COACHING STAFF

Head Coach Scott Laverty

Scott Laverty enters his eighth season as Head Coach at Chapman University in 2021. Laverty reached the pinnacle of Division III baseball when he led the Panthers to the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championship - Chapman's third national title in baseball (1968 and 2003). On the way to the title, the Panthers set the school record with 44 wins and the NCAA Division III record with 524 strikeouts.

He was named the D3baseball.com and ABCA Division III Coach of the Year as well as the West Region Coach of the Year and the SCIAC Coach of the Year following the 2019 title run.

In 2020, the Panthers remained in the top-5 of the national polls and were off to a solid 12-3 start before the cancellation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March.

The 2019 season marked the first time that the Laverty-led Panthers ended the regular season on top of the SCIAC standings. Chapman hosted and swept through the SCIAC Tournament and was one of the first to host a best-of-five NCAA Regional. After defeating Whitman in five game, Chapman was one of the first to host a Division III Super Regional with the round being added to the Division III tournament in 2019. With a sweep of Concordia (Texas), the Panthers earned their first trip to the Division III World Series during Laverty's tenure.

In July 2013, Laverty became the 14th head baseball coach in Chapman history and immediately continued the tradition of his predecessors, putting together a 30-win campaign and reaching the SCIAC Tournament championship game in his first year. In 2018, Laverty led the Panthers squad to their first-ever SCIAC Tournament title and first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2013.

Since taking over the program, Laverty has led the Panthers to six consecutive winning seasons and a .687 winning percentage. Laverty's club has made SCIAC Tournament appearances in five of his six years, including three appearances in the championship game.

In 2017, Laverty won his 100th game as a Panther and 400th overall while guiding the Panthers to a second-place finish in the SCIAC and third SCIAC Tournament appearance in four years. 

Laverty celebrated his 300th head coaching victory in 2014 after amassing 298 wins in 14 previous seasons as the head coach University of Redlands. There he turned around a fledgling program that suffered losing records eight times from 1997-2004 and made it into a perennial contender, leading the Bulldogs to nine straight seasons of .500 or better. Redlands finished in first or second place in the SCIAC five times from 2005-13 including conference titles in '06 and '11 and set the school record with 30 wins each time.

Prior to earning the head coaching job at Redlands, Laverty coached three years as an assistant at UC Riverside (1997-99) alongside legendary Highlanders head coach Jack Smitheran. He also spent the 1997 season on the coaching staff for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League (Independent). Laverty played his collegiate ball as a shortstop for Riverside, helping the Highlanders to the Division II national finals in 1994.

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Associate Head Coach Dave Edwards

Edwards has built and maintained one of the most dominating collegiate pitching staffs in the country. Chapman led the nation in 2003 with a 1.91 team ERA and set the Division III record with 524 strikeouts in 2019. The Panthers won the national championship in both years.

In 14 years, Coach Edwards has coached 15 All-American pitchers, seven West Region Pitchers of the Year, and three National Pitchers of the Year. His pitchers have led the nation in a statistical category six times:  twice for wins, twice for ERA, once each for saves and strikeouts. Eleven of his Panther pitchers have signed professional contracts. During the 1980s, "Eddie" pitched in both the Detroit Tigers and Oakland A's organizations.

Assistant Coach Cameron McMullen

Cameron McMullen, Ph.D., returned to the Chapman coaching staff for the 2020 season to take over the role as Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach. McMullen was peviously at Chapman in 2018 as a Volunteer Assistant. 

In 2018, McMullen helped the Panthers to a SCIAC Tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. After a year in Orange, he was hired as the Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant Coach at the University of Puget Sound - where he spent the 2019 season.

McMullen was the Volunteer Assistant Coach at Nevada prior to his first Chapman stint. He spent the past five years in Reno, Nev., serving as the Director of Baseball Operations for the first four years and the Volunteer Assistant Coach for the 2017 season. He spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons at Irvine Valley College immediately following his playing career.

After graduating from Huntington Beach High School, McMullen played two years at nearby Golden West College before transferring to UC Riverside for a year and finally to UMass to finish up his eligibility in 2010.

He earned a bachelor's degree from UMass and moved on to USC for a master's degree, which he quickly finished in 2011. While at Nevada, he completed his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership.