How Calvary Day baseball coach Phillip Lee has alma mater on impressive playoff run

Phillip Lee has been a constant at Calvary Day since his days as a three-sport standout with the Cavaliers — and he has carried it on as the head coach of the baseball team at his alma mater for the last 10 seasons.

He is working with arguably the best team in his tenure as coach this season as the Cavs (25-5) prepare for their Class 3A state semifinal series with Mary Persons (23-12) with a double header set for Friday, May 10, starting at 4 p.m. at Grayson Stadium, with a third game, if needed, scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m.

Lee was a standout second baseman for the Cavs, where he graduated in 2003 and played under Kevin Farmer. Lee went on to play at Brewton Parker as a standout middle infielder.

"I always respected the way Coach Farmer went about his business — he was organized, detail oriented and focused on the fundamentals and I think that matches me personality wise," said Lee, who turned 39 on Tuesday, May 7. "I got my first start as a sophomore and was lucky enough to play every inning of every game until I graduated. Now as a coach, I try to make sure I've dotted every I and crossed every T to make sure our team is as prepared as possible."

Farmer, who won a pair of state titles at Calvary before moving to his alma mater of Benedictine and winning two more before stepping down in 2023, said Lee was the kind of player coaches love to work with.

"Phillip was one of the hardest working players I've coached," Farmer said. "He was always a student of the game and had that attention to detail and scrappy style of play that has carried over to his approach with his team. He's always trying to learn new things about the game and implement them with his players and grow as a coach."

Lee, who is also the Athletic Director at Calvary, has passed on that scrappy style to his squad, and the Cavs are riding an 11-game win streak and have swept their first three playoff series. Senior Caden Arnold, a four-year starter at shortstop, is a catalyst at the leadoff spot, where he is hitting .398 with 49 runs and 36 stolen bases.

"It's hard to put into words what Coach Lee means to our team," said Arnold, who is headed to play football as a receiver at Georgia Southern next fall. "He helps us all become better players, but also be better as men. He's demanding as a coach, and he's usually pretty calm. But he got pretty fiery with us before today's games (in the quarterfinal win over Dawson County last weekend). Something got into him, and I'm getting chill bumps right now just thinking about his speech."

Senior Will Hampton is headed to play baseball on a scholarship at Vanderbilt next season, and said Lee has had a huge impact in his four seasons as a Calvary Day starter.

"One thing people may not realize is that Coach Lee might look like a little guy, but he doesn't play games — he is tough and he is a dude," Hampton said. "He pushes us to try to be perfect and play our best every game, and we all love to play for him."

Baseball is a family affair for Lee and his clan. He married a Calvary alum in Natalie (Paris) Lee, a former basketball star with the Cavs and the couple has a nine-year old son, Bryson, who recently had his hair bleached to match with the team's players, and a four-year old daughter Avery. Lee's parents and in-laws are at every game.

His father, Walter Lee, was a standout baseball player in his prep days at Savannah Christian and played for a year at Armstrong College. He looks on with pride about what his son has accomplished.

"He was a safety in football and a guard in basketball and he was always trying hard — giving 100%," Walter Lee said. "He was always a great fielder, they used to call him 'Hoover' because he picked up everything hit his way. That was his forte, playing defense, and he wants his teams to play the same way."

But Walter Lee's best memory from his son's high school career was an offensive moment — when Phillip hit a homer run at Metter on his 18th birthday.

"That was the only home run of my career," Phillip Lee said on the 21st anniversary of his round tripper. "I think the fence in left field at Metter was 325 feet, and I hit it 326 feet. I've been very blessed with my family and with baseball.

"In high school, we had a coach named Tommy Hensley who told me that whatever I decided to do for a career that it was important to get up each day and go to work doing something you enjoy. I've been lucky enough to be able to do that, and there's no better place to be working than at Calvary Day."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Calvary Day alum Phillip Lee has Cavs' baseball team on brink of title berth