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South View alum Blake Maxwell, former Boston Red Sox draft pick, returns to coach Tigers

rodd baxley, the fayetteville observer
·3 min read

Exit, Scott Ellis. Enter, Blake Maxwell.

Ellis is stepping away from South View’s baseball program after 15 seasons and Maxwell is stepping in as the new skipper.

Twenty years after playing baseball for the Tigers, Maxwell has been hired to lead his alma mater.

“It’s super exciting,” said Maxwell, who spent seven seasons as a minor league pitcher before deciding to become a coach.

“When I was at South View, my guidance counselor asked me what I wanted to be and I said, ‘A professional baseball player.’ She kind of laughed and said, ‘That’s probably not gonna happen, so we need to come up with something different.’ I chose the next best thing: I wanted to be Randy Ledford.”

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A 2002 graduate of South View, Maxwell played under two legendary figures in Cumberland County, the late Ledford with the Tigers and Tom Austin at Methodist.

Ledford coached the South View baseball team from 1986-2006, leading the Tigers to a 4A state title in 1991. Austin has coached the Monarchs for 40-plus seasons to become the winningest active coach at the NCAA Division III level.

Blake Maxwell, who will return to coach South View baseball after a winding road that included being drafted by MLB's Boston Red Sox in 2005.
Blake Maxwell, who will return to coach South View baseball after a winding road that included being drafted by MLB's Boston Red Sox in 2005.

Maxwell always hoped to one day don the orange and black as a coach.

“It took a long time — a lot longer than I thought,” Maxwell said.

“When I left high school, I thought I’d hopefully be back coaching here one day. It was all learning experiences, helping me develop as a coach. Everything I learned along the way is stuff I’m able to put into practice with my players.”

Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2005, Maxwell advanced to the AAA level before returning to Methodist to finish his degree and start his coaching career.

He had coaching stops at multiple levels in North and South Carolina. Douglas Byrd, UNC Pembroke and Hope Mills Middle are among his previous jobs. He also spent some time in the Coastal Plain League as a manager in Florence, South Carolina.

Blake Maxwell spent several seasons as a minor league player in the Boston Red Sox organization.
Blake Maxwell spent several seasons as a minor league player in the Boston Red Sox organization.

A six-time coach of the year with the Tigers, Ellis was hired in 2007. He had nine winning seasons in 15 years, including six conference championships.

South View won three league titles in a row from 2009-11. In 2021, Ellis received an NCHSAA award for making South View’s field available for the association’s state championship series. 

“I’m sure it’s gonna be different for all the guys. He was there a long time and did a great job,” Maxwell said of Ellis.

“Fortunately, for me, a lot of those players played for me at the middle school. The transition will be a little different than it would’ve been if I was just a straight-up outsider.

"That’s gonna be a cool thing to see, just how they’ve developed. When I coached them at the middle school, there was stuff that was too advanced for them. Now I can kind of put in the whole package of what I have to offer.”

This past season, South View finished with a 14-10 record that included a playoff appearance. The Tigers could return five of their top six hitters and three of their top four pitchers in 2023.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Blake Maxwell, former Red Sox draft pick, to coach South View baseball