Baseball coach Hal Bagwell is leaving Ardrey Kell. Here’s what he’s planning next
Longtime Ardrey Kell High baseball coach Hal Bagwell is resigning from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools at the end of the fall semester.
In an email to the Ardrey Kell community, Bagwell said he was going to coach at Indian Land High School in Indian Land, S.C. in the spring.
Indian Land athletic director Vernon Hunter is a former athletic director at West Mecklenburg High School. This fall, he hired former Providence Day and Ardrey Kell coach Adam Hastings to lead his football program.
In Bagwell, he’s getting one of the best baseball coaches in Mecklenburg County history.
Bagwell coached five teams to N.C. 4A state championship appearances: Two at South Mecklenburg (1999, 2005) and three at Ardrey Kell (2018, 2008, 2009). His Ardrey Kell team won the 2009 state championship.
World champion Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood played for Bagwell in high school.
Bagwell, who had been at Ardrey Kell since it opened in 2006, will be introduced at his new school during a meet-and-greet Thursday night. He was not immediately available for comment.
Ardrey Kell athletic director Brian Knab said the school’s assistant coaching staff would remain in place for the upcoming season and that Justin Rummage had been named Interim head coach. Knab said the school will later conduct “a full search and interview process” for a new coach, who would begin in the 2021-22 school year.
In his email, Bagwell thanked his parents, players and the entire Ardrey Kell family.
“I appreciate you guys believing in me,” Bagwell wrote, “working your tails off and buying into the culture. It is a very special place because of you. Simply put, I love you guys. I look forward to continuing our relationship for a lifetime because of our common bond. I also want to thank the teachers, staff and administration for the support, the relationships and the memories. ... To see our school grow from a first-year school to one of the largest in (North Carolina) has been an incredible experience.”
