Christian Griffin takes over as Head Coach

After the Boonville Lumberjacks had the best season in franchise history last year, a new face is heading up the team. Former NCAA pitcher and longtime coach Christian Griffin is the new manager of the Lumberjacks. Former head coach Jay Gonzales will stay with the organization as the Recruiting Coordinator and Assistant General Manager, with a focus on player development. “After Jay led the Lumberjacks to a .500 record for the first time in Boonville history, it took us a while to fill those shoes. We felt that Christian was the best fit for the job, and are excited for the upcoming season,” said owner Butch Russo. “We wanted to make sure that we found somebody that we were comfortable with after such a great season,” Russo continued. “With Christians background, we wanted to keep that same concept as Jay, and keep developing players as best as we can.” As a player, Griffin attended Stephenson High School as a catcher, where he still coaches today. He was 1st team all state and first team all region his senior year. Griffin also won the Perfect Game WWBA National Championship with the Georgia Baseball & Softball Academy Rays, taking home MVP honors. After graduating Stephenson in 2015, he played one year at Coastal Alabama Community College, striking out 41 batters in 12 appearances and six starts. Then, he played college ball at the University of West Alabama as a pitcher. He put up an impressive 15 strikeouts per 9 innings in his three years before transferring to Augusta University for his senior year. There, he had the second most strikeouts in a single game in program history. Post-graduation, Griffin played professionally in the Pioneer League. He was recognized as an All-star twice, in 2022 and 2024. Also in 2022, he was top 4 in the league in total saves. His Pio-league career was with the Ogden Raptors and the Northern Colorado Owlz. Griffin then joined the Raptors coaching staff for a year, beginning his experience in development. As a pitching coach, he saw two of his players purchased by an MLB affiliate. The Raptors also cruised to a playoff berth that season, making it all the way to the semi-finals before bowing out. After a fulfilling experience in Ogden, Griffin returned to Stephenson High, this time as an assistant and pitching coach. After Stephenson garnered just 3 wins the season before he arrived, they won 13 games in both of his first two years back with the team. The Jaguars claimed the second-seed in the region, while achieving a playoff berth for the first time in five years. Griffin accredited the boost to a new philosophy within the team, a better mindset, and improved energy. So far at Stephenson, Griffin has coached the Region Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, along with one all-state selection, and three First-Team and two Second-Team All-Region selections. Griffin has also been a private instructor since 2019, coaching amateur and professional players. He has built throwing programs, mental routines, and in-depth mechanical adjustments to help his players reach the next level. Griffin has trained big-league arms, and over 30 players under his guidance have made it to the D1 or JUCO level. Furthermore, he worked as the Director of Baseball Operations and the Head Coach of 5-Star Atlanta. He taught development and life lessons through baseball while achieving multiple Perfect Game tournament victories. 5-Star consistently ranked as a top team nationally and in the state of Georgia, and saw over 20 players go to the Division 1 or NAIA level under Griffin. Coach Griffin and the Lumberjacks start their campaign off the back of the first playoff appearance in franchise history later this month, with opening day on May 29th against Mohawk Valley. First pitch is at 6:35 PM. Tune in on the Boonville Lumberjacks Youtube. The first matchup at Robert Smith Sports Complex is the following day, May 30th, at 6:45 PM.