Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT – Still in the early stages of his career with already two junior college national championships, Taylor White was added as the volunteer assistant on Lamar University’s baseball staff, head coach Will Davis announced Tuesday.

White was an assistant coach at Tyler Junior College, where we helped the Apaches to the second and third of their three straight national championships. He was the infield, outfield and first base coach, and also aided in the development of Cardinal standouts Reid Russell and Jimmy Johnson.

“Taylor fills an obvious need for us in being an infield coach,” Davis said. “It’s such a big part of our team, especially with a lot of new infielders. He’s a guy with a winning background after two national championships at Tyler. We are really excited to have a guy who comes from a winning atmosphere.”

While at Tyler, he was a key part of Nathan Methvin being named first-team All-American and Mason Mallard and Zane Ancell third-team All-American. He also helped Mallard, outfield, and utility man Derek Clemons be chosen as Rawlings Gold Glove winners.

Methvin was a 2016 All-America pick after a .358 season at the plate with 48 runs batted in and 36 runs scored. He was joined on the list by third teamer Mallard, who hit .389 with 37 RBI, six home runs and 67 runs scored. He also accounted for 43 stolen bases, which ranked third in the nation. In 2015, Ancell was picked third team after he worked up a .415 batting average, 26 runs scored and 33 RBI.

In his two seasons, he helped more than 15 Apaches land on an NCAA Division I roster and was also in charge of finding their replacements as the assistant recruiting coordinator.

“It’s important to have a guy here with those relationships,” said Davis. “Texas junior colleges will always be a big part of our recruiting, so to have a guy with those kind of connections is the icing on the cake with all of the other things he brings.”

White also coached in the Alaskan Baseball League in 2015 with the Eagle River Chinooks, and later went on to be an assistant coach in the ABL all-star game.

The Sugar Land native played collegiately at Houston as a utility player, but specialized at second and third bases. Throughout his career, he played at five different positions, including the corner outfield slots and first base. White started in all but two games as a freshman and hit .292 with 32 runs scored and 15 pushed in.

He finished his career with a .273 batting average and 49 runs scored. He popped nine doubles, three triples and a homer with 23 runs batted in.