Elliott Cribby, entering his second year as the pitching coach for the Seattle University baseball team, has been named the program’s recruiting coordinator, announced Thursday by head baseball coach Donny Harrel.
Cribby helped the Redhawk pitching staff lower its team earned run average from 2013 to 2014 by over a run and a half to 4.11 as Seattle U won 26 games, the most victories since returning to varsity status in 2010. Among other things, he was instrumental in converting sophomore Will Dennis from a closer to a member of the weekend starting rotation midway through the 2014 campaign, helping Dennis lead the team with six victories and a 3.25 ERA.
“Elliott has done a tremendous job identifying and committing some of the best prospects in our area and out of state,” Harrel said. “Strength and depth on the mound is the key to winning baseball games, and Elliott has attracted tremendous student-athletes to continue our growth as a program. The recruiting coordinator position is greatly deserved, and I know he will continue to make our program better with securing top level ball players.”
Cribby came to Seattle U after serving as pitching coach and assistant recruiting coordinator at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, helping the Wildcats in 2013 lower their team earned run average by almost two full runs while increasing the number of wins, complete games, shutouts, strikeouts, and strikeout to walk ratio. Previously, he had been the head coach at Mount Si High School for two seasons, leading the team to a 45-7 record, including the 2011 state championship.
From 2005 to 2008, Cribby led the Washington Huskies in saves and appearances, currently ranking fourth all-time on the Huskies appearances list and sixth all-time for saves in a career. A 2006 All-Pac 10 honoree, he was nominated for the Brooks Wallace Award as collegiate baseball’s top player, the Roger Clemens Award as the top collegiate pitcher in the country, and the Stopper of the Year Award, given to the best relief pitcher in college baseball.
The Seattle University baseball team finished the 2014 season with a 26-27 record and qualified for the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, the program’s first Division I postseason competition in 60 years.