Stuart Chester: Cartersville High School
Chester was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2014.
Bio updated 8/30/2024
Stuart Chester was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2014 after guiding Cartersville to six state championships in a 13-year span. Chester won 532 games over a 20-year span with the Hurricanes.
He guided Cartersville to three consecutive titles from 2001-2003, then the Hurricanes won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009. Chester’s last title at Cartersville came in 2013.
In May, 2017, Chester resigned from Cartersville and took the head baseball coaching position at Buford where he took the Wolves to the Class 5A state championship series in 2018.
His resume includes 12 appearances in the state semifinals and 18 region titles. Chester’s career coaching mark stands at 732-202-1 entering the 2025 season.
The Dawsonville native was a prep standout before playing collegiately at DeKalb Junior College and Augusta State. He later earned his degree from North Georgia College after his playing days ended. Chester started his career as an assistant coach at Cherokee and Pickens.
His first head coaching position was at Pickens in 1994. He went to Cartersville in 1996 as an assistant coach before taking over the head coaching position in 1997.
“Obviously, he’s got a tremendous resume with over 500 wins and six state championships,” former Buford baseball coach Tony Wolfe told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “But it’s also his character.”
Chester was the head coach of the East Team in the 2011 Perfect Game All-American Classic. The Georgia Dugout Preview Magazine named Chester’s Cartersville program as its Team of the Decade from 2000-2009.
Former Cartersville player Hayes Linn said Chester always created a family atmosphere.
"Growing up, you always wanted to be a Cartersville Hurricane," Linn told Perfect Game. "You have kids coming in from everywhere who just want to be a Cartersville Hurricane and be part of the baseball program that coach Chester has put together. It's really something special, for sure, what we have in Cartersville and it's a blessing to be a part of it."
Some information in this article was used from the Gwinnett Daily Post.