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Coach Brandon Trinkwon to Lead Lightning Baseball Renaissance
Brandon Trinkwon has been tapped to lead Sage Hill baseball as the program sees a major overhaul to its facilities at Hague Field.
Trinkwon joins Lightning baseball after coaching the Newport Beach Tridents club team as well as Corona del Mar’s Varsity Baseball team.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to start from the ground up, obviously with the new facilities and re-establishing a culture and kind of challenging myself and the team to succeed,” Trinkwon said.
Trinkwon has deep roots in Orange County having played baseball and graduated from Beckman High School, where he was named Pacific Coast League MVP. He moved on to play for the Gauchos at UC Santa Barbara, which included an all-star season in the prestigious Cape Cod Summer League.
Brandon’s college career ended in 2013 when he was selected in the seventh round of the MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played as second baseman for a Dodgers’ affiliated minor league, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
“Coach Trinkwon is an exceptional choice to lead Lightning Baseball during an exciting time for the program,” Director of Athletics Megan Cid said. “In addition to the major renovation underway at our baseball facility, under his leadership, we will also begin a new era of Lightning Baseball for our student athletes and the greater community.”
This fall, Sage Hill installed stadium lights that will allow Lightning Athletics teams to use Hague Field after dark for the first time. New mesh netting behind home plate should improve visibility for sports fans.
Site grading and drainage work was underway in late October to replace grass with modern turf. A new video scoreboard will also go up behind the outfield to display dynamic graphics.
This site work is slated to wrap up before the varsity baseball season starts in February. Trinkwon is excited to see his team on the revamped field.
“When I was first looking for a position, I definitely wanted something where we are building from the ground up and restarting the culture,” Trinkwon said.
Looking back at his own coaches, Trinkwon said his own style of mentorship of student athletes will be inspired by experience playing for UCSB Baseball Head Coach Andrew Checketts and Beckman Baseball Head Coach Kevin Lavalle. Trinkwon also attributed his success to the constant support from his parents and younger brother.
Trinkwon’s professional baseball experience has primarily influenced him to serve as a “player’s coach.”
“I would say I've learned a lot more from college baseball and watching and coaching high school baseball for the last five years,” he said.
Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.