Collier hired as new Fort Mill baseball coach

For just the second time in the history of the baseball program at Fort Mill High, the school has looked inward to find its next head coach.

Fort Mill High has hired alumnus Travis Collier as its new head baseball coach replacing Brad Mercer, who stepped down after nine seasons at the helm.

Collier is just the second Fort Mill High graduate, behind now Assistant Principal Darren Wilson, to coach the Yellow Jackets baseball program. Wilson was head baseball coach at Fort Mill High from 2005 to 2007. Collier, the athletics director at Banks Trail Middle School, will be teaching High School 101 at Fort Mill next school year.

“I am extremely excited,” Collier said. “I want to help get this program back to where we can compete for a state championship.”

A 2003 Fort Mill High graduate, Collier was part of the school’s 2002 state championship baseball team. He served this past season as an assistant under Mercer with the varsity program and prior to that spent eight years as an assistant at Nation Ford High School.

Collier said the new job hadn’t hit him just yet and he was still trying to let everything settle in.

“It’s surreal,” he said.

“It is something that came out of the blue. I can’t be any more thankful for the opportunity. It’s almost like a dream to be able to coach my alma mater.”

Fort Mill Athletics Director Dwayne Hartsoe said he sees a lot of promise in Collier.

“Coach Collier will be a coach that will develop our athletes’ technical, tactical, and physical skill level and encourage the love of the game of baseball; this will translate into success for them on and off the field,” Hartsoe said.

“He will provide a program that allows the young men to be well-rounded, disciplined individuals with an enjoyment for baseball, school, and life.”

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Collier hired as new Fort Mill baseball coach."