Spent two seasons as Head Coach of Catamount baseball (1998-1999).
After accepting an offer to guide the Western Carolina program in July 1997, Hennon quickly added his own distinctive chapters to one of the winningest programs in the Southern Conference. During his inaugural campaign as head coach in 1998, Hennon led the Catamounts to a 45-15 overall record and a 20-6 SoCon mark, tying the WCU mark for most victories in a single year and ranking sixth among all NCAA Division I members in winning percentage. His players claimed both the Southern Conference’s Pitcher and Player of the Year awards while seven signed professional contracts at the conclusion of the season.
In addition, the 1998 WCU squad led the nation in stolen bases with 153, which shattered a 33-year-old school record and a 16-year-old conference mark. He directed a pitching staff which also enjoyed an outstanding season, turning in a 4.01 earned run average to rank 11th nationally, while finishing ninth among all Division I institutions with 499 strikeouts.
Hennon followed up his record-setting initial season with a 36-23-1 mark, which included a third-place league standing at 18-10. The Catamounts easily distinguished themselves as the SoCon’s top offensive squad with conference bests in batting average (.328), on-base percentage (.413), slugging percentage (.523), runs (502), hits (684), home runs (82) and runs batted in (445) while finishing second in triples (20) and third in stolen bases (123). Hennon guided one of the league’s youngest pitching staffs to a 5.70 earned run average - rating third among all conference teams.
