Marvin Astor Townsend III (Towny)

Marvin Astor Townsend III (Towny). Tidewater Baseball Shrine — 2024 Inductee. A native of Philadelphia, PA, Townsend was a two-time All-Conference performer at College of Aldemarle in Elizabeth City, NC, where he captained the nationally ranked teams in 1972 and 1973. During his two years of junior college he was drafted in the second round by the California Angels and again after his second year in the first round of the secondary phase by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He opted to attend Campbell University, where he led Campbell in his junior year to the most wins in school history and was selected All-Conference, All-District, NAIA All-American and third team All-American by the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. In his junior season of 1974, Townsend was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the secondary phase and played briefly in their minor league system before returning to Norfolk to start his coaching career that covered over 30 years. , , Tounsend founded the first baseball camps in the state of Virginia in 1977 and ran camps every year for 30 years. Referred to as the founding father of AAU baseball in Virginia, he founded the Virginia Blaster baseball club in 1992 for ages 10-15. His AAU teams won multiple state championships and finished as high as second at nationals. , , Towny became the youngest head coach in college baseball at Virginia Wesleyan in 1977-78, leading the Marlins to conference titles in his first two years. He was named Dixie Conference Coach of the Year in 1978 and was Co-Coach of the Year in 1979. During the 1979 season, Towny was also regional Coach of the Year and a finalist for National Coach of the Year as Wesleyan defeated Old Dominion, VCU, East Carolina, Norfolk State and William and Mary. He compiled a 71-34 record in three years. , , In addition, Townsend coached at his alma mater, Lake Taylor, where he turned around a program that was 3-48 the previous three years, leading them to 101-39 over eight seasons. He was a five-time Eastern District Coach of the Year. In 2000, he became the head coach at Greenbrier Christian Academy where he was named TCIS conference coach of the year twice and captured four straight league titles. In 2001, Greenbrier Christian won the state championship, and he was selected Virginia Coach of the Year for prívate schools. Townsend compiled a 120-19 in four years at Greenbrier Christian. , , Off the field, Townsend battled cancer starting in 2001. His battle did not deter him for his love of all things baseball. In 2005 he was named by the Chesapeake Athletic Club as Coach of the Year and also produced a baseball training tool called the Towry Townsend hitting disc. , , Townsend's teams and camps boasted some of Hampton Roads most prestigious baseball names, including Mike Cuddyer (Twins), Jason Dubois (Indians), David Wright (Mets), B.J. Upton (Tampa Bay), Justin Upton (Diamond Backs), Scott Sizemore (Tigers, Athletics) just to name a few. During his 44 years of baseball experience, he coached or instructed 23 professional baseball players. Townsend passed away on April 4, 2007, at the age of 54, following his battle with cancer.