Mark Elkins enters his third season with KSU baseball as the Director of Player Development in 2025.
Elkins spent the last 30 years at Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Hoyas captured six Georgia Dugout Tournament championships and six region championships. 23 teams advanced to the state playoffs. Six teams advanced to the state quarterfinals, including the 1998 and 2010 State Championship teams. In 30 seasons, 135 players have had the opportunity to play college baseball and 17 different players have been drafted into professional baseball.
Elkins spent the first six years at Harrison, where he served as an assistant coach. He took over in 1999, serving as head coach for the Hoyas for 24 seasons. In 24 seasons, his teams won 470 games and won three Region Championships. The Hoyas have competed in 19 State Playoffs; including two straight appearances in the State Quarterfinals in 2002 and 2003. The Hoyas advanced to the State Semifinals in 2016 and 2019. They finished the 2010 season as the State Champions and were ranked 15th nationally by USA Today and 21st by Baseball America. During his 24 seasons at the helm, 113 Hoyas have gone on to play college baseball and nine former players have been drafted into professional baseball.
An active member of The Georgia Dugout Club, Elkins was named Assistant Coach of the Year by the club in 1997. In 2010, he was named Cobb County Baseball Coach of the Year by the Marietta Daily Journal and was named AAAAA Baseball Coach of the Year by the Georgia Dugout Club and by the Atlanta Braves 400 Club. In 2002 and 2014, Don Shaw Field was named the High School Field of the Year by the Georgia Dugout Club.
In 2011, Elkins and the rest of the 1998 Harrison State Championship Team were inducted into the Harrison High School Athletics Hall of Fame. In 2015, he was named the Region 5AAAAAA Coach of the Year and named Harvey Cochran Coach of the Year by the Marietta Umpires Association.
In January 2017, Elkins was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club’s Hall of Fame.
Elkins and the rest of the 2010 State Championship Team were inducted into the Harrison High School Hall of Fame in the fall of 2019. In 2022, Don Shaw Field, home of the Hoyas was renamed the Mark Elkins Baseball Complex at Don Shaw Field by the Cobb County School District.
Elkins has been involved in international baseball at various levels with USA Baseball. In 2003, he served on the task force as bullpen manager during the Tournament of Stars at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Missouri. In 2006, Elkins served as head coach for USA Baseball’s at-large team during the Tournament of Stars.
Elkins has also traveled internationally serving on Team USA’s 18U National Team Coaching Staff. During the summer of 2007, he served as an assistant coach for the 18U National Team which competed in and captured the bronze medal in the COPABE Pan Am AAA Junior Championship in Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, Mexico. In 2008, Elkins served as Head Coach for Team USA’s 18U National Team which competed in the International Baseball Federation’s XXIII AAA World Junior Championships in Edmonton, Alberta. The Junior Team compiled a 13-1 record for the summer and captured the silver medal during the event. Elkins’ work with the 2008 team combined with the effort of the staff and players, resulted in him being named the Developmental Baseball Coach of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee.
Elkins and his wife of 30 years, Richelle, currently reside in Acworth, Ga. He also has a son, Tyler Elkins, who is 26 years old.
