Chris Prothro enters his second season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at South Alabama in 2017.
In his first season with the Jaguars, 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 in this year’s MLB Draft, and received all-Southland Conference honorable mention while southpaw Grant Borne was taken by the Washington Nationals in the seventh round of this year’s draft.
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.
