Sam Dempster has been the only coach that the Durham College men’s baseball program has ever known, as he was with the program for the inaugural season in 1992.
For the last 18 seasons as head coach of the Lords, Dempster has been instrumental in guiding the program to the level of excellence where it is today.
Since day one, the Durham College baseball program has been a contender in the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association (CIBA), as the team has only one losing season in 18 years. Since the 1995 season, the team has qualified for the Ontario Championship finals in all but one year; while Dempster has gone on to compile an impressive overall record of 257-177 and a conference record of 169-108.
The Lords have won the CIBA Ontario Conference championship five times, including four straight from 2005 to 2008. Durham’s first conference championship came in 1999.
Durham has qualified for the CIBA national championship seven times, including this past season where the Lords hosted the championship for the first time. In 1994, in only the program’s third year, the Lords went on to win the CIBA national bronze medal.
In January of 2007, the veteran coach was awarded the Julio Puente Envoy International Coach Award by Major League Baseball at the American Baseball Coaches Association Conference in Orlando, Florida. The prestigious award is presented by MLB for unselfish, dedicated and passionate work in growing the game of baseball.
Coach “D” annually takes part in the MLB envoy program, going on tour throughout Africa and Europe on behalf of Major League Baseball (MLB); with the goal to promote and grow the game of baseball to children world wide. Dempster has also organized the Lords efforts of donating baseball equipment and uniforms to underprivileged areas.
In addition to his lead role at Durham, Coach Dempster is also an associate Canadian scout for Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers and previously a scout for the New York Yankees. He has also co-organized the Ontario Best Ever Clinic for many years and has assisted the Team Ontario program both north and south of the border. In 2005-06 he spent the summer in Europe as part of a group of coaches (under the direction of MLB) running clinics in Germany and England.
In April 2010, Dempster was inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame.
DEMPSTER’S CAREER STATS
Head Coach of the Lords: 1992 - Present
Overall Record: 257-177 (.592 winning percentage)
Conference Record: 169-108 (.610 winning percentage)
National Championship Appearances (Seven): 1994, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Ontario Championships (Five): 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
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