Former Mat-Su pitching coach promoted to Miners manager

PALMER — Chris Gordon left the Mat-Su Valley after the 2011 Alaska Baseball League season eager to return for another summer as the Mat-Su Miners pitching coach.

Gordon will be back for another year, but not as pitching coach.

Gordon has been promoted, and will be the head coach of the Miners for the 2012 season.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to manage,” Gordon said recently. “I really enjoyed it up there last year, and I’m excited for the chance to come back.”

Gordon recently capped his fourth season as an assistant at Millegan College in Tennessee. He started coaching hitters and catchers at his alma mater and was promoted to pitching coach and recruiting coordinator in 2010.

Gordon has never been a head coach at the college level.

“I’m extremely blessed that Pete and Denise (Christopher) were kind enough to give me this kind of opportunity,” Gordon said.

Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher said he was impressed with Gordon’s work during the 2011 season. Gordon and former head coach Brian Yocke faced their fair share of adversity in 2011. There was internal struggle that led to the dismissal of a third assistant coach. The team also lost a handful of players during the season. Despite the obstacles, Yocke and Gordon still managed to lead the Miners to a second-place finish in the ABL.

“With all the trouble we had, he was great,” Christopher said of Gordon. “He was the guy who kept everything in place.”

As soon as it was determined that Yocke would not return for a second summer as head coach, Christopher said Gordon was immediately considered.

“I talked to a couple people, talked to Denise. That was the logical move,” Christopher said.

Christopher said he feels Gordon has the right demeanor to be an ABL head coach.

“He knows the game. He’s levelheaded. He doesn’t rush into things,” Christopher said. “I don’t think he overreacts, which is good. For a young guy, he has a lot to offer.”

Christopher said Gordon’s experience working with both pitchers and position players is a bonus.

Gordon said he’ll benefit from his experience as an ABL assistant coach as he heads into his first stint as a head coach leading college talent. Gordon also praised Yocke for his help during Gordon’s first year in Alaska.

“Brian was phenomenal to work for. He taught me a lot about how the game’s played up there,” Gordon said.

After Gordon’s hire, Nate Fritz was named Mat-Su’s pitching coach and Joel Pedretti was added as the team’s assistant coach.

Fritz, a high school coach in Elizabethton, Tenn., is also a Millegan alum. Pedretti is an assistant coach at Merced Community College in California.

Gordon was a member of the Millegan baseball team from 2003-07. Gordon has also been an assistant coach at the high school level and in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.