Spurgeon joined the Tornado staff as the pitching coach in 2018. Prior to King, he spent two years at The University of the Cumberlands.

Year-By-Year Highlights

2020: The Tornado were off to a 15-9 and 7-2 in Conference Carolinas play start to the season before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Trader Flora was selected for the Conference Carolinas Elite 23 Award for baseball while the 11 seniors garnered all-conference honors. On the mound, the Tornado ranked fourth in Conference Carolinas with a .270 batting average against as Braden White led the league with five wins. Avery Cain ranked fouth in the conference with a 2.27 ERA and four wins.

2019: The Tornado ranked second in Conference Carolinas with 23 sacrifice flies, finishing ninth in the standings. Two Tornado, outfielder Tony Valdes and starting pitcher George Helbig earned second team All-Conference Carolinas honors. King defeated 11th-ranked Mount Olive on March 16 in the opening game of the series.

Prior to King

In his first season at Cumberlands, Spurgeon helped lead the team to a No. 20 ranking in the final poll of the 2017 season. The team finished with a 43-17 record and the pitching staff ranked 12th in the country. In 2018, he helped them finish with a record of 47-11 and a top 10 ranking in the country. Their pitching staff ranked in the Top 25 in numerous categories.

Playing Career

Spurgeon began his college playing career at Cleveland State Community College where he was a weekend starter in 2011-12. He then transferred to NCAA Division I Tennessee Tech where he was a weekend starter. After Tennessee Tech, he played two seasons of Professional Baseball in the Frontier League.