ALEX CHERNEY
HEAD COACH
(480) 423-6623

After five seasons as the top Assistant Coach under Ed Yeager, Coach Cherney was named Scottsdale's head coach when Coach Yeager announced his retirement in June 2005. Coach Cherney came to the SCC baseball program after spending three years as an assistant at South Mountain Community College.

Coach Cherney played collegiately at Beloit College, lettering four times and making the All-Conference team on three occasions. He graduated from Beloit in 1997 with his Bachelors degree in history, and graduated from Arizona State University with a Master's degree in physical education. Born in Sacramento, California, Coach Cherney was raised in Phoenix, and currently resides in Scottsdale.

BEN TAYLOR
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH

Coach Taylor is in his third year at SCC, and his first as associate head coach. Before joining the Artichokes, Ben served as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Phoenix College. Prior to being at PC, Coach Taylor was the head coach at Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport LA. In addition to his role as recruiting coordinator, and working with hitters, Coach Taylor will coordinate the Artichoke's infield defense and instruct catchers.

Away from SCC, Ben is in his fourth year as an associate scout with the San Diego Padres. He also skippers tournament teams and serves as a camp instructor for the Rocky Mountain Baseball Academy, as well as the SCC entry in the Arizona Junior College Summer League. In the spring of 2005 Coach Taylor was brought on as an assistant coach in charge of catchers for the Chinese Olympic team, who use SCC as their training center when improving their game stateside.

Coach Taylor played collegiate baseball at Oregon State, Lower Columbia Junior College (Longview WA) where he was an all NWAACC catcher leading the Red Devils to a third consecutive NWAACC crown, then finished his collegiate career at Centenary College (Shreveport LA.) a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Taylor holds a BSC in Kinesiology from Centenary College. Coach Taylor who lives in Phoenix was married in July of 2004 to Amanda Yearwood, also a Centenary Alum, and Division 1 All-America tennis player. Amanda is a second grade teacher in the Washington School District.

MARCUS CLAPP
ASSISTANT COACH

Marcus Clapp returns to Scottsdale to serve as the Pitching Coach for the Artichokes. Coach Clapp played for the Artichokes before finishing his collegiate career at Louisiana Tech University.

Coach Clapp returns to Scottsdale from the University of Nebraska -Kearney, where he served as the Pitching Coach and lead Assistant. In 2004, three Loper pitchers earned All-RMAC honors. Clapp started his career as a graduate/administrative assistant at Louisiana Tech University where he earned a Master's degree from LTU in Health & Exercise Science.

Coach Clapp is single and resides in Scottsdale.