Baseball Coaching Staff
Nick Black '02 enters his third season as the Quakers' head baseball coach. In his first season In 2007, Guilford finished with a 12-24 record and was honored with three all-conference selections. Black became the 17th coach in the 116-year history of Guilford's baseball program August 2005. He took over after serving as a Quakers' assistant coach for three seasons, during which
time the team went 71-50 and made two trips to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament. A 2002 Guilford graduate, Black lettered four years as the team’s catcher. He started three of four years behind the plate, but missed his junior season with a broken wrist, during which time he called pitches from the dugout. He captained the team as a senior and graduated with a .313 batting average and 56 runs batted in in 103 games. Black caught a no-hitter in 2000 and earned Academic All-ODAC honors in 2002. He earned his Guilford degree in exercise and sport studies with a concentration in sport administration.
Born in Little Rock, AR, and raised in Charlotte, NC, Black played baseball for Providence High School and helped the Panthers to two conference titles and a state finals berth.
The Guilford job is Black's first head-coaching position. He assisted the Matthews (NC) American Legion baseball squad in 1999 and the Kernersville (NC) Junior American Legion team this summer. Black served as the assistant strength coach at Furman for seven months after his graduation from Guilford.
Black and his wife, Heather '03, a former Guilford soccer player, reside in Greensboro.
Black inherits a squad with 25 returning letter winners, including the 2005 team's top five hitters and top two pitchers. Last season's team went 24-17 and finished in third place in the ODAC.
Chris Johnson begins his second season as an assistant coach at Guilford. Johnson works with the Quakers’ pitchers and outfielders. In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, Johnson serves as the junior varsity head coach. Prior to joining the Quakers’ staff, Johnson spent the 2006 season as the assistant coach at North Forsyth High School (N.C.) where the team finished 30-2. The team won a Metro Conference championship, earned a 4-A state semifinal appearance, and was recognized in Baseball America Top 50, Collegiate Baseball Magazine Top 30, and Sports Illustrated Top 25.
During the 2004 and 2005 seasons Johnson was the assistant baseball coach at Wilkes Community College (N.C.)
working with pitchers and outfielders. At Wilkes, Johnson took over a pitching staff that was coming off a four-win season, a team ERA of 9.13, and a last-place finish in the Region X in 2003. In 2004, Johnson guided the returning staff with the addition of two freshman pitchers to a 20-win season, a team ERA of 6.64, and a sixth place finish in the Region X Tournament. Johnson has been an assistant coach at Parkland High School (N.C.) in 2003, Bartow High School (Fla.) in 2002 were the team won a District championship, Regional championship, finished 3A state runner up, and outfielder Tarrance Patterson drafted in the 35th round by the Minnesota Twins. In 2001 Johnson was a volunteer assistant coach at Southeastern College (Fla.). During the summer of 2005 Johnson spent half of the season as head coach of the Lenoir Oilers of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League, in 2006 Johnson was the head coach of the Winston-Salem Post 128 Jr. American Legion Team, and will spend this summer 2008 as the pitching coach for the Davidson Copperheads of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League.
Johnson played baseball at Lenoir Community College (N.C.) in 1992 for head coach Pete Barnes. After sitting out the next 2 seasons recovering from shoulder surgery, Johnson played baseball two years (1995-96) at Southeastern College (Fla.) for head coach Scott Laing. At Southeastern, Johnson also spent the 1996 season as a member of the Crusader basketball team. Johnson graduated with a B.S. degree in psychology from Southeastern.
Johnson graduated high school in 1991 from Huguenot Academy (VA) were he letter in baseball, basketball, and football. Johnson comes from a baseball family, his father Larry Johnson spent 8 seasons in professional baseball. Originally signed by scout Syd Thrift and Pittsburgh Pirates in 1965, Larry Johnson spent the majority of his career with the Baltimore Orioles organization were in 1969 he won a Texas League (AA) batting title hitting .337 and was the league co-MVP with Bobby Grich.
Chris and his wife Rachel reside in Winston-Salem with their daughter Hayley (16) and son Landon Kai (3).
Assistant Coach Michael Ellsworth
Michael Ellsworth enters his first season as an assistant coach at Guilford College. Prior to joining the Quakers’ staff Ellsworth coached the past three seasons with the New Bern American Legion (Post 24) team as the junior varsity assistant coach (2005), juinor varisty head coach (2006) and varsity assistant coach (2007). He helped lead New Bern to playoff beths in each of his three seasons coaching.
Ellsworth began his baseball career at North Carolina Wesleyan College in 2003, where he received the Scholar-Athlete Award for the Baseball Team. Ellsworth transferred to Methodist University to finish out career as a student-athlete, graduating in 2007. A three-time Academic All-USA South Conference while at Methodist, Ellsworth helped the Monarchs to three-straight regular-season conference championships as a designated hitter. Ellsworth finished with a career .341 batting average and earned both USA South Athletic Conference All-Tournament and NCAA Regional All-Tournament team honors in 2007 as the designated hitter.
Ellsworth graduated high school in 2002 from New Bern High School (N.C.) were he lettered four years in baseball. A four-time academic all-conference and two-time all-conference selection, Ellsworth was also the most valuable defensive player his senior year. The son of Mark and Gayle Ellsworth, Michael's older brother Matthew is the assistant baseball coach at Barton College in Wilson, N.C.