Baseball World Mourns Loss Of Former San Joaquin Delta/Feather River College Coach Reed Peters

The CCCBCA and college baseball world was saddened by the unexpected death of former San Joaquin Delta and Feather River College head coach Reed Peters, who passed away on June 4 after battling an extended illness.

Peters, 61, had just completed a 24-win season in his second year directing the University of Pacific. The Tigers made their first-ever trip to the West Coast Conference Tournament with the year ending with a loss to No. 3 seed San Francisco on May 22. He coached back-to-back, 20-win seasons for the first time for Pacific since 2018-19.

He amassed 748 career victories as a community college and university head coach. 

For 17 seasons, Peters had a tremendous run as head coach at Delta, capturing a pair of state championships in 2011 and 2018 and finishing four times as state runner-up in 2009, 2014, 2015 and 2024. His teams appeared in eight final fours and made 12 Elite Eight appearances. 

He compiled a 386-167 winning record (.698 percentage) and placed 140 student-athletes at NCAA Division I institutions during that span.

During his tenure with the Mustangs, Peters mentored 19 All-Americans and 31 players who went on to play professionally. Peters was a four-time Big 8 Coach of the Year, two-time Northern California Coach of the Year and the 2018 ABCA National Coach of the Year.
 
The Mustangs earned a Top Five National Ranking by Perfect Game five times under Peters and were No. 1 in the Northern California rankings in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19.

Before joining Delta in 2008, Peters enjoyed success at each of his previous stops. In four seasons at Feather River, he compiled impressive totals which included a 107-58 record, two Golden Valley Conference championships, four straight Top 20 rankings and playoff appearances, and three consecutive GVC Coach of the Year honors (2005-2007). In 2007, he directed the Golden Eagles to a perfect 25-0 record in conference play. 
 
From 1999-2003, he coached at the Air Force Academy. After spending 1999 as an assistant coach, Peters took over as head coach from 2000-2003. The 2002 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year, Peters won 88 games in four years at the Academy.
 
Peters' coaching career began at his alma mater UNLV where he was an assistant coach. In 1994, he left UNLV to take the head coaching job at Colby Community College in Colby, Kansas. In his four seasons at Colby, Peters posted a 123-80 record for a .606 win percentage. In his first season, he led the Trojans to the Region VI championship, the first and only title for the school in 50 years.
 
As a player, he earned three letters playing centerfield at UNLV from 1985-87, while starting and playing every inning of every game prior to signing professionally after his junior year. Peters earned All-Big West honors in 1986-1987 and led the league in home runs with 18 in 1987. Peters was equally impressive in the classroom as he earned GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American honors in 1986.
 
A 1984 graduate of Cherry Creek High in Denver, Colorado, he was one of only three people in the school's history to earn four varsity letters in baseball. A member of Cherry Creek's first state championship teams in football and baseball, Peters received all-state honors in both sports, and was inducted into the Cherry Creek High School Hall of Fame in 2006.
 
Following his collegiate career, Peters was a 12th Round draft choice of the California Angels in 1987. He played five years in the Angels' organization. He later played two seasons in the San Francisco Giants organization, finishing his career for the Triple-A Phoenix Firebirds in 1993. 
 
Peters finished his professional career by batting .300 or more four times. Most of his time was in the outfield, however, he played all nine positions during his pro minor league career.

Peters is survived by his wife Audrey, three sons Cade (an assistant coach for his father at both Delta and UOP), Beau and Drew, and his twin brother Rex, a former assistant coach at UCLA.

(some of the information from this article courtesy of San Joaquin Delta Athletics)