Nothing beat a Reed Peters laugh or hug.
As University of the Pacific pitcher Zach Todd worked through the first collegiate start of his career against Utah Tech on Feb. 19, coach Peters wasn’t exactly offering words of encouragement.
Instead, he challenged him.
“You need to be better,” Todd said Peters told him. “What are you doing out there?”
The irony was that Todd hadn’t given up a run.
That was Peters’ style. He knew exactly which buttons to push and when to push them.
After Todd completed five scoreless innings, Peters revealed the reason behind his approach.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” Todd said Peters told him. “I just wanted to make you mad to see how fired up you get.”
For those who played for Peters and knew him, memories like that made news of his death Thursday, June 4, even harder to process. He was 60.
“There’s no better memory than a Skip laugh or Skip hug,” Todd said. “Those don’t come often, and when they do, you cherish them. I cherished it that day, and it’s heartbreaking that I won’t get to experience another one.”
Pacific announced Peters’ death following a courageous battle with an undisclosed illness.
“No amount of words could possibly convey the tremendous sadness we all feel at the passing of Coach Peters. Our thoughts and prayers are with Audrey, Cade, Beau, Drew, and the entire Peters family,” Athletic Director Adam Tschour said. “Reed was with us for only two seasons, but his impact will forever be felt. When we first met, he promised to take the Tigers to new heights, and he did just that with our finest WCC performance to date, our best year this decade, and one of our highest-achieving seasons ever. He will be greatly missed, and we shall all continue to strive to ensure the program lives up to what he built.”
When Peters took over in June 2024 after an 11-44 season, the turnaround began immediately.
Peters arrived from San Joaquin Delta College, where he spent 17 seasons building a powerhouse, compiling a 386-167 record and helping place 140 student-athletes at Division I programs.
What came with him was the same expectation.
Win.
“He was a great human being on the field and off the field,” Lincoln graduate and Pacific catcher Diego Davis said. “He was down to earth. He wanted to see others succeed and wanted to build up a program that had been struggling for the last few years. This hurts me more than anything, and my prayers go out to Audrey, Cade, Beau, Drew and the entire Peters family. He meant a lot to me.”
Todd added, “When you’re a head coach, you can’t be timid. You can’t sit back, watch the game and wait for something to happen. Everything I just said was the opposite of Reed. He attacked the game with intensity, both vocally and with a violent game plan. That’s baseball played the right way. He was a warrior.”
And win, Pacific did.
In 2026, the Tigers finished 15-11-1 in West Coast Conference play, earning the program’s first WCC Tournament berth and the No. 2 seed.
After receiving a bye into the double-elimination bracket, Pacific secured the program’s first conference tournament victory with a walk-off grand slam against San Francisco on May 21.
“He’s one of the most consistent dudes I’ve ever met,” Bear Creek graduate and Pacific pitcher Carson Revay said. “I knew him growing up. When I was in the transfer portal after getting cut from Fresno State, he took a chance on me. I really owed him everything. He’s a great dude, a great human being and a great coach. He meant a lot to a lot of people around the city.”
If Peters knew how to push the right buttons, he also knew when to put his arm around a player.
In a 6-4 home win over Seattle University on March 20, Revay believed his day was done. Allowing three earned runs, Peters told him they would save him for the next two games of the series.
The decision made sense.
Then Pacific scored six runs in the top of the ninth.
As the Tigers celebrated in the dugout, Peters walked back over to Revay.
This time, he had a different message.
He wanted him to take the ball in the ninth.
“Reed was just an amazing guy,” Todd said. “He was the first call when I entered the transfer portal, and there was no one else I wanted to play for. I was in the portal for only two days. Not only does that speak to the person he was, but also to the culture he brought and the impact he had on Pacific in such a short time. He put this place on the map.”
Revay added, “I’d do anything for him. No matter what, he rode with his guys. That’s what made him a great coach. He always believed in us.”
This article originally appeared on The Record: University of the Pacific baseball coach Reed Peters dies at 60
Reporting by Dylan Ackermann, The Stockton Record / The Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dylan Ackermann, The Stockton Record | USA TODAY Network
