Cory Hall enters his 15th year at West Texas A&M as the long-time assistant was named the skipper of the Buffaloes in June of 2024.
Hall has had four different pitchers (Austin Moore, Josh Payne, Marshall Kasowski, Joe Corbett) drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft during his time in Canyon with multiple other professional players learning under one of the top pitching minds in collegiate baseball.
Hall has seen the Buffs become a regional and national contender during his time in Canyon as WT has registered an overall record of 442-246 over his 14 seasons with two Lone Star Conference Championships (2018, 2021) and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament. Hall has been instrumental in the building of the Buffalo baseball program throughout both of his stints with the Buffs as he continually has helped improve the pitching staff each year.
2024 saw the Buffaloes return to the NCAA Postseason for the ninth time in program history as they finished 37-19 overall with a 34-14 mark in the Lone Star Conference. The Buffs were ranked as high as third in the nation during the campaign, advancing to the South Central Regional Finals in Grand Junction, Colorado. Nine Buffs claimed all-conference honors with Kyle Micklus being named the LSC Newcomer of the Year, senior first baseman Dylan Fesperman picked up All-American honors by the NCBWA and D2CCA.
The 2023 Buffaloes finished the campaign 30-22 overall with a 28-20 mark in Lone Star Conference action to advance to the program's ninth LSC Tournament.
2022 saw the Buffaloes advance to their eighth straight NCAA Division II Postseason, finishing the campaign with an overall record of 39-19. WT registered a Lone Star Conference-high 12 saves during the season as they finished with a 5.85 ERA, allowing 346 runs (299 earned) on 534 hits with 236 walks and 500 strikeouts during their 459.2 innings of work with an opposing batting average of .288. Friday night starter Nick Marshall picked up All-South Central Region and All-Lone Star Conference honors as the sophomore went 11-4 overall with a 4.69 ERA and 81 strikeouts.
The 2021 campaign saw the Buffaloes claim their third Lone Star Conference Championship with a 28-4 mark in league action as they advanced to a seventh straight NCAA Tournament, making an appearance in the program's first ever Regional Finals with an overall record of 34-9. 12 different Buffs picked-up All-LSC honors while Keone Givens, Mathieu Gauthier, Todd Danzeisen, Kennedy Badgett, Carter Brown and Cade Engle were named All-Region, Givens and Gauthier were also tabbed Honorable Mention NCBWA All-Americans for their efforts on the diamond.
The Buffs finished their 2019 campaign with an overall record of 41-12 to set a new program record for victories in a single season, WT claimed their third Lone Star Conference Tournament Title in the last four years while making an appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Postseason for the sixth straight season. Joe Corbett was named the Division II National Pitcher of the Year by the D2CCA and NCBWA as the Edmond product became the fourth highest draft pick in LSC history when he was taken in the 10th Round (295th Overall) by the Texas Rangers. The Buffs finished the season with 566 strikeouts to set a new single-season Lone Star Conference record.
2018 saw the Buffs cap-off arguably the best season in program history with hosting duties for the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament at Wilder Park in Canyon. The Buffs reached the 40-win plateau for the first time in program history, finishing the season with a mark of 40-14 as they claimed their second Lone Star Conference Title with a league record of 20-4. WT was named the Lone Star Conference Coaching Staff of the Year while senior first baseman became the second Buff in history to pick-up LSC Player of the Year accolades. On the mound, Hall guided a talented WT pitching staff the finished the season with a 4.65 ERA, striking out 463 batters and allowing an opposing batting average of just .275.
In 2017, Hall helped guide the Buffs to a 36-20 record overall and the program's third-straight trip to the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament and their second-straight Lone Star Conference Tournament Title. Hall helped guide the Buffs' staff to a school-record 3.20 ERA ranking ninth nationally and first in the LSC. The Buffs led the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.0 and were fourth nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 3.16.
Marshall Kasowski was named LSC Pitcher of the Year, South Central Region Pitcher of the Year and earned multiple All-America honors. Kasowski led the nation in strikeouts with 165 as it marked a school-record, while leading the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (15.91) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.82). Kasowski became the highest Buff ever drafted at 400th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 13th Round while Joshua Payne was drafted in the 22nd Round by the New York Mets.
During his first year back on staff at WT following two-years away from baseball, Hall and the Buffs won their first Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship. Hall helped guide senior Austin Moore to a First Team All-Conference accolade and a two-time All-Region pitching selection and Moore was drafted in the 26th Round of the June draft by the Colorado Rockies.
Hall has been instrumental in the building of the Buffalo baseball program under Matt Vanderburg throughout both of his stints with the Buffs as he continually has helped improve the pitching staff each year. In his first stint, he worked with the likes of Dylan James who had an outstanding career for the Buffs earning multiple All-America accolades and had a stint with the Houston Astros organization.
Prior to being hired at WT, Hall served as head coach at New Mexico Junior College in 2008 as he led the ThunderBirds to a WJCAC Conference Championship with an overall record of 45-10. The team ranked in the top five nationally and a 3.43 ERA. as Hall earned WJCAC Coach of the Year and had three players drafted. Hall also was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at NMJC and finished as national runner-up at the 2007 Junior College World Series. Overall, he had 11 pitchers drafted during his time at NMJC.
Prior to NMJC, both Hall and Vanderburg were on staff together at Clarendon College. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Hall served as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator and was elevated to head coach for the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
In his first year as head coach, his club finished 43-13 to record the most wins in school history while claiming a Division Championship as they were ranked in the Top 10 in the nation marking the first national ranking in program history. The team led the nation in batting average at .374. During his two seasons as head coach, Hall had 21 players sign to play at the university level, eight at Division I. He had eight players drafted or sign professional contracts during that time.
Prior to Clarendon, Hall began coaching at his alma mater Northwestern Oklahoma State. While at NWOSU, he served as pitching coach for three seasons (1999-2001) and played a vital role in turning around a program that had not had a winning season in several years.
During that time, the team complied three winning seasons with a combined record of 104-53. In his third season, the team finished with a 49-12 record and was ranked as high as seventh nationally, breaking the school-record for wins in a season and qualifying for the regional tournament for the first time in program history.
The Leedey, Oklahoma native made a pair of trips to the NJCAA College World Series during his collegiate pitching career. He played two seasons at Seminole State College, helping the Trojans to an overall record of 102-16 followed by one season at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. Hall earned his Bachelor's and Master's degree from Northwestern Oklahoma State.
