The 2019 ABCA/Diamond National Coaches of the Year have been announced in all collegiate and high school divisions. The National and Regional Coaches of the Year will be honored on Friday, Jan. 3 in the main clinic hall prior to the start of clinics at the 76th annual ABCA Convention, which will be held Jan. 2-5, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.
2019 ABCA/Diamond National Coaches of the Year
NCAA Div. I: Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt (TN)
NCAA Div. II: Joe Urso, Tampa (FL)
NCAA Div. III: Scott Laverty, Champan (CA)
NAIA: Billy Berry, Tennessee Wesleyan
NJCAA Div. I: Anthony Gilich, Central Arizona
NJCAA Div. II: Raydon Leaton, Northern Oklahoma-Enid
NJCAA Div. III: Keith Gorman, Cumberland County (NJ)
Pacific Assoc. Division: John Altobelli, Orange Coast (CA)
High School Div. I: Chan Brown, Parkview (GA)
High School Div. II: Ricky Griffin, Argyle (TX)
High School Div. III: Aaron Frey, Sabetha (KS)
The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 11,000 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth. The 76th annual ABCA Convention will be held Jan. 2-5, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.
About Diamond
Diamond Sports designs and manufactures high quality baseball and softball products for all levels, while striving to inspire participation in baseball and softball with character, integrity and respect. Diamond Sports is based in Southern California and is proud to be the Official Ball of many great college conferences, as well as leagues, tournaments and organizations nationwide. You can find Diamond on the web at
diamond-sports.com.
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NCAA Div. I Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| Northeast |
Jim Penders |
UConn |
CT |
| East |
Randy Mazey |
West Virginia |
WV |
| Atlantic |
Mike Martin |
Florida State |
FL |
| South |
Tim Corbin |
Vanderbilt |
TN |
| Mideast |
Erik Bakich |
Michigan |
MI |
| Central |
John McCormack |
Florida Atlantic |
FL |
| Midwest |
Tim Tadlock |
Texas Tech |
TX |
| West |
John Savage |
UCLA |
CA |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NCAA Div. II Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| East |
Frank Catalanotto |
NYIT |
NY |
| Atlantic |
Joe Spano |
Mercyhurst |
PA |
| Southeast |
Jim Gantt |
Catawba |
NC |
| South |
Joe Urso |
Tampa |
FL |
| Midwest |
John Schaly |
Ashland |
OH |
| Central |
Kyle Crookes |
Central Missouri |
MO |
| South Central |
Chris Hanks |
Colorado Mesa |
CO |
| West |
Eric Newman |
UC San Diego |
CA |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NCAA Div. III Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| New England |
Ed Flaherty |
Southern Maine |
ME |
| New York |
Joe Brown |
Cortland |
NY |
| Mid-Atlantic |
Bob Babb |
Johns Hopkins |
MD |
| South |
Jan Weisberg |
Birmingham-Southern |
AL |
| Mideast |
Chad Fitzgerald |
Heidelberg |
OH |
| Mideast |
Jeff Mountain |
Washington & Jefferson |
PA |
| Central |
Bill Kurich |
Webster |
MO |
| Midwest |
Mike Stawski |
Concordia Chicago |
IL |
| West |
Scott Laverty |
Chapman |
CA |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NAIA Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| Opening Rd. |
Jonathan Estes |
Freed-Hardeman |
TN |
| Opening Rd. |
Billy Berry |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
TN |
| Opening Rd. |
Brad Stromdahl |
Georgia Gwinnett |
GA |
| Opening Rd. |
Adrian Dinkel |
Southeastern |
FL |
| Opening Rd. |
Jorge Perez |
St. Thomas |
FL |
| Opening Rd. |
Patrick McCarthy |
Faulkner |
AL |
| Opening Rd. |
Mike Ross |
Science & Arts |
OK |
| Opening Rd. |
Duane Monlux |
Bellevue |
NE |
| Opening Rd. |
Kip McWilliams |
Indiana Tech |
IN |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NJCAA Div. I Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| Central |
Dave Burroughs |
Cowley |
KS |
| East Central |
David Shelton |
Walters State |
TN |
| Eastern |
Luis Melendez |
Monroe |
NY |
| Gulf |
Jeff Johnson |
Chipola |
FL |
| Northern |
Marc Rardin |
Iowa Western |
IA |
| South Central |
Perry Keith |
Connors State |
OK |
| Southeastern |
Hunter Vick |
Chattahoochee Valley |
AL |
| Southern |
Matt Podjenski |
Navarro |
TX |
| Southwestern |
Jimmy Durham |
New Mexico J.C. |
NM |
| Western |
Anthony Gilich |
Central Arizona |
AZ |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NJCAA Div. II Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| East |
David Brust |
Monroe |
NY |
| Midwest |
Ron Riggle |
Lincoln Land |
IL |
| North |
Eric Laskovy |
Kellogg |
MI |
| North Central |
Mike Davenport |
Madison |
WI |
| North Plains |
Marcus Clapp |
Northeast |
NE |
| Northeast |
Mike McCarry |
Lackawanna |
PA |
| Plains |
Raydon Leaton |
Northern Oklahoma-Enid |
OK |
| South |
Michael Avalon |
Pearl River |
MS |
| Southeast |
Lyndon Coleman |
Pasco-Hernando State |
FL |
| Southwest |
Tony Cirelli |
Mesa |
AZ |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond NJCAA Div. III Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| District A |
Jason Rathbun |
Herkimer |
NY |
| District B |
Bill Fratto |
Oakton |
IL |
| District C |
Brandon Rains |
Brookhaven |
TX |
| District D |
Reece Honeycutt |
Rockingham |
NC |
| District E |
Dwight Kotila |
Century |
MN |
| District F |
Kevin Rix |
Rhode Island |
RI |
| District G |
Keith Gorman |
Cumberland County |
NJ |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond Pacific Assoc. Division Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| No. California |
Derek Sullivan |
Sacramento City |
CA |
| So. California |
John Altobelli |
Orange Coast |
CA |
| Northwest |
Eric Lane |
Lower Columbia |
WA |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond High School Div. I Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| 1 |
Greg Christodulu |
Shenendehowa |
NY |
| 2 |
Rob Hahne |
Westfield |
VA |
| 3 |
Chan Brown |
Parkview |
GA |
| 4 |
Tim Funkhouser |
Edwardsville |
IL |
| 5 |
Michael Barta |
Johnston |
IA |
| 6 |
Alan McDougal |
Colleyville Heritage |
TX |
| 7 |
Colin Griffin |
Jesuit |
OR |
| 8 |
John Weber |
Cypress |
CA |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond High School Div. II Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| 1 |
Curtis Nobles |
Ballston Spa |
NY |
| 2 |
Sean O’Connor |
DeMatha Catholic |
MD |
| 3 |
Don Hanson |
Pike County |
GA |
| 4 |
Matt Buckner |
Farragut |
TN |
| 5 |
Robert Struckhoff |
St. Francis Borgia |
MO |
| 6 |
Ricky Griffin |
Argyle |
TX |
| 7 |
OJ Favela |
Nogales |
AZ |
| 8 |
Greg Wakefield |
Buhach Colony |
CA |
| |
| 2019 ABCA/Diamond High School Div. III Regional Coaches of the Year |
| Region |
Coach |
School |
State |
| 1 |
Ed Holloway |
Bishop Hendricken |
RI |
| 2 |
Christopher Sommerhalter |
Emerson |
NJ |
| 3 |
Daniel Little |
Landrum |
SC |
| 4 |
Dave Pishkur |
Andrean |
IN |
| 5 |
Aaron Frey |
Sabetha |
KS |
| 6 |
John Parker |
Ouachita Christian |
LA |
| 7 |
Casey Miller |
University |
CO |
| 8 |
David Lawrence |
Dunn |
CA |
| |