Jonathan Villa is set to begin his first season on the staff of the program where he was a standout catcher for three seasons.
Upon exhausting his collegiate eligibility, Villa brought his vision of a local travel baseball nonprofit to life by founding Montgomery’s Anchor Baseball Academy in early 2022. With a focus on ministering to and preparing young players for high school and college baseball, Anchor grew from one team to four under Villa in its first five months of existence.
After coming to know Christ while at Faulkner thanks to the influence of late team chaplain David Noles, Villa accepted a part-time position as Faulkner’s new Spiritual Life Coordinator in July 2022. In September 2022, Coach Patrick McCarthy brought his former backstop back to Harrison Field as Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.
Villa transferred to Faulkner after two seasons at Yavapai College in Prescott, Ariz., where he was part of a national championship squad and achieved First Team All-Conference honors as a freshman in 2016. He was an outstanding player on the diamond from 2019-21 for the Eagles, as he won Gold Glove awards and made the First Team All-Conference list in 2019 and 2021 as a member of squads that advanced to the NAIA World Series both seasons. He also earned First Team votes for his efforts in the 2019 SSAC Conference Tournament and the Champion of Character distinction from the SSAC for the shortened 2020 season.
He concluded his decorated Faulkner career with a .328 hitting percentage, a .497 slugging percentage, a .447 on-base percentage, a .996 fielding percentage and 890 putouts across 127 games.
During his time as a player and a coach, Villa has helped the Eagles to a 201-94 record with three regular season SSAC titles, four trips to the national tournament and three trips to the Avista-NAIA World Series.
A native of Ensenada, Mexico, Villa earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Faulkner in 2021. He married his wife Katie the same year.
