Our Staff

SHAYNE DAVIDSON, FASTPITCH DIRECTOR

Shayne earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Criminal Justice from Moorhead State University and played intramural basketball and softball. He and his wife Pam have lived in the Fargo area since 1992 where they married in 2000 and raised two kids, Mitchell and Olivia. Mitchell is about to enter the Air-Guard and Olivia is an avid high school Volleyball and Softball player. Shayne has worked a variety of jobs in which he served the youth. Beginning as a job coach at CCRI, a counselor for at-risk youth, and most recently as a 2016 softball coach and board member of the Fargo Lady Eagles Fastpitch. Shayne was with the Fargo Lady Eagles organization since 2016 where he served on the board of directors as President and Vice President for 5 years. He also coached several teams from the 12U to 16/18U levels. Shayne then helped facilitate the merger between Fargo Lady Eagles and Fargo Youth Baseball to form Fargo Area Fastpitch under Fargo Area Sports. Shayne will continue to give back to the community as the Fastpitch Director and will continue to help out with softball camps and lessons.

Coach Justin Feist

Coach Feist is our Lead Hitting Instructor, and is one of the best hitting instructors in the midwest.

Coach Feist began his coaching career in 2015, working with a couple athletes in individual lessons. That spring he began coaching with the West Fargo Packers where he was an assistant coach for two seasons. He has also coached the West Fargo United 16U team for three summers. For the past 4 seasons Coach Feist has been the head coach of the Diamond Academy 16U Travel Team, and has lead them to 2 state titles. In the winters he works with Diamond Academy assisting players from all over the region to obtain their goals.

Coach Feist began playing men’s fastpitch in 2009, primarily as a catcher. Today Coach Feist also pitches for his men’s team, though his biggest attribute is his hitting. Coach Feist has been selected as a All-World player at the NAFA World Series twice, including in 2015 when he won a National Championship. He has also had the honor of playing in the distinguished ISC World Tournament.

Coach Feist prides himself on his mental approach to the game, and believes it is one of the biggest weapons a young player can have when playing.

Coach Feist earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in Dec. 2018 and currently works as a Quality Engineer at Doosan Bobcat in Gwinner.

Coach Matt Gable

Coach Matt Gable is our Lead Pitching Instructor, and he is one of the best in the midwest.

Coach Gable is entering his 2nd year at Valley City State University as Head Softball Coach. In his first year the Vikings won the conference tournament and advanced to Nationals. Previously Matt coached softball and baseball for a combined 11 years. He has coached athletes ranging in ages 6 through 18 and has spent time coaching for Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, Fargo Shanley, and West Fargo school districts. Coach Gable is excited to be part of the Diamond Academy team and helping area athletes obtain their goals.

Coach Gable has played men’s fastpitch since 2007 as a pitcher, infielder, and outfielder. In 2007 he won a national championship in the NAFA 23U division and was selected to the NAFA All-World team as a hitter. Gable has also played in 3 ISC World Tournaments and in 2014 was selected to the ISC II All-World team as a hitter. He has also competed at the ASA Men’s Major event and currently is President of Fargo Fastpitch.
Coach Gable earned his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with minors in Coaching, and Strength and Conditioning from MSUM in 2012.

Coach Vance Christianson

Coach Vance Christianson is our Lead Recruiting Specialist. Coach Christianson has created many contacts throughout NCAA, NJCAA, and NAIA.

Coach Christianson is in his first year with Valley City State as the Assistant Coach. Previously Coach Christianson spent the past 1.5 years at Mayville State as their Interim Head Softball Coach and before that he was their Assistant Coach for 2 years. Prior to coaching collegiate softball Coach Christianson was with Shanley Softball as their Head Coach. Coach Christianson took the Shanley Deacons from 10th place to 4th place in the regular EDC season in his 1st year at Shanley. He began his coaching career in 2013 with West Fargo Baseball for 1 year, and then he moved over to Moorhead High School and was JV Coach for 3 seasons. Coach Christianson was apart of the Moorhead Crush for 4 seasons. He was their 18u league and travel coach all 4 seasons. He was also the Program Director from 2016-2018.

Coach Christianson has 10+ years experience of playing many different levels of Men’s Fastpitch. He played and managed his Fastpitch team. He was also the President of the Fargo Men’s Fastpitch League for 2 years as well. Majority of Coach Christianson’s playing time was at Catcher, DP, and 1b.

Coach Courtney Walsh

A Fargo native, Coach Walsh was a 6 year letter winner in Centerfield for Fargo North. She was selected to the All-East Region Team and All-State Team in 2012 & 2013, and nominated for Senior Athlete of the Year in 2013. After graduating high school, Coach Walsh was the first North Dakota native to play Division 1 collegiate softball and attended NDSU. Courtney played from 2013-2017, and contributed to the Bison winning 4 Summit League Championships and 4 NCAA Tournament appearances. During her time at NDSU, Coach Walsh and the Bison beat ranked teams such as Stanford, Washington, Auburn, Alabama, Minnesota, and Oklahoma.

Coach Walsh graduated from NDSU in 2018 with Bachelors in Social Science Education and Public History. She has been working in the Fargo Public Schools System since fall of 2018 and is currently teaching Social Studies at Fargo North. Her prior coaching experience has been 3 years as the Head Varsity Coach at Fargo Davies, and the last 2 years as an Assistant Coach to the 16u Diamond Academy summer team. Coach Walsh loves all aspects of the game, mental and physical, but especially loves
teaching outfield defense and slapping.

Contact

Diamond Academy

930 16th Ave E
West Fargo, North Dakota 58078

Email: [email protected]

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