BOONE, N.C. – App State Baseball has announced promotions for assistant coaches
Britt Johnson,
Heath Blackmonand
Seth McLemore on head coach
Kermit Smith's staff.
Johnson has been promoted to associate head coach, while Blackmon has added co-recruiting coordinator duties and McLemore has been named the program's hitting coach.
App State has posted three 30-win seasons in the last four years and has made the Sun Belt tournament in each of the past six seasons. Its third-place finish and 17 victories in the Sun Belt in 2026 were its best marks since joining the conference.
Smith also announced the return of
Hayden Cross as the team's director of baseball operations and catching coordinator earlier this month.
"Success is the byproduct of talented individuals efficiently working together for the good of others. I am so fortunate to work with, what I consider, the best coaching staff in the Sun Belt," Smith said.
Coaching alongside Smith for each of the last 16 seasons, including the last 10 years at App State, Johnson has led recruiting efforts that have seen the Mountaineers sign and develop four Freshman All-Americans, 15 All-Sun Belt selections, two Sun Belt Freshmen of the Year and two Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year recipients. Working primarily with the App State infield, Johnson has overseen six of the 10 best fielding percentage teams in program history. He had been instrumental in the Mountaineers' success in the transfer portal, helping App State land the likes of CJ Boyd (App State career home run record holder), Austin St. Laurent (2024 draft pick of the Seattle Mariners) and Banks Tolley (App State single-season home run record holder).
"Britt and his wife Sam have dedicated the past decade to the betterment of so many student-athletes in both a personal and athletic nature," Smith said. "He has continued to navigate the ever-changing recruiting rules to build a talented roster each year. Britt will be a head coach at some point in his career, and we are fortunate to have him on the mountain."
In six together seasons at Lander, Smith and Johnson helped lead the Bearcats to the Division II College World Series in 2014 and 2016.
In his first season in Boone in 2026, Blackmon was transformational for the App State pitching staff. He helped the squad post its best ERA in a full season since 2018, a 1.73 drop from the previous year. He also helped produce improved marks in WHIP, home runs allowed, walk rate and strikeout rate, finishing in the top half of the league in each of those categories. Blackmon oversaw the development of Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year
Gage Peterson, who also earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors. Peterson's 107 strikeouts were the second most in a single season in program history, and he also recorded eight wins with a 3.28 ERA.
"It was evident in the interview process that Heath was going to breathe life into our pitching staff. He has done that along with elevating our recruiting efforts to help push us forward in our league and nationally," Smith said.
Prior to arriving in Boone, Blackmon spent four seasons as the Director of Player Development at East Carolina, where he mentored the likes of 2022 AAC Pitcher of the Year Carter Spivey and 2024 AAC Pitcher of the Year and All-American Trey Yesavage.
McLemore has helped lead the Mountaineers to at least 30 wins in each of his three seasons at App State (2023, 2024, 2026). He oversaw an offensive transformation that resulted in the Mountaineers setting the single-season home run record in 2023, before resetting that mark in 2024. They have posted an OPS of at least .858 in all three seasons with McLemore on staff. In his return to the staff in 2026, McLemore led the offense to league-leading marks in batting average (.307), on-base percentage (.412) and sacrifice flies (38). App State also paced the Sun Belt in hits, runs scored, doubles and RBIs against conference opponents.
In his lone season at Southern Illinois in 2025, the Salukis finished the year among the top 50 teams in the nation in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks and runs scored. Southern Illinois' 113 home runs in 2025 were 25 more than in any other season in program history. It also led the MVC and ranked 10th nationally.
"It has been clear for anyone who has followed our team that we have been one of the best offensive teams in the Sun Belt since Seth has joined our staff. He is a really talented individual with great energy," Smith said.
The Mountaineers open their fall season on Friday at NC State at 6 p.m. The Mountaineers will also host North Carolina A&T (Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.) and UNC Wilmington (Oct. 11 at noon) before closing out the fall at UNC Greensboro (Oct. 17 at 1 p.m.).
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