State Community College Chargers head baseball coach for the past three seasons, where he averaged 26 wins per season in his tenure with the Chargers. Kelly was a player for the RedHawks 1998 - 2000 after transferring from Columbia State, and then he served as an assistant coach for Martin Methodist for two seasons 2004 - 2006; prior to joining the Chargers as their head coach.
Mr. Bain acknowledges, "In my 16 seasons at Martin Methodist College this position search has provided the richest pool of candidates for any sport. Not only am I impressed with the quality of the candidates, but I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to hire Kelly at this time within our baseball history. Coach Bratton brings the perfect package to us at this time; he knows the history of our program and he has the knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses. His experience as a head coach, his relationships with our middle Tennessee high school coaches, and his residency already here in our community (his wife Shannon is employed as a teacher at our local elementary school) were all important to us. Not to mention his personal ownership and history as both a MMC player and a coach for us."
Coach Bratton states, "I'm very excited to have this opportunity to come back as the head coach of Martin Methodist, this is a great opportunity for me both personally and professionally. I have some great memories here as a student, player, and assistant coach. I look forward to working with everyone here on campus and I sincerely appreciate the confidence that Jeff Bain and Dr. Ted Brown has expressed in me. I am also very thankful to Louis Conner (AD at Columbia State) for giving me the opportunity to serve as his head baseball coach for the past three years.
Jeff Bain adds, "I look to Coach Bratton, his staff, and team members to provide instant improvements in all aspects to our baseball team. We have had tremendous student/athlete leaders on our baseball teams. I believe that Coach Bratton will build the current strong team members to be stronger and he will eliminate the weak links in the chain. I look forward to seeing his signature on his teams.
We are very grateful to assistant coach Kevin Tingle for his leadership particularly in the past 30 days and beyond for his leadership in holding the recruiting process intact and the day-to-day responsibilities of our baseball program. Coach Bratton will assume the head coach title immediately for the RedHawks, but his day-to-day responsibilities will not begin here until his duties at Columbia State have been fulfilled."
