Cougar Baseball Finalizes Coaching Staff

PULLMAN, Wash. (August 7, 2023) – Washington State Baseball added Brandon Vial and Austin Ames to complete its coaching staff, Head Coach Nathan Choate announced Monday.

Vial will be the Cougars Director of Player Development while Ames will be the Director of Baseball Operations. Choate was announced as the Cougars 18^th head coach in program history June 23.

Vial arrived at WSU after working the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Lewis-Clark State College, helping coach the pitchers and catchers as the Warriors reached the NAIA National Championship game in 2022 and 2023. The 2022 LC pitching staff finished the season second in the NAIA with a 3.21 ERA. In the summer of 2022, Vial was the head coach of the Walla Walla Sweets in the West Coast Summer League while in the 2021 summer, Vial was named the Northwoods League Coach of the Year after leading the St. Cloud Rox pitching staff to a record-setting summer.

Prior to Lewis-Clark State College, Vial was the Director of Player and Program Development at Georgia Gwinnett College in 2021 where they won the NAIA National Championship. In 2020, Vial worked at the University of Nevada as the Director of Player Development. Vial played two seasons at Feather River College where he went 16-2 with a 2.24 career ERA before playing his final two seasons at Austin Peay.

"We are very excited to add Brandon to our staff, he most recently was an assistant at Lewis-Clark State College and previously won a NAIA National Championship at Georgia-Gwinett College," Choate said. "Brandon is a tireless worker and brings an infectious positive attitude to our program."

Ames arrived at Washington State after working the 2023 summer as an operations intern at Team USA in North Carolina and as an operations intern for Major League Baseball at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida. Prior to working with MLB, Ames was a ticket sales associate for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2022 season and worked in a number of roles for the Southeast Missouri State Athletic Department (2020-22). Ames earned his bachelor's degree in sport management from Southeast Missouri State in 2023.

"Austin is a tremendous addition to our staff, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southeast Missouri State University and most recently worked with USA Baseball as a baseball operations intern with the Prospect Development Pipeline," Choate said. "Austin is extremely organized and will have a major impact on the operations of our program."

Choate announced Jake Valentine is returning as the Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator and will serve as the hitting coach and coach the outfielders, Joe Perez will be an Assistant Coach and serve as the infield coach and assist with the hitters, and Eric Hutting will be an Assistant Coach and work with the catchers while assisting with the pitchers and hitters.

Washington State University Athletics

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