Since the reinstatement of baseball at Oregon in 2009, the team has had one Head Coach. That will change next season.
On Wednesday, both the University of Oregon and George Horton decided it was time to go in a different direction with the program. Horton had a contract option for next season that was not exercised. Instead, the Ducks will head in a different direction as the Coaching Search begins.
The 2019 season ended in a hard note as the second straight losing season and the fourth straight year that the Oregon Ducks did not make the NCAA Tournament. While injuries to key Starters plagued the season pretty much from the start, the fight that was seen in the middle of the season was hard to find over the Ducks last 10 games. The final homestand ended with two losses to the UCLA Bruins before a rainout canceled the third game of the series with the Bruins.
Baseball came back with a bang in 2009.
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It was George Horton’s first season. It was a new state of the art facility in PK Park, and a team that found their way and found it early. They were fun to watch. It took a few seasons, but Oregon found the postseason five times under Horton, the most memorable in 2012 hosting Kent State in the Super Regional Round. Unfortunately, it was the foul ball lost in the sun that cost Oregon a chance at Omaha.
Under George Horton, the program saw 84 players earn College Degrees, and over 40 of them were selected in the MLB Draft Tyler Anderson and David Peterson were pitchers selected in the first round. Cole Irvin recently saw his work in the Minor Leagues payoff with a call up to the Philadelphia Phillies.
George Horton leaves with a sense of accomplishment. It is not easy getting a program reinstated, and he did just that in his time here. Associate Head Coach Jay Uhlman will take over the day to day work as the search for a new Head Coach begins for Oregon Baseball.