STERLINGTON, La. – The Louisiana Christian University baseball program's head honcho finally took his alma mater to the promised land after 23 years of countless near-misses and now he has his first Conference Coach of the Year that belongs solely to him without needing to share as Head Coach Mike Byrnes was voted by his peers to be the 2024 Red River Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
 
While this is the 1979 Louisiana College graduate's fourth overall accolade of this magnitude, all of the others had the caveat of splitting the title as two of those were Division-specific honors as the American Southwest's East Division representative (sharing the title with the western counterpart) twice in both 2010 and 2013, then was the ASC East Tri-Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the 2011 season.
 
The current campaign was already one for the ages long before the championship t-shirts were passed around 4 p.m. on May 6, 2024 in northern Louisiana, already bearing witness to its best start to a season since 2018 (7-0), two top-five victories against a team it had not beaten since 2009 (both vs. #4 LSU Shreveport), a neutral site top-20 win over #18 Mobile, a trio more of triumphs against clubs in the receiving votes category (two vs. Houston-Victoria, one vs. Loyola-New Orleans), career coaching win number #500 on March 16, held leads against NCAA Division I opponents within the final three frames in all three of the matchups against such competition, four RRAC Weekly Award winners, and received a combined 76 votes across two top-25 polls to mark the first appearance on the list since returning to NAIA competition.
 
There were highs such as two separate winning streaks of eight and seven, four walk-off wins, a 30+ win season, and a sparkling 72.4% winning percentage at Billy Allgood Field . . . but with the highs also inevitably come some lows like a mid-season swoon in which the Cats dropped eight-in-a-row that dashed any chances of an at-large bid, two particularly devastating losses at Southwest (New Mexico) that saw the Cats walk five in the ninth and the other being the RRAC Semifinals opposite the runner-up Texarkana Eagles, and two harrowing injury scares that sidelined a pair of everyday starters for long periods of time.
 
However, through it all, the thick and the thin, one constant always remained and it's the man that has prowled the first base dugout for 971 games while donning the Orange and Blue with 512 of those resulting in a Wildcat victory (512-459, 52.7%), the "Big Daddy" that calls everyone he meets, big or small, baby at least once every other sentence, Head Coach Mike Byrnes.
 
No matter what happens over the next few weeks, the future of LCU baseball looks as bright as ever with nearly the entire startling rotation and bullpen plus as high as seven everyday starters are possibly set to return to Pineville for the 2025 season.
 
So, while win #512 was in all likelihood his most special to date, the best is hopefully yet to come as postseason baseball rolls into mid-May and the NAIA Regionals then perhaps even the World Series. Congratulations Coach Byrnes . . . but the job is not finished yet!

---

Follow the baseball program on Facebook (@LCUWildcatsBaseball), Twitter/X (@LCU_BSB) and Instagram (@LCUWildcatsBaseball).
 
Follow the Wildcats on Facebook (@LCUAthletics), Twitter/X (@LCU_Wildcats) and Instagram (@LCU_Wildcats).