University of South Alabama Athletics

Chris Prothro enters his fourth season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at South Alabama in 2019.

Last season, South Alabama finished third in the Sun Belt East Division, and advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament before being outed by eventual champion Coastal Carolina. USA led the league in fielding percentage (.983) in conference games, and finished with an overall fielding percentage of .978 in 57 games. Offensively, the Jags ranked second in the league in walks (331) and home runs (54), and third in sacrifice flies (23), slugging percentage (.400), RBIs (348), total bases (768), on-base percentage (.378) and runs scored (383).

Hardy and Swaggerty were named First-Team All-Sun Belt, while catcher Carter Perkins and third baseman Brendan Donovan were voted Second-Team All-Sun Belt. Swaggerty was selected in the first round (10th overall) of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Donovan was a seventh-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals, Hardy was taken in the 13th round by the Boston Red Sox, right-hander Zach Greene was a 15th-round pick by the Miami Marlins, Carr was taken in the 31st round by the Philadelphia Phillies and LaBounty was a 40th-round selection by the Toronto Blue Jays. 

In 2017, Prothro helped USA to its 11th Sun Belt Conference Tournament title and advanced to its 27th NCAA Regional after finishing the season 40-21. USA went 22-8 in Sun Belt play before winning three straight games at the SBC Tournament in Statesboro, Ga., to advance to the NCAA Hattiesburg (Miss.) Regional. South Alabama finished the season ranked 26th in the final Collegiate Baseball poll. It marked the second straight year the Jags have won 40 or more games, and the 21st time the program has won 40-plus contests. 

USA broke the program record for walks (373) in a season in 2017, which ranked second nationally. The Jags ranked sixth nationally in runs scored (488) and on-base percentage (.415), seventh in runs per game (8.0), 11th in fielding percentage (.980), 14th in sacrifice flies (32) and home runs (78), and 15th in slugging percentage (.480). Jared Barnes and Travis Swaggerty earned All-America honors in 2017, and were also all-SBC selections along with Dylan Hardy, Drew LaBounty and Wells Davis. Barnes was selected in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft by the Miami Marlins.

In his first season with the Jaguars in 2016, USA captured its 16th Sun Belt Conference championship and advanced to a NCAA Regional for the 26th time in program history. 

Center fielder Cole Billingsley earned his second consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2016, in addition to First-Team All-SBC and Second-Team All-Region honors after leading the SBC and finishing 13th nationally in stolen bases (31) for the second straight season. Billingsley also led the conference in sacrifice flies (8), which ranked eighth nationally. Outfielder Travis Swaggerty was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball, and Drew LaBounty earned First-Team All-SBC honors at shortstop. The USA offense led the SBC in runs scored (382), RBI (337), walks (330), sacrifice flies (32), stolen bases (107), total plate appearances (2587) and at-bats (2120). USA finished seventh in the nation in walks (330), eighth in stolen bases (107) and 16th in stolen bases per game (1.67). The Jaguar defense broke the program’s single-season fielding percentage record (.979), which led the SBC and ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Prothro spent eight seasons at Nicholls State, where he served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for his final four years, prior to joining the USA staff. During his eight seasons at NSU, Prothro helped produce six all-Southland Conference honorees and nine Major League Baseball draft picks and signees including four from the 2015 squad. The NSU pitching staff, which Prothro directed in 2015, led the Southland Conference in ERA (2.47), opposing batting average (.242), saves (17), hits allowed (425), runs allowed (181), earned runs allowed (131), and allowed the fewest home runs (13) in the league as well. 

Under Prothro’s guidance, right-hander Justin Sinbaldi and left-hander Stuart Holmes were named first-team all-region by the American Baseball Coaches Association in 2015. Sinbaldi was a Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger third-team All-American, and also named to the all-Louisiana Sports Writers Association first team while Holmes earned second-team honors. 

Sinbaldi was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection after leading the league with a 1.40 ERA. Holmes led the league and set a school record with 15 saves, and was named the Southland Conference Relief Pitcher of the Year and a third-team ABCA All-American before being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2015 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Right-hander Ryan Deemes was also selected by the Houston Astros, and received all-Southland Conference honorable mention while southpaw Grant Borne was taken by the Washington Nationals in the seventh round.

Prior to his time at NSU, Prothro served as assistant coach at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) where he also held the title of hitting instructor while working with catchers and outfielders in addition to assisting with recruiting. In two years at NIACC, Prothro coached three National Junior College Athletic Association All-Americans along with back-to-back regional player-of-the-year honorees and 16 all-region performers.

Prothro lettered for two seasons at Arkansas State (2004-05) as a catcher, and earned his bachelor’s degree in history from ASU in 2005. He also served as a graduate assistant at ASU prior to receiving his degree. He began his collegiate playing career at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., where he helped the Demons capture the 2002 Southland Conference championship before transferring to Crowder College for his sophomore season where he earned his associate’s degree.