WCBL's Medicine Hat Mavericks announce coaching staff

Jonathon Thornhill has been named the new head coach of the Western Canadian Baseball League’s Medicine Hat Mavericks. Photo: Medicine Hat Mavericks

October 7, 2024

By Ian Wilson

Western Canadian Baseball League

The Medicine Hat Mavericks have announced their coaching staff for the 2024 Western Canadian Baseball League season.

Jonathon Thornhill will serve as the head coach of the Mavs and his assistants are Ryan Reed and Cesar Rodriguez.

"Medicine Hat stood out for several reasons but as a baseball fanatic, you love hearing that it's one of the sunniest cities in Canada," said Thornhill, who is currently the lead assistant coach and primary hitting coach at Valley City State University (VCSU) in the North Star Athletic Association.

"When you can have beautiful weather, a great fan base and talented players from all over, it makes for a great summer. I look forward to working with our coaching staff, the Medicine Hat organization and getting to know the Medicine Hat community."

Thornhill is entering his second season with the VCSU Vikings. The team had a 21-33 record last year.

He has also been the head coach at Paso Robles High School and Atascadero High School in his home state of California. In addition, he was the hitting coach at Westminster College in Missouri and, in the summer of 2022, he held that role with the Orange County Riptide in the California Collegiate League.

Thornhill also works as the lead groundskeeper for Charlie Brown Memorial Baseball Field, which is the home diamond of the Vikings.

He is taking the reins from Kevin Mitchell, who worked as the East Division club's skipper the last two summers and was named the 2023 WCBL Coach of the Year.

ASSISTANT COACHES

Ryan Reed is a graduate assistant coach with Mid-America Christian University (MACU), a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program.

"I chose Medicine Hat because I see this as a great opportunity to continue to grow as a coach," said Reed, who admitted he didn't know a lot about the WCBL but has heard about how competitive it is.

The MACU Evangels went 41-13 last year and captured their first Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) championship with Reed serving as the team's third base coach.

During his two-year playing career with the Evangels, Reed had a .320 batting average and the infielder was a solid defender.

Joining Thornhill and Reed is Cesar Rodriguez, who pitched for the Mavericks in 2024.

"I decided to come back to Medicine Hat as a coach because not only do I like the culture that's been built there but the community is great and supports the team, and finally it feels like my home away from home," said Rodriguez, who is from Houston, Texas.

"What I'm looking forward to, as I transition from player to coach, is hoping to be able to help players out however I can and, just like last year, I want to win."

Rodriguez pitched in 16 WCBL games out of the bullpen last summer, going 2-1 with a 5.46 earned run average (ERA) and 33 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings.

After playing for Kansas Wesleyan University in 2023 and 2024, Rodriguez is now a graduate assistant coach at Ottawa University.