SALISBURY, Md. – After helping the Sea Gulls win their first-ever national championship in the sport, Salisbury University associate head baseball coach and defensive coordinator Dr. Ron Siers has been named the 2021 NCAA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year, announced by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) on Wednesday.

Siers, who was hired in August 1997 and has served on the Sea Gull baseball staff for 24 seasons, oversaw an SU defensive unit that finished tied for second nationally with a .978 fielding percentage on the way to capturing the 2021 Division III national title. The Sea Gulls went 34-4 and finished the season on a 14-game winning streak, including a perfect 9-0 run through the High Point Regional and College World Series.

Through nearly a quarter century in the maroon and gold, Siers has served on staff of three head coaches: Robb Disbennett (1998-2000), Doug Fleetwood (2001-14) and Troy Brohawn (2015-present). The Sea Gulls have finished with a winning record in all 24 seasons, including a program-record 41 wins in 2008, hosted four NCAA regionals and made six appearances in the Division III College World Series.

Siers earned both his B.A. and M.Ed. from Salisbury University in 1989 and 1995, respectively. In 2009 he completed his Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Siers has been a professor of organizational leadership at SU since 2014.

The ABCA Assistant Coaches of the Year are selected from nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Division I, II and III, Pacific Association Division and high school. Assistant Coaches of the Year are selected by members of the ABCA All-America and Coach of the Year Committees.

The ABCA Assistant Coaches of the Year will be honored on-stage at the 78th annual ABCA Convention in Chicago, Ill., on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, in the clinic hall.

To view the release by the ABCA, CLICK HERE.