Jolly: Carolina Forest baseball’s cupboard far from bare

Jack Jolly fielded many of the same questions from colleagues around the area and state upon his decision to leave Carolina Forest nearly two weeks ago.

“I do think it’s on solid ground. The talent pool is there,” said Jolly, the soon-to-be former Panthers coach about to take over the program at Dorman. “I’ve had a couple guys call me and ask ‘Are you leaving it dry?’ Absolutely not.”

Jolly heading to the Upstate also doesn’t change many of the attractive qualities of the job that have spiked interest in the position. The official posting through Horry County Schools closes on Tuesday, at which point the district will hand over the information from all qualified candidates.

Many of those, however, did not wait, sending initial cover letters and resumes to Carolina Forest athletic director Tripp Satterwhite.

He couldn’t say exactly how many there were, but he also said he isn’t surprised by what he expects to be a high number of applicants with all sorts of backgrounds.

“Our baseball program has been very successful, obviously because of Jack and the staffs he’s put together through the years and the teams we’ve had,” Satterwhite said. “He’s had it forever. I’m sure there are people who have wanted to get here if Jack were ever to leave.

“Our county makes it attractive [financially]. Geographically, it’s in a good spot. Academically, we’re pretty good, as well. It blankets any of them. It’s a real attractive job for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.”

Carolina Forest is losing 12 seniors, nearly all of whom played at least some role in back-to-back Lower State finals appearances. Still, the Panthers are returning a few pieces, and will be able to rely on much of the strength of strong sub-varsity and youth programs Jolly helped build up over his 19 seasons at the school.

In many ways, his longevity at the school is a selling point in itself.

Jolly was hired to be the school’s first baseball coach in 1997, and in the spring of 1999, the Panthers played their first varsity season. Since then, he led Carolina Forest to the playoffs in 12 of his 19 seasons, won four region championships, six district titles and reached the Lower State finals five times.

He said he and his family have been thinking about making a move to the Spartanburg-Greenville area for the last two or three years, largely based on family ties to that part of the state. His new school district helped his wife, Pam, find a job up there, as well. With his youngest daughter, Grace, about to start high school, the timing was right.

“I’ll be the biggest fan from the Upstate,” Jolly said.

Before he goes, he and the staff will run one final youth camp together this week. Around the same time, Satterwhite will be receiving the list of official applicants from the district and continue the process of finding the second baseball coach in school history.

This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Jolly: Carolina Forest baseball’s cupboard far from bare."