NORTH AUGUSTA – An Evans High School alum will be part of the Augusta GreenJackets’ coaching stafffor the 2025 season.
The Augusta GreenJackets, an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, announced the coaching staff for the upcoming 2025 season on Feb. 11 with Wynton Sawyer returning at the helm for a second season. Among the coaches joining him will be Garrett Wilkinson, an Evans’ native, as one of the hitting coaches, according to a news release from the Augusta GreenJackets.
A 2014 Evans High School graduate, Wilkinson starred on the Knights’ team, where he pitched as well as played infield and outfield slots. He attended college at East Georgia State College, Gordon State College, Florida A&M and Mercer University and began his coaching career with a video and hitting analytics role for the ‘Jackets in 2021, followed by stops with the FCL Braves, Rome Braves and Mississippi Braves, the last two of which he was the hitting coach.
Sawyer returns to the CSRA for his second season as manager, after earning his first role as skipper in 2024. He’s joined by a pair of returners from last year’s staff in Pitching Coach Elvin Nina and Strength Coach Jake Wynn, as well as a handful of newcomers in Hitting Coaches Wilkinson and Ruben Gotay, Coach Brad Stoll, and Athletic Trainer Dan Gaertner, the news release said.
Sawyer leads the charge for 2025 after managing the GreenJackets in 2024, his first managerial gig at any level. The California native came to Augusta after a season with the FCL Braves, where he served as coach, working primarily with the catchers. Sawyer spent over a decade in Minor League Baseball as a player after being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the eighth round of the 2010 MLB Draft, with additional stops in the Dodgers, Twins and Yankees systems.
No stranger to SRP Park, Nina begins year three of his second stint with the GreenJackets. He returned to Augusta last year following two seasons with the FCL Braves, having originally been on the GreenJackets’ staff in the same role in 2021. The well-traveled coach came to the Braves’ system after four years with the GCL Pirates of Pittsburgh’s organization, and half a dozen more between the Helena Brewers and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers under Milwaukee’s umbrella.
Joining Wilkinson to work with the hitters, Gotay begins his first year as a coach in the Braves organization, having spent last year coaching in the Mexican League with the Caliente de Durango. Gotay brings a wealth of additional experience coaching in MiLB, having spent 2023 with the Indianapolis Indians, 2021-22 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, and 2018-19 with the Clearwater Threshers. The Puerto Rican product played professionally for 17 seasons, including parts of four years in the majors with the Royals, Mets, and Braves.
This marks the first-year coaching in professional baseball for Stoll, following nearly 20 years coaching at Lawrence High School in Kansas. During his time with the Chesty Lions, Stoll won a 6A State Championship in 2009 and saw two former players go on to play in Major League Baseball: Garrett Cleavinger and Bryce Montes de Oca. Stoll’s additional experience lies in the Cape Cod League, where he was an assistant with the Falmouth Commodores from 2009-15 and again in 2024.
Gaertner will serve as the team’s Athletic Trainer for 2025, marking his first year in Augusta and fourth with the Braves after one summer in the FCL and two with the Gwinnett Stripers. Wynn returns to the GreenJackets for the second consecutive season, having previously worked at Stony Brook University on Long Island.
The GreenJackets begin their 2025 campaign on Friday, April 4, as they host the Columbia Fireflies of the Kansas City Royals organization at 7:05 p.m.. The ‘Jackets will face 10 of the 11 other teams in the Carolina League over the course of the year’s 132-game slate, including 66 home dates at SRP Park. Single-game tickets and the promotional schedule are set to be announced soon, with information to follow at greenjacketsbaseball.com.
Augusta Good News is an award-winning member of the Georgia Press Association. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
