Moody, a former Tennessee Wesleyan College baseball player and assistant coach, will have a short move from Athens to Cleveland. In fact, Lee's new pitching coach grew up in the Athens community and is a graduate of McMinn County High School.

Working under TWC coach Billy Berry, Moody was a vital part of a Bulldog program that has won 40 games over the past four years and has been one of the top ranked programs in the NAIA.

Overall, he has been a part of the Wesleyan program for the past nine years. During that time, he helped the Bulldogs win seven conference championships and two region titles. This past season, TWC lost to Belhaven University in the opening round of the NAIA World Series that was hosted by Lee.

As a pitcher from 2000-03, he helped lead the Bulldogs to a No. 3 NAIA ranking. He finished at the pinnacle of his career with a 6-1 record and a 1.55 earned run average. Known as workhorse, Moody holds the TWC all-time appearance record.

"The success of the Lee program and working under coach Brew is what drew my attention to this job," said Moody. "Lee has been to the NAIA World Series for three straight years. As a player and coach, this has always been one of my goals.

The new addition to the Lee staff wasted no time in pointing out that the Flames' pitching staff has pretty well been established in recent years. "I want to bring hard work and energy to the staff," he said. "I know the standards are a little higher here than they are at most other schools."

Brew praised the effort of Kleinmann over the past three years at Lee. "Our pitching staffs were routinely inside the top 10 statistically and that was a direct reflection of Craig and his commitment to developing and preparing our pitchers," said the Lee skipper. "As a coach, you hate to lose any key piece to your success and Craig was certainly a major contributor to that success. We wish him the best with this new opportunity and new step in his professional career."

At the same time, Brew is excited about being able to have Moody joining his staff. "With the departure of coach Kleinmann, we felt the need to replace him with someone who was energetic, experienced in preparing pitchers, and committed to the expectations and standards of Lee University and our baseball program. I am totally confident we have found that person in Michael Moody.".

Brew added, coach Moody knows the NAIA and what it takes to compete on a national level. At Tennessee Wesleyan, he was instrumental as a player and coach in assisting the Bulldogs in becoming one of the top programs in the NAIA. His pitchers thrived under is tutelage and he is well respected in the coaching profession for his tireless work ethic.

"More important than anything, Michael is a committed Christian and family man. He will embrace our baseball program and universities values and be a great representative for both. We are extremely excited that coach Moody has accepted this opportunity and look forward to what the future will hold for Lee University baseball."