Merritt enters his fifth season as the pitching coach for the Hiram Terriers baseball program in 2024-25.
Merritt joins the Terriers from Cuyahoga Community College, where he served as an assistant coach for five seasons. With the Triceratops, Merritt helped the pitching staff to a combined 206-77-1 record over his five seasons with the program.
Prior to joining the Triceratops, Merritt spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Baldwin Wallace University, helping set program records for most wins in consecutive seasons, while reaching the NCAA Division III College World Series in 2016.
Merritt began his baseball coaching career at Caldwell and Crestwood High School, helping the Red Devils to over 400 wins during his tenure while sending over 40 players to the next level. During his time with the Red Devils, Merritt was also named the Portage County Baseball Coach of the Year five different times.
In total, over his 20+ years of coaching, Merritt has coached four pitchers who went onto play professional baseball and six collegiate All-Americans. Among his numerous accolades, Merritt has been inducted into three different Hall of Fames: the Akron Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017, the Ohio Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013 and the NEOBCA Hall of Fame in 2009.
Merritt began his coaching career at Hiram College, serving as an assistant football coach for 10 seasons with the Terriers under Howard Jenter from 1984-94.
A graduate of Miami (Ohio) University in Oxford, Ohio, Merritt helped the Redhawks win two Mid-American Conference titles.
Merritt earned his bachelor's degree in education from Miami University and his master's degree in physical education for Xavier University. He lives in Mantua with his wife, Karen and has two kids, Brett and Brittany.
