The Pilot Point Bearcats concluded their home and away series against the Valley View Eagles on March 14, coming from behind to win 13-11.
The Bearcats steamrolled the Eagles 22-4 in their March 10 meeting but needed multiple big plays to come back from an 8-3 deficit and secure the series.
“We got off to a rough start,” Pilot Point head baseball coach Tyler Vernon said. “We gave up eight runs in the first two innings, but the boys battled back. We made a couple of mistakes, but they never gave up, and we ended up getting the win.”
Valley View took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, after center fielder Johnny Nelson tripled to center and a pair of singles from first baseman Aaron Epperson and Austin Christiansen.
Pilot Point tied the game at 3 in the second inning with a single from first baseman Luke Conner that brought catcher Garrett Evans home and a 2 RBI single from Hastings Fischer.
The Eagles answered the Bearcats’ ferent roles to support the team while recovering.
“I ran the camera and was responsible for the filming and worked my way up the ladder,” he said. “I got in wherever I could help out because I knew [coaching] was what I wanted to do.”
His first official coaching position was at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City, where he worked as the offensive line coach from 2007 to 2010.
Nick said his original plan was to continue coaching on the collegiate level, but the passing of his father Jim Brown and wanting to be physically closer to his family inspired him to return to the Dallas-Fort Worth Area.
“My father was a pastor in Aubrey, and my brother decided to take over his church after he passed away,” he said. “As the big brother, I felt like it was my job to come and help him transition into that role, and my family and I ended up staying.”
Nick’s DFW coaching journey started as the offensive coordinator and head baseball coach at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School in Fort Worth.
He then became the offensive coordinator and assistant athletic director in Callisburg and then moved to Bryan Adams High School, serving in the same position.
Nick said he was inspired to return to Aubrey when the Chaparrals hired current athletic director and head football coach Keith Ivy in 2014.
“I knew his father when he was in Sanger, so I was familiar with his reputation,” he said. “When he hired Coach Toby Perkins, Coach Dana Blodel, Coach Don Spaulding and other coaches that had coached me or that I knew professionally, I decided to take the opportunity to come home. I took a big pay cut, … but I knew I wanted to be part of a good program.”
Under his direction, the Chaps’ offense broke 35 program records in their most recent season.
Nick credited his parents, his brother Matt Brown and his coaching mentors Ivy and Perkins for this achievement but said none of that would be possible without his wife Amber Brown.
“She’s a superstar,” he said. “… She plugs into the community; all of the kids know her, and she loves all of them. She’s such an incredible person, and while her name may not be in the paper or be next to the stat lines, I for sure would not be here without her.”
Although he knows his presence will be missed, Nick said the Chaps will continue to see success because of the caliber of the colleagues who remain in Aubrey.
“The coaching staff is one of the best groups to be assembled, so the program is in great hands,” he said. “Coach Ivy is one of the best in the business at preparing coaches and players, so my message to the Chaps is to take care of each other, take care of the program and the sky is the limit.”
