Meet the Team
Owner/Coach
Brandon Decker
Coach Decker is a former professional baseball player. He played is collegiate days at San Diego State (SDSU) under Hall Of Fame player/coach Tony Gwynn.
After his playing career he found his true calling, coaching. Coach Decker coached 3 years collegiately two years at USD and one year at SDSU. Coach Decker has 8 years of coaching experience at Del Norte high school.
In addition, Coach Decker owns and operates two baseball businesses locally and Nationwide. Trosky Force a travel ball organization that has players from 7u to 18u.
His passion for the kids and youth in this area is unmatched and we so excited to share his expertise with all these amazing players.
Coach Decker has three children of his own with his wife, Jade.
Facility Manager/Coach
EJ Fred
EJ played High School ball at Chaminade High School in Mineola, NY. After tearing his labrum prior to his senior year he ended up attending the University of San Diego were he was an undergraduate assistant coach under Rich Hill for 3 years. After finishing up at USD, he became a Coach and Director for Trosky Force, a nationally recognized travel ball organization based out of 4s Ranch where he's been for the past 7 years and counting. For the past four years, Coach EJ has also been the Varsity Pitching Coach at Scripps Ranch High School.
Coach EJ is found in our facility 7 days a week, where he runs our membership classes and also gives private pitching and hitting lessons. He is passionate about helping players develop and getting them to the next level!
Pitching Coordinator
Kris Benson
Kris played high school baseball at Sprayberry HS in Marietta, Georgia where he had a 0.60 ERA during his senior year and was the Gatorade Georgia Player-of-the-Year and a USA Today High School First-Team All-American. During the summer, Kris played for the national powerhouse, East Cobb Yankees where he compiled a record of 29-3 over two seasons.
After not being officially drafted out of high school, Kris attended Clemson University on a full scholarship from 1994 to 1996. During his time at Clemson, the teams won an ACC Championship and made two trips to the College World Series. During his junior year, Kris was the first pitcher in NCAA D1 history to lead the nation in wins (14-0), ERA (1.40), and strikeouts (178) in the same season. Kris was later voted the ACC Athlete-of-the-Year and was the consensus College Baseball Player-of-the-Year. Before starting his professional career, Kris represented his country on the 1996 Olympic Team bronze medal winning team in Atlanta.
After being drafted as the #1 overall player in the 1996 MLB Draft by the Pittburgh Pirates, Kris played two years in the minor leagues before making his first MLB start on April 9, 1999, and finishing the season forth in the Rookie-of-the-Year voting. He was a Roberto Clemente Award winner for community service with the Pirates. He won similar recognition with the Thurman Munson Award, Joan Payson Award, and the New Jersey Sports Writers Humanitarian of the Year Award with the Mets. After a long professional career, he retired after the 2010 season with over 10 years of Major League service with the Mets, Orioles, Rangers, and Diamondbacks.
Kris has three children of his own and three stepchildren with his wife, Misty.
Softball Coach
Jenny Marnin
My name is Jenny Marnin and I am very excited to be apart of the Upper Deck Softball Training Staff & alongside Drop Bombs Softball.
Recently graduating from Virginia Tech University as a Graduate Assistant for the softball program, I bring a wide range of knowledge to softball players of all ages.
In my own career I started at a Junior College called Southwestern Oregon Community College where I was Team Captain and Shortstop for 2 years. Covid unfortunately put a dent in my path, but during the 2021 season I returned back to SWOCC to coach. As a staff we won NFCA Coaching Staff of the Year. I continued onto Portland State University where I ended my career as a Team Captain and a Catcher. For a year I relearned how to catch again, and the true importance of the pitcher/catcher relationship.
My goal is to make each athlete better in their own individual way. I am also very passionate about the softball recruitment process and want everyone to find their perfect home to live out their dream. We are all built different, and we must learn how to harness our power to be great!
Coach
Brady Joslyn
My name is Brady Joslyn and I am thrilled to be a part of the Force family and the wonderful team at Upper Deck. I bring over 10 years playing experience through high level travel, high school, junior college, and four year NAIA college programs as well as a 4-year background as a hitting instructor and as a coach for the developmental team at Bluefield University. With this experience and my degree in exercise science, I want to be an asset for our athletes of all ages for player development, injury prevention/rehab, navigation through the recruiting process, and learning all aspects of the game.
Let’s go play some ball!
Coaching:
• 4 years experience is hitting instruction and catching instruction
• Bluefield University developmental coach 2024
Career Highlights:
High school: Granite Hills class of 2017
• 2nd team all Grossmont Hills League
Junior college:
• Grossmont Community College
• Southwestern Oregon Community College Sophomore Class of 2019
◦ All NWAC honorable mention
◦ Team Offensive MVP
4 year institution (NAIA division 1):
• Bluefield University Class of 2024
◦ Team Offensive MVP
◦ Career .333 average
Other Baseball Achievements:
• San Diego Barona Stars
◦ Offensive MVP 21’, 22’, 23’
◦ WBA All Star Game MVP 2019
◦ 5 NBC World Series appearances
I am blessed to have the opportunity to pass on the wealth of knowledge and love for the game of baseball to the next generation of athletes. I have been fortunate to experience high level coaching and mentorship throughout my playing career and these coaches have inspired me to stay in the game and pass on all I’ve learned.
Coach
Tyler Reiter
