CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern head baseball coach Marc MacMillan welcomed the addition of JM Kelly to the CSU baseball coaching staff on Tuesday morning.
 
Kelly joins the Charleston Southern staff as a volunteer assistant coach prior to the start of the 2021 season. He will oversee the development of catchers, assist with pitchers and hitters, and coach first base.
 
"I am very excited to have Coach Kelly join us," said Coach MacMillan. "His faith, coaching and playing experience, success at Northern Oklahoma College Tonkawa, personal commitment to hard work, and more caught my immediate attention."
 
Kelly brings collegiate coaching experience from Northern Oklahoma College and Carl Albert State College, while also coaching in both the Expedition Collegiate League and the Sunflower Collegiate League. He also served as an associate scout for the Houston Astros.
 
At Northern Oklahoma College Tonkawa, Kelly coached under Ryan Bay where he served as the Recruiting Coordinator while also overseeing catchers and hitters. His efforts were influential in the Mavericks posting a 23-4 record and finishing as the No. 4-ranked NJCAA II team in the country.
 
The Mavericks had hitters ranked in the top-10 nationally in almost every offensive category. He also oversaw the catchers' defensive success as NOC threw out over 35% of would-be base-stealers. Four players went on to sign NCAA Division I scholarships, including a pair of All-Americans in pitcher Bryson Armstrong and infielder Sean Klein, while two more players moved on to play at the Division II level.
 
Prior to his time at NOC, Kelly spent his first season at the collegiate level as the Recruiting Coordinator at Carl Albert State College. The Vikings finished in the top-25 in four offensive categories, including batting average (9th), slugging (10th), on-base percentage (21st), and home runs (22nd). CASC boasted two Gold Glove honoress and an All-Conference performer over his lone season.
 
While serving as the field manager in 2020 for the Hastings Sodbusters in the Expedition Collegiate League, Kelly helped lead the team to a 28-23 record – their first season in program history with a winning record. He also guided the El Dorado Broncos in the Sunflower Collegiate League to a 22-14 record during the 2019 summer season.
 
Prior to CASC, he spent a year-and-a-half at Tomball High School, a 6A program in the state of Texas with a rich tradition of baseball success.
 
Kelly lined up on the Lamar University baseball team from 2015-17 where he played corner infield and caught. He graduated from Lamar in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in general studies and is currently on track to finish his master's degree in Sports Administration from East Central University in 2021.