BSB: Winston Elevated to Assistant Coach
7/11/2022 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga Baseball Head Coach Mark Machtolf announced the promotion of Sean Winston to a full-time Assistant Coach role for the upcoming season Monday.
Winston has been a volunteer assistant for the Zags since the '15 season, and coached third base in 2022 while assisting with hitters, infielders, and defensive positioning, including coordinating a fielding effort that finished Top-20 in the nation in fielding percentage (.979) for the second straight year. He'll now be moving into a full-time position on Machtolf's coaching staff.
Winston has helped coach some of the best fielding teams in recent program history since coming to the Zags with five previous years of coaching experience — in fact, the Zags' three best fielding years in program history, all since 2018 were under his coaching. In 2018, Gonzaga set the program record for fielding percentage, fielding at a .984 clip. 2022's average was the Zags' third-best in program history, despite bringing in newcomers at five different positions.
Before coaching, Winston played for two years at Hawaii Pacific in Honolulu, where he was a two-time First Team All-Conference second basemen and helped the Sea Warriors to a Pac-West Conference Championship and a second-place finish at the 2010 Western Regional. Before heading to the Islands, Winston spent two years at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., where he led the Red Devils to two division titles and a second-place finish in the NWAC Championship in 2008.
Winston was an assistant coach at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix where he helped lead the Pumas to the ACCAC Championship in 2015. At Paradise Valley, Winston was in charge of coaching third base and running the offense, served as the recruiting coordinator, and also coached individual skill positions in the infield and at the plate. The 2015 season was actually his second stint at the school; he also helped coach the Pumas from August 2010 until December 2012. Over his three seasons at Paradise Valley, Winston coached one NJCAA National Gold Glove Award winner and three finalists.
At the same time, Winston also was the lead assistant coach for the Matsu Miners during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, leading the squad to Alaska Baseball League Divisional titles both seasons. In Matsu, Winston led the coaching of both the infielders and outfielders, holding responsibility for all defensive positioning and changes. During his two seasons, he coached two ABL Players of the Year, two ABL Pitchers of the Year, and the 2015 ABL batting champion.
Before returning to Paradise Valley, Winston spent two seasons as the volunteer assistant coach at Abilene Christian. Once again, he coached the Wildcats' infielders and catchers in supporting off-the-field endeavors such as recruiting, fundraising, and scheduling. In addition to his time in college baseball and with the Matsu Miners, Winston has also assisted with the Wenatchee Applesox of the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League, guiding the club to a WCCBL Championship in 2012.
