Gary McClure

Gary McClure
Biographical details
Born	July 2, 1964 (age 60); Keosauqua, Iowa, U.S.
Alma mater	Austin Peay, '87
Playing career
1983–1984	Southeastern CC (IA)
1985–1986	Cumberland
Position(s)	SS
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1987	Austin Peay (asst.)
1988–2015	Austin Peay
2021	Burlington Bees
Head coaching record
Overall	847–750–4
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	OVC Regular season: 7 (1994, 1996, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012); OVC Tournament: 6 (1996, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Awards
	Inducted into Austin Peay Athletic Hall of Fame (2012)
Records
	Austin Peay All Time Wins Leader (847); Ohio Valley Conference All Time Wins Leader (847); Most Ohio Valley Conference Games Won (363)

Gary McClure is a former American college baseball coach, formerly serving as head coach of the Austin Peay Governors baseball program. He was named to that position prior to the 1988 season. With 847 wins, McClure is the winningest coach in Austin Peay baseball history, as well as the winningest coach in Ohio Valley Conference baseball history.^[1]^[2]^[3]

McClure played two years at Southeastern Community College in Iowa before completing his eligibility at Cumberland. He then completed his degree at Austin Peay, and served as a student assistant coach. With the retirement of then-coach Billy Merkel, McClure was hired as head coach just two years removed from his playing days. Under McClure, the Governors won thirteen regular season and tournament OVC titles. They appeared in six NCAA Regionals.^[1] McClure has coached six major league players Jamie Walker, George Sherrill, A. J. Ellis, Shawn Kelley, Matt Reynolds, and Ryne Harper. McClure was inducted into the Austin Peay Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. McClure has been a candidate for several major conference coaching vacancies, most recently at Iowa. He withdrew his name from consideration for the Iowa position in the summer of 2013, electing to remain at Austin Peay.^[2]

McClure was hired by the Battle Creek Bombers of the North Woods League in 2016 where his team finished with a record of 40-33 while going 21-16 in the second half. They made the playoffs for only the second time in the team's ten year history. They beat the Madison Mallards in the first round and then lost in the semifinals to the Rapids Rafters, the eventual 2016 champion.

In 2017, McClure was hired by the Kokomo Jackrabbits. In 2019, he was hired as manager of the Milwaukee Milkmen for their inaugural 2019 season in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball but was not retained for 2020 following the team's 38-62 performance. In 2021 McClure was hired as the Manager by the Burlington Bee's for its inaugural season in the Prospect League a collegiate summer Baseball league in Burlington Iowa. In 2024 McClure was hired as the manager by the Cape Catfish in Cape Girardeau Missouri in the Prospect League a collegiate summer Baseball league for it's upcoming 2025 season.

Head coaching record

This table shows McClure's record as a collegiate head coach.^[4]

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Austin Peay (Ohio Valley Conference) (1988–present)
1988	Austin Peay	23–27	10–12	3rd (South)
1989	Austin Peay	32–25–1	10–7	3rd	OVC Tournament^[a]
1990	Austin Peay	31–25	6–8	4th	OVC Tournament^[b]
1991	Austin Peay	15–37–1	6–11	5th
1992	Austin Peay	29–28–1	14–7	2nd	OVC Tournament^[c]
1993	Austin Peay	30–22	13–8	5th
1994	Austin Peay	27–31	12–6	1st	OVC Tournament^[d]
1995	Austin Peay	24–32	9–12	6th
1996	Austin Peay	44–22	13–7	T-1st	NCAA Regional
1997	Austin Peay	28–31	14–10	3rd	OVC Tournament^[e]
1998	Austin Peay	23–32	9–15	8th
1999	Austin Peay	29–27	13–10	5th
2000	Austin Peay	32–27	14–10	4th	OVC Tournament^[f]
2001	Austin Peay	32–30	9–12	5th	OVC Tournament^[g]
2002	Austin Peay	30–27	12–9	3rd	OVC Tournament^[h]
2003	Austin Peay	27–27–1	14–5–1	1st	OVC Tournament^[i]
2004	Austin Peay	35–21	20–7	1st	OVC Tournament^[j]
2005	Austin Peay	38–24	16–11	2nd	NCAA Regional
2006	Austin Peay	32–27	14–13	5th	OVC Tournament^[k]
2007	Austin Peay	40–22	19–8	1st	NCAA Regional
2008	Austin Peay	27–29	14–12	3rd	OVC Tournament^[l]
2009	Austin Peay	22–30	7–12	9th
2010	Austin Peay	28–25	8–13	7th
2011	Austin Peay	34–24	17–8	1st	NCAA Regional
2012	Austin Peay	40–24	19–7	T-1st	NCAA Regional
2013	Austin Peay	47–15	22–7	2nd	NCAA Regional
2014	Austin Peay	23–33	14–16	T-7th
2015	Austin Peay	25-26	15-15	7th
Austin Peay:		847–750–4	363–292–1
Total:		847–750–4
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion