FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan baseball program and head coach Rich Maloney announced today (Sept. 15) the addition of Jeff Mercer as the volunteer assistant coach.
Mercer will work with the Wolverines’ catchers and outfielders as well as helping out with the day-to-day operations of the Michigan baseball program.
“We are really glad to have Jeff Mercer join our staff,” Maloney said. “He was raised in a coach’s family. He has coaching in his bloodlines. It runs deep in him. He is very passionate and enthusiastic to make a difference in the lives of young people. He was an All-American at Wright State and played a variety of different positions. I think he is going to bring a wealth of experience. Most recently he was at Ohio Northern and basically handled a lot of different duties with them. We are excited to bring his energy and enthusiasm to our staff.”
Mercer joins the Maize and Blue after spending one season as the graduate assistant coach at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. While at ONU, Mercer was in charge of the infielders and hitters and was the recruiting coordinator for head coach Justin Bergman.
“I got an opportunity to see baseball at a different level,” Mercer said. “There are two coaches and 60 kids. You had to be on top of your game every day. You had to be ultra-organized and that really has prepared me to do this only a year after graduating. Coach Bergman at Ohio Northern really helped me prepare to be here to do this and not be overwhelmed when you step in.
“It’s an incredible opportunity and doesn’t come along every day,” Mercer continued. “As soon as I talked to Coach Maloney, I jumped on it as fast as I could because the success that has been at this program and that has followed Coach Maloney at every stop that he’s been at. He’s doing something right. You want to be able to learn from that and be able to spend every day in a program that’s going to be successful and will be in the future. I take every opportunity to soak every bit of information up that I can.”
Mercer played two seasons at the University of Dayton before transferring to Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. While at WSU, the first baseman was named a third team All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper duringhis senior season in 2009, becoming just the third Raider to earn All-American honors in the Division I era. He was named the Horizon League’s Player of the Year, was a first team All-League selection and was on the Horizon League All-Tournament team as a senior.
In 2009, Mercer led the Raiders with a .357 batting average, 26 doubles and 74 RBI’s. He also hit eight home runs and had a .569 slugging percentage.
Mercer is the second player in school history to post back-to-back seasons of 50-plus runs-batted-in and his 127 RBI’s over a two-year span are the most by a WSU player. He is one of three players in Wright State history to have over 90 hits in a season and is tied for the single-season lead in RBI’s, doubles, games started and games played.
Mercer earned a Bachelor’s of Science in organizational leadership from Wright State in 2009. He currently is taking classes for a Master’s degree in coaching.
