Varsity Baseball

Chris Margraf enters his 15th season as the head varsity baseball coach of the Lawrence Academy Spartans for 2012–2013. Last year's squad came up just short of defending its 2011 ISL Championship finishing in third place with a record of 10-5. Over Coach Margraf's first four seasons, he compiled an ISL league record of 37–21 before taking a year leave of absence to attend graduate school. Upon his return, he began the process of rebuilding the baseball program at LA as the ISL continued to evolve into an extremely competitive baseball league. The team has earned a record of 43-17 during the past four seasons. Coach Margraf played college baseball at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, where he captained the team during the 1995 season. He spent his summers playing for the Keene Blue Jays (then of the Northern Baseball League). His college baseball coach, Harvey Shapiro, has been a coaching mainstay in the prestigious Cape Cod League, where he has managed the Falmouth Commodores (1994–1998) and the Bourne Braves (2002–present). Coach Margraf serves as the interim director of development in addition to the director of the Lawrence Academy summer baseball camp. Previously, he served as the associate director of admissions for two years and math teacher for four. He lives in a home on campus with his wife, Libby, their two daughters, Madeline (6) and Harper (3), and a black lab, Grady.

Mike Culley graduated from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history. A four-year varsity scholarship basketball player who scored 1,179 career points in the competitive Northeast 10 conference, Mike graduated in 2000 and then served two years as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Connecticut College, where he was in charge of strength and conditioning, off-season workouts, recruiting, and scouting. In 2003, Mr. Culley joined the Lawrence Academy community as a history teacher and the assistant coach of the girls’ varsity basketball team. He took over as the head coach in 2004 and served in that position for three years. Mr. Culley, who teaches in the CSC program, now coaches JV boys’ basketball and is the assistant varsity baseball coach. He resides in Dana House and serves as superaffiliate in Waters and Loomis dormitories.