Dash O’Neill enters his ninth season as the Head Coach of the Georgia Highlands College baseball team. 

2024 was a special season for O'Neill and the Chargers who led the nation in wins (56), won the Appalachian District Championship, and made the program's first ever trip to the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Despite being heavy underdogs, the Chargers put the program on the map by defeating national powerhouse McClennan in the tournament opener 5-1.  GHC followed up that victory by beating the #1 team in the nation Johnson County 10-1, and winning the game of the tournament Blinn college with a dramatic walk off home run by freshman Ryan Martin.  Ultimately, the Charegrs finished third at the World Series and were honored with the Tillie Bishop Sportsmanship Award, for exemplefying the highest standards of sportsmanship and class at the event.  Coach O'Neill was the inagural recipient of the Debbie Hamilton "All In" Award.  Debbie Hamilton, who passed away early in 2024, was the loving wife of longtime tournament director Jamie Hamilton.  Mrs. Hamilton was known for her steadfast committment to the community of Grand Junction, her many philanthropical endeavors, and for giving all of herself each year to the success of the JUCO World Series.  Coach O described recieving this award as "The highlight of my career." 

2024 started with a bang, as the Chargers opened up Commander Robert Bentley Field by defeating Bryan College 19-3 and 9-0 in the first true home games in program history.  GHC rattled off 11 straight victories to start the season and had winning streaks of 11, 17 (program record), and 13 during the campaign.  In addition to leading the nation in wins, the Chargers finished the year with the most home runs (115), hits (742), and total bases (1253) of any NJCAA DI team.  GHC finished second in defense with an incredible .979 fielding percentage on the year and were top five in several other categories.  When the dust settled, the Chargers secured a third place finish at the JUCO World Series and earned a final ranking of #2 in the nation.  Six Chargers were honored as All-Americans (Barrett Eldridge, Ryan Wideman, Trip Dovale, Luke Orfi, Michael Sharman, and Chandler Anderson), and eight were placed on the All Conference squad (Barrett Eldridge, Ryan Wideman, Trip Dovale, Will Cawthon, Luke Orfi, Michael Sharman, Ryan Martin and Kyle Stephenson).  Barrett Eldridge was honored as the player of the year for the GCAA after belting out a school record 25 home runs with 87 RBI's while batting .416 on the season.  Thirteen Chargers signed to play at the next level with eleven making the jump to the DI ranks.  GHC was also named an NJCAA Academic Geam of the Year, finishing the year with a team GPA of 3.16.  

The Chargers finished another strong campaign in 2023, achieving the highest NJCAA ranking in program history (#9 NJCAA) and taking third place in the GCAA with a final record of 33-21.  Ryan Wideman became the fifth Charger to recieve NJCAA All-American honors during O'Neill's tenure, and GHC saw seven players named to the All-Conference Team (Ryan Wideman, Hudson Sapp, Trey Baker, Jay Murdock, Adam Love, Mitchell Walker, and Chandler Anderson).  Three Chargers were named to the NJCAA All-Academic Team (Braden Bamburowski, Nic Ferrer, and Chris Buchanan), and Parker Poteet was the program's seventh consecutive GHC Male Scholar Athlete of the Year.  Twelve Chargers signed to continue their careers at four year institutions running O'Neill's tally up to 98 since 2017.       

2022 was a year marked by championships and shattered records.  Finishing with a record of 45-11, the Chargers won their second consecutive GCAA Conference Title and their second NJCAA Region XVII Championship.  GHC landed three players on the NJCAA All-America squad (Conner Todaro, David Smith, and Ben Olson), and six players on the All-Conference team (Conner Todaro, David Smith, Ben Olson, Caden Smith, Zayd Brannigan, and Parker Poteet).  Conner Todaro was named Player of the Year for the GCAA and the Chargers finished ranked in every major national poll (#7 JBB, #10 NJCAA, #12 PBR, #13 PG).  The Chargers pounded out 101 home runs, easily the most in program history en route to scoring a record 522 runs in 56 games. An incredible 21 players advanced to four year institutions, and countless program records fell as the Chargers continued to make their presence known on the national scale.    

Coming off the shortened 2020 campaign, the 2021 Chargers picked up right where they left off winning a program record 42 games and the second conference championship O'Neill's tenure.  2021 marked the 4th time in 5 years that the Chargers spent time in the national polls reaching highs of #9 (The JBB), #16 (NJCAA), and #18 (Perfectgame) while landing a record six players on the GCAA All Conference team.  All 10 of O'Neill's sophomores moved on to four year institutions, continuing his strong record of helping players advance their careers.  O'Neill's 2021 squad established 18 new team records and several new individual marks.  Conner Todaro became the third Charger to win a Rawlings NJCAA Gold Glove, and Johnny Dow became the program's GCAA Pitcher of the Year while 6 players were named to the NJCAA All-Academic Team.

Though shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season saw the Chargers reaching new heights as they surged to a 21-4 record highlighted by a 3 game sweep of #3 Sinclair Community College.  Freshmen Joe Sutton and Johnny Dow were both named All-Americans while the team finished the year with a 3.21 GPA.  The Chargers led the NJCAA in shutouts (8), stolen bases (120), fewest walks allowed per 9 innings (2.25), and stolen bases allowed (4).  They finished 2^nd in the NJCAA in wins (21) and fielding percentage (.975) and posted the 3^rd lowest ERA (2.40) in the nation.  Despite the shortened season, the Chargers saw 13 players move on to 4-year schools and once again achieved a 100% success rate in player advancement.

In 2018 and 2019, the Chargers continued to see success on the field and in the classroom, reaching as high as #13 in the NJCAA poll, being named an NJCAA Academic Team of the Year, and placing 25 players at 4-year institutions.  Pitcher Noah Bryant was drafted by the Kansas City Royals and first baseman Bryson Horne was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Braves, placing two more Chargers in the professional ranks.  During this period, the Chargers pulled in 16 postseason awards, including 6 All-Conference selections, 2 GHC Scholar-Athlete Awards, and the Program’s first NJCAA All-American and GCAA Player of the Year, Skylar McPhee.  

O’Neill’s 2017 debut season saw the Chargers achieve unprecedented success both on the field and in the classroom.  In his first year as the Chargers skipper, O’Neill led GHC to its first-ever NJCAA Region XVII Championship after a 40 win regular season and an inspired run through the GCAA/Region Tournament.  The Chargers finished 12^th in the final NJCAA poll – the first time in program history the Chargers were featured in rankings.  O’Neill’s inaugural team rewrote the GHC record book, establishing 28 new team and 19 individual records.  The Chargers saw an unprecedented 18 players advance their careers to four-year institutions after posting a program high team GPA of 3.1.  If that were not enough, Charger players received 10 postseason awards, including 3 All-GCAA selections, 2 GCAA Gold Gloves, 4 Region All-Tournament selections, and 2 Rawlings NJCAA DI National Gold Gloves.

Prior to taking the helm at GHC, O’Neill spent 12 years at NJCAA powerhouse Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Phenix City, AL.  At Chattahoochee Valley, O’Neill helped guide the Pirates to 493 wins, three consecutive appearances in the Alpine Bank JUCO World Series, and the #1 ranking in the NJCAA in 2013, 2014, and 2016.  In addition, Coach O’Neill’s offense rewrote the record books at Chattahoochee Valley, establishing new marks in literally every single offensive category.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, O’Neill grew up in nearby Woodstock, Georgia, and attended Sequoyah High School where he played the middle infield for coach Dave Audia.  O’Neill was also a member of the Chiefs’ 1996 Georgia High School State Championship wrestling team led by legendary coaches Bob Eddy and Kevin Higgins.  After high school, O’Neill continued his baseball career as a catcher and pitcher and Andrew College for two years before transferring to Columbus State University to complete his eligibility.  During his time at CSU, the Cougars enjoyed incredible success, making two trips to the NCAA DII College World Series, winning the National Championship in 2002. 

When O’Neill’s playing career came to an end, Chattahoochee Valley Community College head coach Adam Thomas offered him a job as a volunteer assistant coach for the Pirates.  O’Neill would work primarily with catchers during the 2004-2005 season at Chatt Valley, but after just one year he was promoted to lead assistant.  In 2006-2007 O’Neill was named hitting instructor and infield coach for the Pirates, kicking off a decade of offensive dominance for Chatt Valley in the ACCC.

In his first year directing the offense, the Pirates established new program records for runs scored, hits, runs batted in, total bases, walks, and triples.  In the years to follow, O’Neill’s offense would rewrite the Chatt Valley record book several times over again.  All told, O’Neill’s offense owns program records in at-bats (1939 in ’16), hits (680 in ’15), doubles (146 in ’15), triples (24 in ’07), home runs (69 in ’16), RBIs (485 in ’16), batting average (.364 in ’15), on-base percentage (.456 in ’10), slugging percentage (.531 in ’10), total bases (983 in ’16), walks (314 in ’11), and hit by pitches (113 in ’16). 

In addition, coach O’Neill helped lead the Pirates to 12 consecutive Region 22 tournaments and produce 66 All-Conference players, 39 All-Region performers, 7 All-Americans, and 2 ACCC Player of the Year winners.  During his tenure, the Pirates averaged over 41 wins per season, claimed the top spot in the NJCAA rankings on four occasions, and set program records for wins in 2007 (41), 2010 (42), 2014 (48), and 2016 (52).

O’Neill is a graduate of Troy University with a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Sport Management.  He is also completing the requirements for an M.S. in Professional Counseling at Grand Canyon University.  O’Neill is married to the former Jenny McCrimmon of Columbus, GA, and the couple has three sons Jackson (16), Jimmy (10), and Declan (8).