VALLEY CITY (VCSU) – Valley City State University head baseball coach Alec DeMaria has finalized his coaching staff for the 2023 season, announcing the hiring of Jonathon Thornhill and Cameron Pitts today.

Thornhill has been hired as a full-time assistant coach and will serve as the primary hitting coach this season. A native of California, Thornhill was the head coach for several years at Paso Robles High School (Calif.) and Atascadero High School (Calif.) before working as the hitting coach at Westminster College (Mo.) last season.

He helped Westminster to a 25-19 overall record on the diamond last year. The Blue Jays scored 9.2 runs per game on the season, batting .335 as a team with 60 home runs and a .428 on-base percentage.

Thornhill also worked as the hitting coach for the Orange County Riptide in the California Collegiate League during the summer of 2022.

Pitts has been hired as a graduate assistant coach for the Vikings this season. Pitts played his high school baseball in Montgomery, Texas, where as a junior he represented the Southwest Region in the Big-League World Series. Pitts went on to play collegiate baseball at both Ecclesia College and Dakota State University as a two-way player. He primarily played as a middle infielder, third baseman and pitcher during his collegiate career.

Valley City State is scheduled to start practice in late August and will play six countable games during the fall season, beginning Sept. 10 with a game at Mayville State. The Vikings are set to host University of Jamestown (Sept. 27) and Mayville State (Oct. 1) for home games this fall.

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