Meet the Coaches

Mamon Tucker, Founder

Mamon Tucker grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated from Austin High School in 1998. While at Austin High he was a 3 year starter on the varsity baseball team. During this time he achieved many honors such as two time District MVP, two time All CenTex, two time All State, and Rawlings All American. He was also a candidate for the Louisville Slugger High School Player of the Year in 1998.

 Coach Tucker was a top 50 college recruit and signed a letter of intent to attend Oklahoma State University. In 1998, Coach Tucker was selected with the 39th overall pick of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He chose to pursue his dreams of becoming a major league baseball player and went on to play 8 seasons of professional baseball. He played in the Orioles, Phillies, Cardinals, Cubs, and Astros organizations.

 After his playing career, Coach Tucker continued to follow his passion for baseball and began coaching select baseball in the Austin area. His goal is to continue to share his love and knowledge of the game of baseball with kids of all ages.

Michael Mertz

Michael Mertz graduated from Pflugerville High School in 2012 and was a two-year letter winner and an all-district performer. Mertz signed a letter of intent to play at Cisco College following his high school career.

 At Cisco College, Mertz was the 16th ranked prospect in the country and after being recruited by SEC and Big 12 schools, Mertz decided to continue his baseball career at Oklahoma State University. While at OSU, Mertz went on to be a Regional Champion, Super Regional Champion, and earned a birth to the 2016 College World Series where the Oklahoma State Cowboys finished as the 3rd ranked team in the country. That June, Mertz was drafted in the 14th round by the Miami Marlins.

After 3 seasons of professional baseball, Mertz decided to retire and begin coaching full time.

Zach noska

Zach Noska attended Leander High School where he was a 3 year letter winner. Noska was a stand out performer earning him All- District honors for 3 consecutive years, LISD Dazzling Dozen, Offensive MVP, and Central Texas All Star Team. Noska was also invited to the Area Code games. Not only was he a stand out in baseball, Noska was an 3rd Team All- State and 2 time All- District performer in football. After graduating in 2014, Noska signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at The University of  The Incarnate Word.

​Noska decided to end his baseball career and finish his schooling at Texas State University where he graduated with a degree in Marketing.

Sam smith

Sam Smith is a graduate of McNeil High School where he was a two-year letter winner. He began coaching while attending Texas State University where he graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and Business Management. 

​Coach Smith has been coaching at Tier 1 for more than 5 years and has a vast knowledge of the game. 

Gable Whitacre

Gable Whitacre is an Austin native, graduating from Bowie High School in 2013. A two-time letter winner for the bulldogs, he was named second team All-District as a junior and first team All-District as a senior.

After high school, he went on to attend and play baseball at St. Edward's University. Whitacre helped the Hilltoppers to 4 straight Heartland Conference Championships and an appearance in the South Central Regional Championship game in 2016. He was a 4-year starter, hitting a career .324 in 199 starts. As a senior, he led the conference in home runs and RBI’s. He was named first team All-Conference, first team All-Region, and second team All-America. He finished his career with the Hilltoppers as the record holder for career doubles with 58.

He received his degree in Business Marketing from St. Edward's with hopes of owning a baseball facility one day. Though his playing days are over, Gable still has a passion for the game of baseball and is grateful he was offered the coaching opportunity with Tier1.

paul kirkpatrick

Paul Kirkpatrick, a 2014 Westlake High School graduate, was a two year varsity letterman, a 2nd team all-central Texas selection and area code games invitee.

Out of high school, Kirkpatrick was recruited to pitch at wake forest university in the ACC. After a solid workload as a freshman he transferred to McLennan Community College in Waco Texas. After graduating from MCC, Kirkpatrick was recruited by Western Kentucky University in Conference USA where he was a weekend starter. During his senior season he was in the top fifteen in the nation for strikeouts to walk ratio.

After college, Kirkpatrick took his talents overseas to play in the European (Germany and Netherlands) and Australian baseball leagues. While in the Netherlands, a top league in Europe, Kirkpatrick posted a 1.98 ERA in 59 innings with 50 strikeouts earning him the #2 ranked pitcher among baseball jobs overseas candidates.

A dual USA/UK citizen, Kirkpatrick is currently on the Great Britain National Team. For Team GB, he has competed in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifier, pitching against Israel, Brazil, and Pakistan. He picked up a win in his debut game against Pakistan. Kirkpatrick also won pitcher of the tournament in the U23 European Championship, played in Prague. He threw a complete game with 11 strikeouts against the Netherlands in the Championship game leading the British to defeat the Dutch for the first time in program history. He also competed in the senior European championships and Olympic Qualifier tournament in Bonn, Germany.

Next up for Kirkpatrick is the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in early 2021.

Sam Mcdonnell

Sam McDonnell attended Georgetown High School where he was named with 2012 5A First Team All- State honors and 2013 5A All- State Honorable Mention. After graduating in 2013, McDonnell signed a letter of intent to continue his career at Navarro College. While playing there he received numerous honors including First Team All Conference in 2014 and was picked to play in the Division 1 TX Junior College All Star game. After 2 years at Navarro, McDonnell signed his letter of intent to play at The University of Arkansas. That June, McDonnell's name was called in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft by the LA Angels and decided to forgo his commitment to Arkansas to play professional baseball. McDonnell played 3 years of professional baseball with the Angels before deciding to retire from the game and pursue other passions. 

​McDonnell is currently a student at Texas State and we are very excited to have him be a part of the Tier 1 staff!

justin montana

Justin Montaña is a graduate of Hays High School, where he played baseball, basketball, and ran cross country. He received his bachelors degree in Exercise Sports Science with a minor is Business Administration from Texas State University and has moved into South Austin. Justin started coaching speed and agility as well as personal training before coaching baseball, and has been an integral part of Tier 1.

Nico escalante

alex cabezas

Alex Cabezas was a 2013 graduate of Westlake High School where he was a 4 year letterman in Wrestling and a 2 year letterman in Wrestling. Following his high school career, Cabezas went on to play at Texas A&M International University. At TAMIU, Cabezas had a very successful career ending after a monster senior season batting .364.

Upon graduating with a degree in kinesiology and a minor in biology, Cabezas has shifted his focus to coaching. His main focus as a coach is helping young men become the best version of themselves on and off the field.