Coaches · MLB · Pro · College
Rock Solid coaches have played in the major leagues, the minor leagues, and college baseball, and they bring that experience to every practice and every game.
Teammates then. Coaches now.
Fletcher Bates and Trot Nixon played together at New Hanover High in Wilmington, and both were drafted in June 1993. Today they bring that pro experience back to Rock Solid players.
Owner & operator
A Wilmington native, Fletcher was a fifth-round pick of the New York Mets in 1993 and played 10 professional seasons in the Mets, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Orioles organizations. He was a three-time All-Star and three-time MVP at the pro level and spent two years on the Marlins’ 40-man roster. He opened Coastal Athletics in 2003 and is an associate scout for the Mets.
[Coach & evaluator]
2004 World Series champion
Raised in Wilmington, Trot was Baseball America’s 1993 High School Player of the Year at New Hanover High, where he played alongside Fletcher Bates. The Red Sox drafted him seventh overall that June, and he played in the majors from 1996 to 2008, most of it in Boston.
Youth baseball coach
Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2007 as a catcher after four years at Dominican College, where he hit .328, made All-Conference three times, and served as a three-year captain. He has caught big-name pitchers including Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, and John Smoltz.
Youth baseball coach
A four-year starter at Cary High and UNCW’s shortstop, where he set the program’s career and single-season assists records. The Orioles drafted him in 2010, and he reached Double-A in three minor league seasons.
[Title TBA]
[Bio TBA]
[Title TBA]
[From Wilmington, Nathan was a three-time all-conference player at Coastal Christian. He played infield and outfield at Liberty, starting 48 games as a freshman, then hit .276 for Lenoir-Rhyne in 2025 and homered in the game that sent the Bears to the NCAA Division II College World Series.]
[Title TBA]
[Lowell pitched three seasons at Blackburn College in Illinois, then became the Beavers’ pitching coach and shared the head coaching job on an interim basis in 2024. He’s originally from Glendale, Arizona.]
2027 season
Who leads each Rock Solid team, from 8U to 17U. [Team assignments TBA].
Four promises to every family.
Teams are picked by unbiased coaches with no relation to any player, on skills and coachability.
Fundamentals and baseball IQ come before wins, and every player can move up when he’s ready.
Coaches who played in the majors, the minors, and college teach the game the way they learned it.
One direct contact all season, and team surveys after every tournament so parents are heard.
Staff standards
One-on-one, all year.
The same coaches who run Rock Solid teams teach private lessons at Coastal Athletics, in season and through the winter. Lessons are open to Rock Solid players and to any player looking to improve.
Tryouts and private evaluations for players 8U–17U at Coastal Athletics.
