Chris Francis begins his 11th year at the helm of the Virginia Wesleyan baseball program in 2025-26. At the helm, he has helped earn the team 34 All-Conference awards, 14 VaSID Awards, and 10 All-Region Awards.
In the 2024 season, the Marlins went 20-19 solidifying themselves as one of the most improved teams in the 2024 season with a +13 improvement from last season making it to the ODAC Championship tournament for the first time since the 2019 season. Thomas Crandall and Micah Fox were named to the All-Conference team and were named to the ABCA All-Region Team, the first time since 2019 that a player has made the All-Region team. The team faced six nationally ranked opponents this season and posted a 4-2 record this season against Top-25 opponents.
The 2022 season saw the Marlins post a 16-19-1 overall record while going 6-13-1 in conference play. Following the regular season, four of Francis' athletes earned ODAC All-Conference honors; catcher Matt Sinko, outfielders Jaelen Hines and Trent Hanchey, and pitcher Robert Cook. The Marlins did have one of the top-20 strengths of schedule according to D3Baseball.com.
In his first year as head coach, he helped guide the Marlins to the 2015 ODAC tournament, the first trip to the postseason for the squad since the 2010 season. The second-place regular-season finish was also the best since 2010 while the ODAC tournament runner-up finish was a first since 2009.
The 2015 team went 14-6 in ODAC play, a six-game improvement over the previous season. The 14 wins were the most conference victories by a Marlin baseball team since the 2004 team won 15 conference games en route to an NCAA tournament berth. He also coached eight members of the team to All-ODAC honors, the most by a Marlin squad since the 1997 season.
The 2017 season saw the Marlins go 21-20, the first time the program has won at least 20 games in a season since the 2010 campaign. He led pitcher Patrick Monteverde to ODAC Rookie of the Year honors, the first time a Marlin has earned the award since the 2008 season.
Following the 2017 season, Coach Francis and the 2018 Marlins finished with the most wins (15) in the ODAC Conference in nine years, and the most regular season wins ever in Virginia Wesleyan University history at 31. The baseball team was also ranked in the top 25 nationally for the first time in over ten years and received its first regional bid since 2006.
The head coaching stint is the second time Francis has been at Virginia Wesleyan, guiding the pitching staff from 2003-07. The 2003 pitching staff ranked second nationally with a 2.19 ERA, setting a program record for wins behind a 34-9 record. He was part of a winning campaign each season, highlighted by 30+ win seasons in 2003 and 2004. The Marlins won three ODAC titles, advancing to the NCAA tournament three times. One of the top pitching instructors, Francis, has coached over 35 players who have signed into professional baseball.
Before his return to Virginia Wesleyan, he was the head coach at Division II College of St. Rose in Albany, New York. He has also coached at Division II Mansfield University, where he guided the Mountaineers to a pair of 30+ win seasons and an NCAA tournament appearance.
Francis, in total, has led four different baseball programs to NCAA berths. Francis also has coaching experience at the University of Rochester and Ithaca College. He helped Rochester to a pair of ECAC titles and an NCAA berth in 1999, while also helping Ithaca to three straight Empire 8 Conference crowns and three NCAA tournament appearances. He played at Ithaca where he was part of three teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament, with the 1994 squad advancing to the NCAA Division III College World Series. He was an all-region selection in his time on campus and was the recipient of the Carlton “Carp” Wood Award for Attitude. He graduated from Ithaca in 1997.
Francis and his wife Meghan have a son, Christian, and a daughter, Lillian.
