Pat Atwell and Josh Kinney with Cardinal mascots

New Drury athletic director Pat Atwell caps first official day as a Panther by throwing out ceremonial first pitch at Springfield Cardinals game with former player Josh Kinney

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(Courtesy of Drury Sports Information Office ... Contact SID Scott Puryear at 417-873-4097 for more details)

July 9, 2007

New Drury University athletic director Pat Atwell completed his first official day on the job Monday with ... a strike. Well, depending on your interpretation of the strike zone these days. But at least it drew no dirt.

Atwell was honored on his first day as a Panther with throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Monday night's Springfield Cardinals-Frisco Roughriders minor league baseball game at Hammons Field. And making the event all the more special for Atwell - his "catcher" was Josh Kinney, the former Springfield Cardinal and current St. Louis Cardinals pitcher who played for Atwell when both were at Quincy University in the late 1990s.

Kinney, currently rehabilitating an elbow injury and out for the season, was the first Springfield Cardinal to reach the major leagues when he played a key role for the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen in the team's march to a World Series championship last fall. So it was only fitting that a player involved with so many firsts would receive the toss from Atwell on his first official day as a Panther.

"It was a special night with Josh being able to be on hand," Atwell said. "It put a fitting end to a day I've looked forward to for some time, being able to get started with my new career at Drury."

Atwell was named Drury's director of athletics on June 7 when the university appointed former AD Dr. Edsel Matthews to a newly creation position of Vice President of Athletic Affairs and Special Projects. Matthews will continue to oversee the DU athletics program, which includes 15 sports competing at the NCAA Division II level, while Atwell will handle the day-to-day responsiblities as the AD. The pair will work closely together as Drury attempts to top a 2006-07 school year in which eight athletic teams qualified for NCAA championship play and Drury finished a school-best ninth nationally in the Director's Cup all-sports competition.

Atwell, 46, spent 16 years in various capacities at Quincy, which like Drury, is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. He served as baseball coach of the Hawks before assuming athletic director duties for the Illinois school on April 25, 2001, helping Quincy make major strides toward becoming highly competitive in several sports, as well as in the classroom.

Atwell joined the program at Quincy in 1990 as an assistant baseball and assistant men's soccer coach and was hired as the head baseball coach following the 1991 season. He coached the Hawks to a record of 284-196-3 over the next 10 years, making him the all-time winningest coach in the history of the program.

He led Quincy to Division II Tournament appearances in 1997 and 1999 and to back-to-back, 40-win seasons in 1999 and 2000. The second of those teams finished 42-17 and won the school's first-ever GLVC championship. Atwell was named GLVC Coach of the Year in 1997 and 1999 and produced six All-Americans, including first-teamer Josh Rabe, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 11th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball amateur draft, and Kinney.

The native of Andover, N.Y. and graduate of Salem-Teikyo (W.Va.) University said his family will be moving to Springfield later this month. He and wife Lisa have two children: Melissa will be a high school freshman and Eric a sixth-grader, both in the Springfield Catholic school system.

Atwell encourages all Drury fans to stop by and meet him in the coming weeks. He has assumed Matthews' former office and phone number (417) 873-7294, while Matthews' new number down the hall in Weiser is 873-6896.

Atwell can also be reached by e-mail at patwell@drury.edu.