Bio

Jim O’Dell is the Assistant Head Baseball Coach at Pierce College. Prior to coming to Pierce College, O’Dell coached at Skagit Valley for five seasons.

Coach O’Dell graduated from Shelton High School in 1979. He was a three time all state baseball player at Shelton High School. O’Dell then played baseball and basketball at Lower Columbia College and was selected as the Player of the Year for Baseball for the West Division in 1981.

Jim O’Dell then moved on to play at Lewis-Clark State College under Ed Cheff in 1982-83. Both years the Warriors finished in 2nd place in the NAIA World Series. O’Dell was voted as all-West Coast his junior year as a first baseman. O’Dell was voted as the NAIA National Player of the Year in 1983, along with being a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

O’Dell remains the NAIA record for RBI’s in a single season with 136, which he accomplished in 1983. O’Dell was voted into the Lewis-Clark State Athletic Hall of Fame and the NWAC Hall of Fame in 2013.

Drafted three times by Major League Baseball, he finally signed in 1983 with the Houston Astros after being selected in the 6th round. He played for 6 years in the minor leagues with three different organizations.

Jim and his family live in Graham, WA. Today. Jim is married to Janet and they have two boys, Chris and Danny. They have their first grandchild, Alexis.