Bob Owsley: Cook High School

Owsley was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2009.

Bob Owsley, a native of Kentucky, made his way south to Georgia and won more than 500 games in his coaching career. The longtime coach was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2009.

Owsley finished with a career coaching mark of 520-218. After graduating from Raceland (Ky.) High School and Pikeville College, he began his career at Lawrence County (Ky.) High School for one season before landing at Cook High School.

He spent 32 years coaching high school sports, 29 as a head baseball coach. He was Associate Head Coach for one season.

He had two stints at Cook and also coached at Buford and Hawkinsville. He guided his programs to 12 region region titles and was named Region Coach of the Year 12 times. He made the playoffs 21 times, including 10 trips to the quarterfinals and seven trips to the semifinals. In 2010, his Hornets finished as the Class 2A state runner-up.

In 2010, Owsley was named the Class 2A Coach of the Year and he also led the 2010 Georgia Dugout Club Southeast All-Stars to a gold medal. He coached the Southeast All-Stars five times.

He served as Associate Head Coach in 2000 when he helped Cook win the Class 2A state championship.

He served as co-head coach on the 16U Georgia Blue Team that finished fourth nationally in the USA Baseball Championships.

Owsley sent 46 players to college and 10 were drafted. One of his prized pupils was Kaleb Cowart, the 2010 Gatorade Player of the Year who was a No. 1 pick by the Angels.

"Hard work ... and the kids put in a lot of time," Owsley said of what made him successful. "We made sure everybody bought in and was a part of the program."

The longtime coach also was a defensive coordinator on the football team and spent 23 seasons coaching the sport. In 2000, he was the school's head football coach and he took the Hornets to the Class 2A state semifinals.

He also was the head basketball coach for nine seasons.

Owsley has been inducted into the Cook Sports Hall of Fame and in 2001, Owsley was named by the Cook Chamber of Commerce as its "Man of the Year."