By Ryan Menzie
Signal Sports Writer
Coming off a 13-6 (10-2 league) 2021 campaign in which they lost in the first round of the Division 6 playoffs against Viewpoint, the Trinity Classical Academy Knights baseball team is looking to take it to the next level — and they believe former San Francisco Giants catcher Trevor Brown is the answer.
Brown, a Santa Clarita native who played at Hart High School and UCLA, went on to a seven-year pro career between the minor and major leagues with the Giants. In two major league seasons, Brown hit five home runs with 24 RBI’s and 18 runs while having a batting average of .236.
For Brown, choosing to coach at Trinity was an easy choice.
“Before I even thought of coaching high school, I was already coaching a travel ball team,” said Brown. “One of the main reasons for coaching at Trinity was due to most of the boys in the program having themselves and older brothers who went to Trinity. Hart is my alma mater, but coaching at public schools requires being a part of the faculty. Going to a private area with family and friends being there while also being a Christian seemed like a good fit.”
Since day one, Brown has instilled in his team that it didn’t matter where he would end up with a head coaching job. The goals always remain the same, to not be mediocre and to win ball games.
“Baseball is a game of failure,” said Brown. “Kids want to go out there and hit balls and baseball isn’t the game you go out and be successful every day. Learning how to deal with adversity is going to be a key mindset for us and is a big thing for baseball. Dealing with failure and adversity is one of those life lessons and it is a big one.”
With the long career that Brown had, he understands how fortunate he was to be able to take all the things he learned from the players, coaches and peers around him. Brown also looks to the fundamentals he learned as a catcher to instill in his players, as well as his skillset being a utility player.
Brown now has one more stepping stone in his career to add to his pro memories — including hitting a home run over the green monster in his only game at Fenway Park, something he had always dreamed of as a kid, and going on coffee runs with his teammate Hunter Pence in various opposing cities.
“We’ve done a lot of work prior to the season so they can go out and compete at the highest level,” said Brown. “They’re going to learn how to get through adversity and rely on their buddies. We want to be there for someone to pick them up when needed and that’s what we’re trying to build. Cohesiveness with the boys.”
