(GREENSBORO, N.C.) Greensboro College head baseball coach Matt Aker recently stepped down from his post to pursue other opportunities and will be replaced by assistant coach Jonathan Nichols.
Aker became the third head coach in program history when he took over the reigns in September of 2009. In his four years as head coach, Aker accumulated 66 total wins. His best season came in 2012, with The Pride posting a 22-14 mark. Greensboro set numerous school records during the campaign and was bolstered by a pitching staff that led the USA South in ERA, Fewest Home Runs Allowed, Fewest Hits Allowed, Fewest Runs Allowed, and Fewest Earned Runs Allowed.
Prior to becoming head coach, Aker served six seasons as the hitting, outfield, and base-running coach for The Pride and also worked with pitchers. He helped The Pride reach the conference title game for the first time since the 1998 season.
Nichols, meanwhile, has spent four years on the Greensboro coaching staff, holding the role of recruiting coordinator for three seasons. Nichols previously coached at Charlotte Latin School in the competitive NCISAA Charlotte Independent Schools Baseball Conference. He also worked as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he was a four year letterwinner and graduated in 2006.
In addition, Nichols has spent time coaching summer league baseball with the Carolina Stingers and Southern Ohio Copperheads. He has tutored four players who went on to play professionally, including Ryan Falcon (Texas Rangers – 29th round – 2007), Rob Gilliam (Oakland Athletics – 8th Round – 2009), Clinton McKinney (Colorado Rockies – 48th Round – 2009), and John Pedrotty (Arizona Diamondbacks – 13th Round – 2012).