The Merchants coaching staff will look a little different in 2016 after four coaches have decided to step down after the 2015 season.

Manager Tim Nelson is leaving the Merchants after having coached baseball in Alameda successfully for 25 years at several different age levels. Under Nelson, the Merchants became a collegiate summer team in 2012. Over the first four years of the Merchants existence as a collegiate summer baseball team, Nelson guided the team to 105 wins and two Golden State Collegiate Baseball League (GSCBL) Championships (2013 and 2014). Nelson was named the GSCBL Coach of the Year in 2013. That summer, the Merchants went 31-13 (20-4 in the GSCBL), were the #1 seed in the playoffs and won their first GSCBL championship by defeating the Auburn Wildcats 7-4. At the end of the 2013 season, the Merchants were ranked by Perfect Game as one of the TOP 50 Collegiate Summer teams in the entire country. The Merchants accomplished this feat in only their second year of existence. Nelson should have won the COY award in 2014 also. After placing 2nd in the regular season behind Top Speed Baseball, the Merchants earned the #4 seed in the GSCBL playoffs by the skin of their teeth - beating Top Speed 3-1 in their last regular season game. The Merchants then pulled the upset against Top Speed in the opening round of the playoffs(11-9). Then they steamrolled the Healdsburg Prune Packers (13-6). They then beat Top Speed in the championship game (5-3). The Merchants were the only team to beat Top Speed three times that summer & the only team to beat Healdsburg four times. 

Bench Coach Stephen Yamasaki has been coaching in Alameda since the late 1970's. He was with the Merchants since the beginning - and became head coach when they were one of the strongest Senior Babe Ruth teams in the nation in the mid-late 1980's. Yamasaki brought them to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series in 1988. This was quite a feat at the time (since it was before the emergence of what is now known as "travel baseball"). Yamasaki took players from the only 3 schools within the city limits of Alameda and guided them all the way to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series championship game. As a coach at Alameda High School, he won over 300 games as a head coach from 1988-2002. He was named the 2003 AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year. During his time with the collegiate team, the Merchants coaching staff and players regularly called upon Yamasaki because of his vast knowledge base concerning the game of baseball. He was an invaluable presence in the dugout - always teaching and supplying the coaching staff with valuable information (spray charts, hitting patterns, etc.). He has stepped down in hopes of coaching the Alameda World Team in South Korea next summer. He will continue to be the assistant coach at Arroyo High School in Hayward, CA.

Hitting and infield coach Chris Dean has moved over to the other side of the Bay Area to coach in Palo Alto with Swagger Baseball. Chris will be teaching the up-and-coming 10 and 11 year olds how to play the game of baseball correctly. He will also continue his "Dean of Diamonds" program where he will give roving private hitting instruction throughout the Bay Area. Chris was a High School Mizuno All American in 1992 at Hayward High School and was the NJCAA Player of the Year at Seminole Junior College in 1994. He played profressioinal baseball within the Seattle Mariners organization and with independent teams from 1994 to 2001, twice being selected to All Star teams (A and AA). Under Chris' guidance in 2013, the Merchants won their first GSCBL championship and had a team batting average close to .300 (.294). Their offensive output improved in every category from 2012 to 2013. There were eight (8) Alameda hitters who hit over .300 that summer. In 2014, the Merchants' improved in every offensive category AGAIN (truly a rarity) and had six hitters hit over .300 - even though the Merchants were the defending GSCBL champions and saw the opposing teams best pitching every time out.

Pitching Coach Ken Jones is leaving after seeing his daughter accept a lacrosse scholarship to the University of Alabama. He will be spending his next few summers with his family when his daughter returns home from school. Before coming to the Merchants, Ken was the pitching coach at Azusa Pacific University. Under his tutelage, the Merchants pitching staff members had some great summer seasons:

2012 - Zack Wong (CSUEB) - The Merchants closer during their first summer had an ERA of 0.90 for the entire summer (21 appearances)

2012 - Jesse Schumacher (Feather River) - Had a 5-0 record in league play and was one out away from throwing a no-hitter vs. Fresno.

2013 - Matt Fontaine (CSUEB) - All GSCBL Pitcher. 7-1 with a 1.90 ERA

2013 - George Asmus (Sonoma State) - All GSCBL Pitcher. 64 K's in 39 innings pitched. Went on to be a Division II All American in 2014.

2013 - Ricky Delgado (UC Riverside) - All GSCBL Pitcher. 5-1 and a save. 2.36 ERA (Delgado was also All GSCBL in 2014)

2013 - Joel Deporte (McMurry College) - All GSCBL Relief Pitcher. The closer was 5-2 with a save. Went on to have one of the best pitching years in McMurry history (over 100 IP and only 8 BB's).

2014 - Nick Hudson (CSUEB) - All GSCBL Pitcher. The Merchants ace had the lowest ERA of any starter in the GSCBL (1.09)

2014 - Peter Nyznyk (Butler University) - All GSCBL Pitcher. The lefty was 5-1 and only gave up 5 BB's all summer. Only pitcher in the country to beat Top Speed Baseball twice in one week.

2014 - Daniel Reitzler (Univ of San Diego) - All GSCBL Relief Pitcher - The Merchants closer had an unhittable slider. Kept hitters off balance all summer long. Was 2-1 and had 5 saves. Selected to GSCBL All Star team.

2014 - Gunnar David (Holy Names University) - All GSCBL Pitcher - Was Alameda's set up man in front of Reitzler all summer. Over 23 appearances, he was 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA. Over the course of his first 19 appearances, his ERA on the summer was 0.00.

2015 - Isaac Friesen (University of Hawaii) - All GSCBL Pitcher - Was Alameda's "Iceman" in 2015. The Merchant's closer led the GSCBL with seven (7) saves. Finished the season with an ERA of 1.12 over 20 appearances. Through his first 19 appearances, his ERA was 0.00.

All of these coaches will truly be missed and they will always be part of the Merchant family. We wish them the best of luck as they move on to new endeavors.  Assistant Coach Dan Mills will be the only remaining coach left going into the 2016 season. A search will be conducted to help fill these coaching positions. Trust us when we say that they will be hard to fill.

Good run guys. Best of luck to all of you!!