Vanguard University

Ryan Johnston begins his first season at Vanguard alongside Coach Holland in 2026-27.
 

Johnston remains close to his collegiate roots upon his arrival at VU, as his previous stops include the University of California Irvine and CUI.  His last stop was UCI for the past four seasons as an assistant to Ben Orloff, serving as the assistant hitting coach, the outfield coach, and the first base coach.  The Anteaters cleared 30 wins in 2022 and 2023, set a program record with 45 victories in 2024, and reached 43 in 2025, a year that also saw the program win the conference championship.  Both the 2024 and 2025 squads made the NCAA Regionals, going 2-2 in each bracket.  Johnston saw over 20 All-Big West honorees and over 20 All Big-West Spring All-Academic team members.  Over 10 Anteaters were taken in the MLB draft from the UCI rosters during that span.  

While coaching the Anteaters, Johnston has been a part of UCI's summer baseball camps and as a travel ball coach for the Saddleback Cowboys College Development Program.  Before joining the UCI staff, Johnston spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at CUI for the 2021 & 2022 campaigns, with the Golden Eagles posting winning records each year.  There were 10 All-PacWest players during those two years, with CUI garnering the Defensive Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year in the league.  It was a smooth transition to coaching the Golden Eagles for Johnston, as he played his final two collegiate seasons at CUI.  Johnston notched four hits and collected 16 strikeouts as an outfielder and a pitcher.  He was an intra-Irvine transfer to CUI, as Johnston started his journey at UCI.  As a three-year member of the Anteaters, Johnston had a 3-3 record with 44 strikeouts across 52 innings, with 22 hits and 14 RBI from the plate.