An Upstate high school baseball coach who served 45 years at the same school died Monday.
Dean Jones who coached at Chesnee High School from 1965-2010, won 729 games and four state championships – 1982-83 88 and 2010. He was 79.
Dean Jones Baseball Stadium is named in his honor at Chesnee HS and his No. 20 jersey has been retired at the school. Jones played professionally in the San Francisco Giants organization.
Jones’s teams won 22 conference championships.
He was Athletic Director and Head Football Coach for Chesnee for 14 years (78-55 record).
Among Jones’s career highlights:
• 2016: named to inaugural class of the South Carolina Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.
• 2010: South Carolina Coach of the Year.
• 2008-2009: National Federation of State High School Association National Baseball Coach of the Year.
• Member of the South Carolina Coaches Association Hall of Fame
• Coach for inaugural SC-NC All-Star baseball game.