Pompano Beach, FL – Black College Championships (BCC) Executive Board has appointed Lane College Joel Worthington to its Black College World Series staff, it was announced Tuesday.

Worthington is the Head Softball coach and Sports Information Director (SID) at Lane. He will be an outstanding addition to Black College Championships as we enter the fifth Black College World Series in 2025. His expertise, knowledge, and integrity, along with love of collegiate sports, will allow him to fit right in.

Worthington just completed his 15th season coaching which saw his team finish as conference runner up with a 32-15 overall record.

The trip to the conference finals was the first in school history for Lane. The Dragons also produced a NFCA All-Region member while boasting the SIAC Pitcher of the Year as well as Freshman of the Year. Additionally, three players were selected All-SIAC.

The board has chosen Worthington who has provided tournament statistical (stats) updates for each Black College World series games and acts as the official scorer the last four years of the event.

In four years at Lane College, the program has re-written the record books, setting 15 new team records and over two dozen individual records. The program also finished number one in the nation in batting average in 2022 and 2023. The .416 average the team produced in 2022 is the highest all-time in NCAA Division II.

Worthington led the Dragons to a school record 35 wins in 2023 and was named SIAC Coach of the Year. The program also produced the SIAC Player of the Year as well as Pitcher of the Year. The team ranked first in Division II in batting average (.374) and third in on-base percentage (.444). Lane finished the season ranked first in the SIAC in 17 statistical categories including: slugging percentage (.535), total runs (384), hits (507), home runs (31), team ERA (2.49), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.11), and shut outs (12). The team also produced the school’s first ever First Team All-American.

In addition to their success on the field, the program has also produced the last two valedictorians, placed the highest percentage of players on the President’s List since 2021, and won the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup (highest team GPA in the conference).

Before coming to Lane, Worthington spent two years at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa. Worthington’s 2017 edition of the Stillman Tigers finished 10-2 over the final 12 games of the season while hitting .455 as a team. The Tigers led the NAIA in triples per game, ranked third nationally in RBIs per game and fourth in runs scored per game. Worthington’s squad ended the campaign with the fourth highest team batting average in school history at .322, the third highest team slugging percentage at .441, and a school single-season record with 17 triples. Four Stillman players were named NAIA-Daktronics Scholar-Athletes.

Worthington began his coaching career with nine years at the high school level where he coached football and softball as well as track & field. His teams won seven area championships and four state championships during his tenures at Flint Hill Christian School (FHCS) and Tuscaloosa Christian School (TCS). He also served as the Athletic Director at FHCS and the Dean of Students at TCS.

In addition to leading the softball program, Worthington also oversaw communications for the Lane athletic department as the Sports Information Director, a position he also held at Stillman.

He was instrumental in promoting men’s basketball’s 2016 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. That season would also see the Tigers earn conference Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, SIAC Coach of the Year and BOXTOROW National Coach of the Year.

He also promoted track athlete Dontavius Wright, who won the 2016 NCAA Outdoor national championship in the 400-meters and covered Jeff Henderson’s gold medal victory in the long jump at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio.

As Stillman transitioned to the NAIA, Worthington oversaw the design of a new website, which included updated graphics, photos and content.

In between his time at Stillman and Lane, Worthington spent two academic years working operations for The Scorer’s Table based in Nashville, Tenn. where he provided game day support at Vanderbilt, Tennessee State, Belmont, Lipscomb, Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, The University of the South: Sewanee and many more.

He was also a key member of championship tournaments hosted by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Mid-South Conference, Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association and Alabama High School Athletic Association. Additionally, Worthington served as the Sports Information Director of the 2017 National Senior Games in Birmingham, Ala.

Before entering into education full-time, Worthington spent five years in theme park management, serving on projects in Alabama, Texas, California and North Dakota.

A native of McCalla, Ala., Worthington is a 2004 graduate of McAdory High School. He earned a bachelor’s in Education from Liberty University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude, and a master’s in Sports Management from Cumberland University.