(July 20, 2023) Mena, Arkansas – Heading into their fourth season in school history, Head Coach Tracy Nealy has made some coaching changes on his staff. Entering the fourth season, the Bucks have won 21, 30, and 27 games in their first three seasons. The Bucks are looking to build on that success with a solid group of returners being joined by a signing class that Coach Nealy is excited about.
Coach Nealy is excited about both coaching hires to join his staff. Both coaches come to UARM with head coaching experience at both the high school and college levels. "I am excited to have two assistant coaches again, but even better, that both have head coaching experience at the NCAA DI and DII levels." Both coaches are now in Mena and are preparing for the athletes to arrive in August.
Keith Essary
Coach Essary comes to UARM with over 25 years of coaching experience at various levels of play, including the high school, collegiate, and independent professional levels. Coach Essary got his start in coaching back in 1996 when he started his own semi-professional baseball team called the Corinth Cobras. He ran the Cobras for 6 years and had one USBC World Series Appearance in 2000. In 2004, after moving to Columbia, TN, he started the Columbia Curve, another semi-professional team. In 2005, The Curve was ranked 46th nationally and 3rd in the State of TN. This same year his team placed 4th in the ASPBA World Series. n 2006, the team was ranked as high as 27th nationally and again placed 4th in the ASPBA World Series. This same year they also placed 5th at the USBC World Series. In 2007, Coach Essary's Curve would be ranked as high as 9th in the Nation and made an appearance in the NABA World Series. In 2008, the team would place 3rd in the NABA Citrus Classic in Florida.
In 2010, Coach Essary helped lead the Corinth Senior Legion team to a State Runner Up finish. In 2011, he would make his debut as the Field Manager for the White Sands Pupfish in the Pecos League of Professional Baseball. Here he helped lead the Pupfish to a 41-29 overall record. While with the Pupfish, he helped move up over a dozen players to higher levels of play. In 2014, Coach Essary got the chance to coach at Morthland College, where he was the assistant coach working with hitters and outfielders. Here he helped lead a first-year program to a team batting average of over .350 for the season.
In 2015, he got his first softball coaching job when he was named Head Coach for the George County HS Lady Rebels. Here he helped lead a program to back-to-back playoff appearances. In 2016 he was selected to coach the East All Stars for the Seniors, which they won. He was also named district Coach of the Year and Clarion Ledger Coach of the Year.
In 2019, Coach Essary was selected to Coach Team USA Military All Star Baseball during their tour across America. Coach Essary counts this as one of his best coaching moments as he not only got to coach a game, he loves but got to do it coaching and representing the USA and honoring our Military, past and present. In 2023, he was the assistant baseball coach at DII Lane College where he worked with outfielders and hitters.
Coach Essary is excited about the opportunity to become a Buck and to be a part of the athletic community at UARM. He cannot wait to get to work and to help the program win championships for years to come.
Coach Essary earned his bachelor's degree from Blue Mountain College in Mississippi. He is married to his wife Emily and the couple have 3 children. Madelyn - who is now a nurse, Noah - who just finished playing DII baseball and joining the workforce, and Ella - who just graduated from high school this May.
Matt Prysock
A native of Benton, Arkansas, Matt Prysock is a graduate of Centenary College (Shreveport, LA), with a degree in Health and Exercise Science, as well as Business Administration. He played baseball during his time in Shreveport. Fresh out of college, he served as the assistant softball coach at Ranger Jr. College (Ranger, Texas). Not only was Prysock the softball assistant, but he was the head women's basketball coach, leading the team to their first winning season in 12 years. Prysock returned to his alma mater to serve as assistant coach of the NCAA Division 1 Centenary Softball Team under Coach Michael Bastian. The following year, Prysock took the helm as the softball team's head coach, holding the record at age 22 for the youngest NCAA Division 1 college coach of any sport.
Coach Prysock also had a stop at the University of Central Arkansas as an assistant coach before getting into the corporate world. He was employed by Allergan Medical in Dallas, TX. While in Texas, he has held marketing positions with the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars, and Dallas Burn. He also volunteered at Baylor University.
In 2013, he once again joined up with Michael Bastian in the The Fastpitch School Organization as the AAA (16u) team's head coach. Most recently, Coach Prysock has been out of the game for a few years, but he is excited to be getting back into coaching at UARM.
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