Hope International University Men's Baseball

Larry Mahoney was promoted to Head Coach of the HIU baseball program in 2021 after serving six seasons as the Associate Head Coach. Mahoney helped build the HIU program quickly with one NAIA World Series Appearance, three NAIA Opening Round Appearances, two Regular Season GSAC Championships, and one GSAC Tournament Championship during his time as Associate Head Coach. Then as Head Coach he only needed three seasons to lead the school and baseball program to their first NAIA National Championship as he led the team to five elimination game wins at the 2024 Avista NAIA World Series. A two time GSAC Coach of the Year Mahoney has led the Royals to three straight NAIA Opening Round Appearances, two GSAC Regular Season Championships and one GSAC Tournament Championship. Over his nine seasons at HIU, Mahoney has coached four MLB Draft picks, nine NAIA All Americans, a GSAC Player of the year, three GSAC Pitcher of the Years, 22 All-GSAC selections, and nine Gold Glove selections.  Mahoney entered college coaching at Cypress College where he worked with the hitters and infielders. During his tenure at Cypress College, he won California State Championship in 2013 and coached 29 draft picks, 10 State All-Americans, 28 Orange Empire All-Conference Selections, eight state Academic All-Americans, and two Rawlings All Pacific Association Team.   Mahoney also coached the Los Angeles Brewers (California Collegiate League) for three years and won the program's first championships in 2013 and 2014. In addition, Mahoney coached the Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox (Cape Cod Baseball League) where he worked with the hitters and the offense led the Cape league in batting average from 2007-2010.  In addition to notable stops in his coaching career, Mahoney brings his personal collegiate career experience to the Royals as a 2003 California State Champion at Cypress College and  Academic All-American at Si Tanka University -South Dakota.   

Steven Phillips enters his third year as an assistant coach for the Royals. Phillips began coaching career in 2018 when joining Hope International University working with their infielders and hitters. Phillips spent three consecutive summers coaching for Yarmouth Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod baseball league. Phillips graduated from HIU with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and also earned his Master's Degree from HIU. 

Scott Dwyer in in his first season at Hope International as the Director of Player Development. He will have a large role as the hitting coach for the nationally ranked Royals program. He spent four seasons at Feather River Junior College as the hitting/outfield coach, helping lead the school to three Golden Valley Conference and regional championships. Feather River also won one Super Regional championship and made one Final Four appearance. He coached four position players to All-American recognition during his tenure. The Reno native earned his Business degree from Centenary College (La.) in 2017. He also has an MS degree from the University of West Florida. Dwyer played two years at Centenary, earning All-SCAC accolades in 2016. He also was a two-time Gold Glove award recipient and made the 2016 Tyler All-Regional Team. He competed for two additional seasons at Feather River JC, becoming a Second Team All-GVC selection and a two-time Academic All-American.

Payton Lobdell joined the HIU coaching staff in 2024 as a pitching coach. Coach Lobdell is an alumni of Hope International where he earned his Bachelor's in Political Science in 2016.  Lobdell played as a pitcher for the Royals as well as for Cypress College and Georgetown College. Lobdell played three years of Independent Pro Baseball in the Frontier League and was named a Frontier League All-Star in 2018. Lobdell has owned Backyard Bullpens since 2020 and has previous coaching experience as a JV Assistant Coach for Irvine High School 2017-18, Freshman Head Coach at Marina High School 2019-20 and Head Pitching Coach at Marina High School 2020-21.

Vince Payne joined the HIU coaching staff in 2024 as the pitching coach. Coach Payne is an alumni of Cypress College where he earned his Associate's in Criminal Justice.  Payne was a right handed pitcher at Cypress College and was selected in the 12th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirate. He was named best start to a professional career in 2011 and has been providing private pitching lessons since 2017. Payne has also coached for No Limits Baseball Academy 12U & 13U and Top Notch Academy 14U & 15U.