Coaching Staff

We are very happy to offer coaches that are great people who also happen to be great role models and teachers of the game. We've had a range of coaches from professional managers, major leaguers, and college coaches, as well as high school coaches through the years. Our coaches coach for the right reasons.

Will Nobles
Coach Nobles founded Carolina Combat Baseball in 2010 and has seen hundreds of players from the midlands of SC and beyond move on to play college or pro baseball. He's also seen multiple coaches move on to coach in college, or become high school coaches. Coach Nobles began coaching American Legion Baseball in 2003 and has spent time at several high schools including AC Flora, Ben Lippen, and Dutch Fork HS through the years. Nobles played collegiately at Spartanburg Methodist College and Presbyterian College, and turned down a college coaching opportunity to pursue professional baseball. Coach Nobles has degrees in Economics/Sport Management, and a Masters in Teaching/Coaching.

Justin Bors:
Coach Bors signed with University of South Carolina out of Hillcrest High School, where he pitched on one of the best HS baseball staffs in SC history. After a leg injury, he played at Spartanburg Methodist before finishing his collegiate career at Elon University as a weekend starter on an NCAA tournament team.

James Adams
​Coach Adams is the Associate Head Varsity Coach at Gray Collegiate. He’s coached at Gray Collegiate since 2020 and oversees the Catcher and Hitting Coach responsibilities. Coach Adams played his high school ball in Charleston and Florida. He’s an Air Force Veteran and has been coaching in the Midlands for 10 years.

Kevin Lynn:
Coach Lynn is a 1997 graduate of North Augusta High School, he played college baseball at Spartanburg Methodist and Clemson University. After college he played 8 years of professional baseball with the Tampa Bay Rays. He is currently Head Baseball Coach at North Augusta High School. He holds his degree from Clemson in Sports and Fitness Management. 
Chaz Davey:
Chaz Davey played college baseball at Erskine College, under Kevin Nichols and played his final season at the College of Charleston with head coach Chad Holbrook. Chaz also played Combat Baseball while in High School and credits a lot of his collegiate success to his time spent with the Combat program.
Ryan Ariail:
Coach Ariail pitched professionally from 2006-2009, including for the Phillies Organization as well as Independent Professional Baseball. He had a stellar college career, graduating from Francis Marion University. He was also a multi sport star at Spring Valley High School, graduating in 2002.
Matt Hornsby:
Currently the head varsity baseball coach at Dreher High School. Coach Hornsby has spent time at midlands power Gray Collegiate and also is a PE teacher during the day. He has had a successful first year at the coach at Dreher High School.
Jesse Goyne:
Coach Goyne is the current head baseball coach at Richland Northeast High School. He comes to the midlands from North Carolina where he coached at multiple levels.

Bill DeLavan:
​Coach DeLavan is the current head coach at Lakewood High School, where he's run a successful program for over a decade. He has over 20 years coaching experience. Coach DeLavan has won Region Coach of the Year multiple times. He also coached American Legion Baseball and the Dixie Boys World Series Champions. He played college baseball at North Greenville and holds his degree from University of South Carolina.

Curtis Johnson:
Current Athletic Director at Sumter High School. Won the 2021 Athletic Director of the Year Award in SC. Coach Johnson also coached in high school as a varsity head coach. Played collegiately at University of South Carolina for Ray Tanner. Also spent time at JUCO power Florence Darlington Tech.

Terrence Smalls 
Coach Smalls was drafted by the Marlins out of college in 1998, where he was a Hall of Fame shortstop for The Citadel. At the conclusion of his collegiate career, Smalls ranked first on the school’s all-time list for games played (238), at-bats (918), runs scored (222), hits (295) and stolen bases (115). He still is second all-time on the Southern Conference list for stolen bases. He also spent time working with the popular MLB agent Scott Boras. Coach Smalls played his high school ball in Holly Hill. Coach Smalls has spent years coaching in the midlands and pouring in to the youth in the area.

Jason Jolley 
Former Reds Scout and college coach at USC-Aiken. Played professionally in the independent leagues and collegiately at Newberry College. He has coached for years at the varsity level and in multiple sports. He holds Masters Degrees in education and PE. Coach Jolley teaches full time physical education in Chapin.

Mike McDermott:
Coach McDermott is the current head baseball coach at Westwood High School.

Joe Gonzales:
Coach Gonzales teaches and coaches at Blythewood High School. He ran the Carolina Cannons travel program for years.

Michael Slattery:
Current graduate assistant for Georgia State Baseball. Michael played college baseball in Iowa and high school baseball at Dreher HS. Michael also played Combat Baseball while in High School.

Interested in becoming a paid coach or helping as a paid intern?

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