The Apprentice School Men's Baseball

Ben Jones was named Head Baseball Coach December 17, 2021, after the retirment of Hall of Fame Coach Bryan Cave.  Jones, a native of Lawrenceville, VA, graduated as an outside machinist apprentice and played baseball for The Apprentice School from 2003 to 2006.  During Jones’ career, he was named a three time USCAA All-American. He is the winningest pitcher in the modern era of Apprentice School baseball with 39 wins and a Virginia College Division record of 501 strikeouts.  Jones was selected to the 2006 USCAA National All-Academic Team and the CoSIDA Academic All-District.  He was also selected VaSID All-State Division II-III in 2004 and 2006 and was honored as Apprentice School Athlete of the Year in 2006 when he went 13-3 with 166 strikeouts. After his playing career, Jones joined the Apprentice School coaching staff as a pitching coach in 2007.  Jones was a part of the Builder baseball team that won the USCAA Small College World Series in 2007 and 2015.  Ben Jones was selected to the USCAA Hall of Fame – Class of 2018. He is starting his 16th season as a coach.In 2020, Jones was inducted into The Apprentice School Builder Athletic Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Builder wing, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments of former apprentice-athletes and coaches during the timeframe of 1990-current. 

A former catcher in the Montreal Expos organization and a former high school coach on the Peninsula, McConnell will start his 18th season on the Builders staff.He coached at Poquoson High School where his teams were always among the teams to beat in the Bay Rivers District and made numerous regional and state playoff appearances.  His 2001 Poquoson High School team won the Virginia State Group AA Championship.McConnell has worked with the catchers and infielders and has served as first base coach throughout his coaching tenure with the Builders. 

Chris Scarola, a native of Williamsburg, VA, graduated in 2013 as a dimensional control apprentice and played baseball for The Apprentice School from 2010 to 2013.  During Scarola’s career, he was a USCAA All-American in 2012 when he had his best season as a builder batting .344 with 52 hits.  He started all 171 games in his career, a mark he shares with two others as the only players to start every game in their careers.  Scarola was a three time USCAA All-Academic Team (2011, 2012, 2013) recipient and a CoSIDA Academic All District recipient in 2012.Scarola joined the Apprentice School coaching staff in 2015 and will begin his 7th season working with the infielder and outfielders.