Baseball Coaches

Coaches Biography Page - Baseball

Merritt Ainslie - Varsity Head Coach

My name is Merritt Ainslie and I'm the head varsity baseball coach for the Morgan County Diamond Dogs. I am married to Megan Ainslie and we are celebrating 12 years this March. We have two beautiful kids, Sam (8) and Amelia (6). Megan is a teacher at Morgan County primary school.

I graduated from Morgan County High School in 2000. During high school I was a member of the football, cross-country, basketball, and baseball teams. After high school I attended North Georgia College and State University where I played baseball for Tom Cantrell. I was also a member of the Corps of Cadets. After college, I was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army and was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany for 5 years. While living in Europe I deployed for two combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. After completing my 8 year military service I returned to Georgia and finished a masters degree in education from the University of Georgia. I taught adapted curriculum special education here at Morgan County High School for 4 years and then transitioned to take the role as the high school Work Based Learning Coordinator where I currently serve.

I've served as the head baseball coach for Morgan County since the 2016 season. Prior to that I was an assistant baseball coach for 1 year as well as an assistant fastpitch softball coach from 2012-2013.

What I enjoy most about coaching is sharing my experiences and teaching athletes how to be successful in life and productive members of society through lessons learned in the game of baseball.

My hobbies revolve around my family. We love to play sports, hunting/fishing, and farming.

Duane Turner - JV Head Coach

I Graduated from Heritage High School in Conyers Georgia in 1995. While in High school I played football, wrestled and played baseball. I went to Georgia State University and graduated in 2006 with a degree in Middle Grades Education. This is my 14th year coaching and teaching. I have coached middle school and high school wrestling for 14 years, middle school and high school softball for 14 years and this is my 6th year coaching baseball at the high school level. I also spent two years coaching middle school football. I am currently a 7th grade math teacher at Morgan County Middle school. My favorite thing about coaching is teaching young people how sports relate to life. There are so many life lessons to be learned from competition. My hobbies include Alabama football and spending time with my wife and kids.

Andrew Couch - C-Team Head Coach

My name is Andrew Couch and I am the head coach for the Morgan County Baseball C-Team. I am married to Morgan McBay Couch who is a registered nurse at the Morgan County Health Department. We will be married two years in April and with us is our golden retriever, Cash.

I graduated from Morgan County High School in 2013. During high school, I played football, baseball, and basketball. After high school, I attended the University of Georgia where I graduated in 2017 with a Bachelors in Sport Management. While at UGA, I had the opportunity to intern with their strength and conditioning program and work with the football team training in the weight room. Go Dawgs!

I now have my own company, Wheaton-Nichols Construction LLC, and work as a licensed general contractor. We primarily focus on commercial projects but do some residential renovations as well.

This will be my second year coaching for Morgan County High School. Last year I was an assistant JV baseball coach and finished out the season as an assistant Varsity baseball coach. What I enjoy most about coaching is forming a relationship with my players. I enjoy following their success on and off the field and watching them grow into great young men.

In my free time, I enjoy hunting/fishing and spending time with family and friends.

Carter Shultz - C-Team Assistant Coach

I went to Morgan County High school where I graduated in 2013. I played baseball, football, and wrestled while in school. After high school I attended Valdosta State University for one year before transferring to the University of Georgia where I graduated in 2019 with a BA in History. This is my first year coaching baseball, but my 6th year coaching high school sports as I currently serve as the Head Wrestling Coach and Defensive Backs Coach. The thing I enjoy most about coaching is watching the progression and development of players as they get older. There is nothing like seeing it finally “click” for a player that has been working hard. Right now I am working various construction jobs with Wheaton-Nichols and also helping on my dad’s farm. I am also pursuing my Masters Degree in Education so I can teach in the near future. In my limited free time I fish, hunt, and catch wild hogs with my dog Champ.

Jerry McCullough - JV/C-Team Pitching Coordinator

At 8 years old, I started playing baseball. I did not stop playing until college. The choice was play baseball and take a chance not getting into Vet School, or go to UGA and have a really good chance of getting into Vet School. I chose Vet School. Didn’t make it, but ended up with a BS and MS in Microbiology, and, afterward, several great careers using those degrees. At UGA I played collegiate rugby for 6 years, and intramural football and softball. During that time, I started coaching little league baseball in Gainesville. That continued until my career forced me to work more than I wanted. After working as a microbiologist and being a partner in a clinical lab computing company, I started teaching and coaching baseball and football at East Hall High School, and once again coaching little league and travel baseball, too. From East Hall I moved to teaching and coaching at Truett-McConnell College, while still coaching HS travel ball. After TMC came MCHS. I thought I had retired from coaching. But a one-year need for a middle school coach led to several more years coaching at the HS, and two more retirements. My last year of coaching HS came as a one-year need for a head coach in the 2015 season. Coach Ainslie was being groomed to be the head coach for the 2016 season, and has done a great job ever since.

My family is the source of my greatest joy. My wife and I started dating while I was a junior and she was a freshman at Lakeside HS in DeKalb County. We attended UGA together, got married and raised 4 wonderful children, who are now married and have 9 children of their own among them. Two of our daughters, our son, a son-in-law, and a daughter-in-law all teach school, too. My wife and I retired from full-time teaching a few years ago and have continued to be involved in education by working at GMC and Foothills. Currently I am an adjunct professor of biology at GMC. She is a mentor in the Foothills Charter School. I loved playing football and rugby – action all the time! But my passion has always been with baseball. I love learning about the game and about how to get players to develop skills to enjoy the game as much as I did, and maybe to fulfill a dream of playing beyond HS. As a positon coach I get the greatest joy watching the kids get better, seeing them learn more about themselves and the game, and then to feel really good about the improvement in their skills. Together, the players and I strive for their success in and enjoyment of the greatest game on earth.