CAMDENLIONS
2023 Coaching Staff
John Taylor
Head Coach
11th Year
Record: 123-120
Coach Taylor enters his 14th season with the Camden baseball team, his 11th as head coach. He attended Huntingdon High School and played baseball, football, and basketball and graduated with honors in 2003. On the baseball diamond, Coach Taylor played for former CHS head football coach William Blow, and was a 3-time All-District member, as well as a member of the All-Region team for football.
After high school, Coach Taylor continued his baseball career in college at Bethel College for two years before transferring to Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. He graduated from Lipscomb in 2008 with a B.A. in History.
Before coming to Camden, Coach Taylor began his coaching career as a middle school coach at Goodpasture Christian School in 2008 and 2009. While there, the Cougars were Middle TN Baseball Conference (MTBC) champions in 2009.
Coach Taylor came to Camden in the fall of 2009 and is employed as a teacher and baseball coach.
Coach Taylor is married to Brianne Beasley Taylor and they have a son, Anson, and a daughter, Celia.
Christian
Vick
Assistant Coach
4th Year
Coach Christian Vick is another former Lions player that has returned to be an assistant baseball coach and he begins his 4th year with the Lions. Christian is a 2014 graduate of CHS and played baseball and football all 4 years. While at Camden, he was a 2013 11-AA All-Tournament performer and earned a spot on the 2014 All-District team for 11-AA. He was also an All-District performer in football at the QB position.
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After high school, Coach Vick attended Jackson State CC where he was a member of the baseball team. He earned a baseball scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University where he was a member of their pitching staff. Baseball has taken him all over. Christian spent the summer 2018 playing in College Station, TX for the Brazos Valley Bombers and in 2019 played in the Western Canadian Baseball League for the Weyburn Beavers. He threw a no hit shutout with 14 strikeouts vs the Edmonton Prospects, earning him a WCBL All-Star appearance.
Christian graduated from SEMO in the spring of 2020, and is glad to be able to come back to his hometown to help teach the game of baseball.
Sam
Hedge
Assistant Coach
1st Year
Coach Sam Hedge is a former Lions player under Coach John Taylor and former teammate of Coach Christian Vick. He is beginning his first year as an assistant coach. Sam is a 2013 graduate of CHS and played baseball and football while at Camden. He was the 2013 Camden Baseball Lion Award winner, as well as the 2013 William M. Kee Scholar Athlete Award winner. At the time of his graduation, Sam had the 10th highest career batting average.
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After High school, Coach Hedge attended the University of Memphis' Fogelman College of Business and Economics, earning Bachelors degrees in Accounting, Finance, and Management. Before returning home to Camden, Coach Hedge worked in finance at AutoZone, Inc's corporate headquarters in Memphis while his wife attended dental school at UT Health Science Center.
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Coach Hedge and his wife moved back to Camden in June of 2021. He now works for his father's company, Pest Stop, Inc.
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He is married to Bayli Phillips Hedge of Decaturville, TN, and they have one cat, Jackie, and one dog, Frankie.
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