Joe McDonald

Joe McDonald enters his fifth season as the head coach of Arizona Christian baseball with a record of 123-76 in his first four seasons.

Culminated by their second ever appearance as a program at NAIA nationals, 2019 was a record breaking year for ACU under Coach Mac. The Firestorm broke nearly every offensive season program record including wins (39), games played (60), team batting average (.323), hits (649), doubles (111), runs scored (445), RBI (385), and stolen bases (121).

Prior to ACU, McDonald was the only head coach at Boulder Creek HS in Anthem after he started the team in 2005 (began playing varsity in 2006). Under his guidance, the Jaguars reached the Arizona state playoffs eight times which includes finishing in the top five three times.

In 2010, Boulder Creek set the state of Arizona record with 485 team hits in a season. After BCHS won the regional championship and ended with a 33-6 record in 2011, Coach McDonald was awarded the AIA State, City of Phoenix, and Northwest Regional Coach of the Year honors. One year later, the BCHS diamond was named the ABCA National Field of the Year.

On the strength of his 249 wins at BCHS, Coach McDonald saw 45 players sign to play college baseball including Coby Boulware- a 2018 Freshman All-American at TCU. Two of McDonald’s players have signed professional contracts- Alex Real with the Minnesota Twins and West Tunnell with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Success on the field was started by success in the classroom as the Jaguars posted a cumulative GPA of 3.3 in the 12 years under McDonald.

Along with coaching, Coach McDonald was the Physical Education Department Chair at Boulder Creek High School. In addition, he was named the Assistant Athletic Director of the Deer Valley Unified School District where one of his many accomplishments was starting the Victory with Honor program.

Prior to moving to Arizona, Coach McDonald served as the Head Assistant Baseball Coach at Western Oregon University from 1998-2000. He also coached a summer each in the Arizona Junior College Summer League and Northwest Collegiate Baseball League.

As a player, McDonald played two seasons at Western Oregon University and one season at Linfield College. The outfielder was an All-State selection and two time All-Intermountain Conference selection at Bend High School.

Academically, McDonald earned a physical education degree with a minor in health from Western Oregon University in 1998. Four years later, he added a master’s degree in education from Western Oregon University.

Coach McDonald and his wife, Pam, have three daughters- Jaysa, Paislee, and Liliana- and two sons- Montgomery and Kayden- that range in age from 19 to 10. The McDonalds attend Christ’s Church of the Valley. They are volunteers with the Christian Family Care Adoption Agency.