Coaching Staff
Head Coach Trey McCall
Trey McCall is entering his 20th year at Emory & Henry College overall and his second as Senior Associate Director of Athletics. He has held an administrative role in the Department of Athletics since 2006 when he was named Assistant Director of Athletics, served as Associate Director of Athletics for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years and Interim Director of Athletics from August 2009 to March 2010. He is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations of the Department of Athletics and also has oversight of athletics facilities and special projects.
McCall is also entering the 19th season of his second stint and 20th year overall as Head Baseball Coach. Returning to Emory in the fall of 2005, he became the first full-time head coach in the history of the Wasps' program.
During the summer of 2013, McCall served as an assistant coach for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He helped lead the Kettleers, a team made up of many elite-level NCAA Division I players, to the Cape League Championship. McCall also spent four weeks on the Cape during the summer of 2015 to again work with the Kettleers.
In 2012, the Wasps had a breakout season, finishing tied for third in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference after being picked to finish 10th. McCall led E&H to its first ODAC Tournament appearance since 1999 and saw second baseman Josh McMillian selected to the All-South Region First Team by the ABCA. For his efforts, McCall earned ODAC Coach of the Year honors.
McCall has also seen Eric Houff (2013), Brandon Lineberry (2015, 2016) and Chandler Kezele (2021) earn ABCA All-South Region accolades. During his tenure, a total of 21 players have been named to the All-ODAC Teams.
A standout three-sport athlete at Abingdon High School, McCall caught for the Falcons was well-known for his power at the plate. Originally committing to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill out of high school, he was selected in the first round with 16th overall pick in the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft. McCall spent four-and-a-half seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization and progressed to the major league spring training camp for the 1988 season.
McCall spent several years working in the financial industry before returning to baseball as the head coach at Abingdon High School from 1999 to 2005. During his seven years at Abingdon, McCall led his team to four appearances in the regional play-offs and an undefeated regular season in 2004. McCall assumed his current duties as the E&H Head Coach in prior to the 2006 season. He previously served as Head Baseball Coach at Emory & Henry in 1991 while he was completing his undergraduate degree.
McCall attended Emory & Henry during the off-season while playing in the minor leagues, and he graduated from E&H in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business. He completed his master’s degree in Physical Education at East Tennessee State University in 2008. He resides in Abingdon with wife Laura Sykes McCall (E&H ’91) and two daughters, Katherine (E&H '21) and Elizabeth (E&H '20).
Assistant Coach Kyle Cliff
Kyle Cliff is entering his third year as an Assistant Baseball Coach at Emory & Henry College. He will assist in all aspects of the program while focusing on the Wasps' pitching staff and serve as the recruiting coordinator.
Cliff comes to E&H by way of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, a NCAA Division II institution located in Durant, Oklahoma. Cliff served as the pitching coach and assistant recruiting coordinator for Savage Storm for the 2020 and 2021 seasons and produced four pitchers of the week and one pitcher of the region awards. He also assisted with the program’s strength & conditioning program and fundraising efforts.
Previous to his time at Southeastern Oklahoma State, Cliff was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Rio Grande, an NAIA school out of Rio Grande, Ohio. In addition to being responsible for the pitching staff, Cliff’s responsibilities included managing player eligibility, performing field maintenance, and assisting in the strength & conditioning program. The Red Storm’s pitching staff made history in the short time that Cliff was at the helm as they broke the school’s single-season strikeout record. In addition, Cliff had three conference pitcher of the week awards, one conference pitcher of the year, one All-American and a pitcher drafted in the MLB draft.
Cliff was a collegiate baseball player at Limestone University, Elgin Community College, where he earned First Team All-Conference, and finally the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where his career was cut short due to injury.
Assistant Coach John Kuczko
John Kuczko is entering his eighth year as an assistant baseball coach at Emory & Henry College. Kuczko has been a teacher and a coach for 45 years. As a baseball coach, he won more than 100 games in the six years he was head coach at Abingdon High School, including two Regional Championships and an appearance in the state championship game in 1983.
One highlight of his time coaching baseball at Abingdon was seeing current Emory & Henry Head Coach Trey McCall drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1985 Major League Baseball Draft. In addition to McCall, Kuczko coached four other high school players who were either drafted or signed as free agents by MLB.
Kuczko coached football for 18 years at four Southwest Virginia high schools, and was an assistant to Lou Wacker at Emory & Henry from 1994 to 1996, with the 1995 team winning Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship. He also coached football at University of Virginia’s College at Wise from 1997 until 2015, serving as defensive coordinator in 2008 and 2009.
Kuczko also officiated baseball and basketball for over 30 years. He was chosen to referee four state basketball championship games and umpire six regional and state championship baseball games.
Kuczko joined the Emory & Henry baseball staff in 2016 and also serves as an adjunct professor in the College’s Health & Human Performance Department. By assisting Coach McCall, his former player, and returning to his alma mater ('76) to now coach baseball, one could say Kuczko’s career has come full circle.