Trinity Prep’s newest staff member Trevor Berryhill has his “bases loaded” for this Spring. He enters his first season as head coach for the Varsity Baseball team, with the season officially beginning on February 5. Berryhill recently received the elite invitation to take his team up to Cary, North Carolina in March for the National High School Invitational, NHSI, hosted by USA Baseball in Cary.
“USA Baseball invites teams that were either seen by someone in their organization or were referred to them by college coaches or professional scouts,” Berryhill said. “It is a great honor to be able to go to this tournament, and I am stoked for our program to go compete against the best.”
USA Baseball invites 16 teams from across the country every year to compete in the event. Each team will play four games against strong competition from all over the country.
Although the invitational is March 25-28, in the middle of the team’s season, Berryhill assures that his players will remain well focused on their goal of winning a District Championship. According to Berryhill, the NHSI is just another opportunity for the team to play against great competition, therefore making the team better as a whole.
“In my opinion, if you want to have a team that is tough and tested going into the playoffs, you have to play great teams and you have to play on the road,” Berryhill said. “Championship teams find a way to win against tough competition, and to win a championship you usually have to win games on the road. This tournament will help us do that for sure.”
Berryhill is no stranger to coaching baseball. In fact, this is his seventh year coaching. He worked part-time at Trinity in 2008 and 2009 but left to join the baseball coaching staff at the Division 1 University of Tennessee Martin for two years.
Upon returning to Florida, Berryhill hoped to coach at Trinity, but there were no positions open at the time. He soon after became the head baseball coach at Father Lopez, where he said he enjoyed his time. Berryhill won back-to-back District titles in his three years at Father Lopez and in 2013 led his team to the Regional Finals in what was the team’s most successful year. When a position opened up for head baseball coach at Trinity, Berryhill felt like he needed to go after the job because of his belief that Trinity was and still is a great place to work.
“At the end of the day I wanted to have a better ‘quality of life,’ being able to work at a great place with great people but be able to be a family man as well,” Berryhill said. “Spending time with my family is very important to me, and working at Trinity allows me to be around home more.”
Berryhill believes that Trinity’s baseball program has been very successful and has sent multiple student-athletes to continue their baseball careers in college, with one player, Max Morroff, class of 2012, going pro.
“The previous coaching staff did a tremendous job in making the Trinity baseball program relevant,” Berryhill said. “I hope to continue to move the program in the direction of winning championships on the field and helping young men achieve their dream of playing baseball in college.”
Berryhill has high expectations for his players. He has coached more than 50 players that have been drafted, three that have made it to the professional league, and helped guide more than 60 players to continue their baseball careers in college.
“I would say that a staple in my program is that the expectations are always to be great young men first and foremost,” Berryhill said. “ I also expect my players to take care of business in the classroom. Lastly, we want to compete for championships.”
Since the school year started, Berryhill mainly has been working on building relationships with his players, which he believes to be an integral part of being a great coach. He also coached some of his players in their fall league, which started in September and ran through the first of November. Although schedule conflicts kept some players from participating in the fall league, Berryhill believes it was a good opportunity to create overall team chemistry. Once that ended, Berryhill and his players transitioned into the most important time of the year— off-season training.
“During this period we have been conditioning and weight training,” Berryhill said. “This time is very important in having a successful spring because it prepares the body and mind for the rigor of the [baseball] season.”
Senior baseball player Patrick Trevisani has known Berryhill since he helped out at Trinity in 2008.
“I’m thrilled to finally be able to play for Berryhill,” Trevisani said. “I admire what he’s done with the program so far, and I think he will lead us to a very successful year.”
With six home games on the schedule, Berryhill looks forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for his team and is extremely thankful to be able to take his players to the NHSI and participate in a potential once in a lifetime opportunity.
