Zach Johnston enters his 10th season at the helm of the Cardinal's Baseball program heading into the 2024 season. Under the direction of Coach Johnston, the Cardinals won the 2023 WHAC Regular Season Championship and appeared in the NAIA Opening Round, the Cardinals made the NCCAA World Series in four straight seasons (2018-2022) with the Cardinals being crowned NCCAA National Champions twice in that span (2019 and 2022). 

The 2023 Cardinals Baseball season was one for the record books as the Cardinals took part in the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in the program's history. The Cardinals qualified for the NAIA postseason after taking home their first WHAC Regular Season Championship after posting a 26-5 WHAC record. 

Johnston is a familiar name here at Concordia. The Hall of Famer played four years (2006-2010) of collegiate baseball for the Cardinals as a utility player, playing left field, second base, and shortstop. For his efforts as a player, Johnston was Inducted into Concordia University's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.

Johnston etched his name all over the Cardinals’ record books. He started 189 games and at the time helped lead all three of the winningest teams in Cardinal History. After his career, Johnston was in the Top 10 in 22 different categories in the CUAA record books. He was #1 in 6 of those categories and was in the Top 5 in 10 others. Johnston was a 3x All-Conference selection and a Gold Glove award winner in 2009. Johnston not only excelled on the field but also in the classroom as he was the only athlete in Cardinal History to be a 3x Academic All-Conference Selection and a 3x Academic All-American Selection.

After his playing career was over, Johnston became the Sports Information Director at CUAA and coached the CUAA softball program for three seasons. During Johnston's three-year tenure with CUAA softball, he helped completely turn the program around. The softball staff with Johnston on it had an overall record of 71-68-1 over three seasons (2012-14) which was a significant improvement for a program that had an overall record of 33-169 during the previous nine seasons (2003-11).

Johnston also has experience outside of Concordia. In 2009 Johnston worked for the Baltimore Orioles in their Public Relations Department. In 2010, he worked in MiLB for the Baltimore Orioles affiliate the Bluefield Orioles (now the Bluefield Blue Jays). He worked closely with Bluefield's, President and General Manager, George McGonagle, and Bluefield's first base coach and minor league camp coordinator, Len Johnston. Johnston has also seen time as a Director of Player Development, Lead Instructor, Personal Trainer, and Part-time Coach with MC Athletics.

Johnston comes from a baseball family. His grandfather, father, and uncle all played Professional Baseball. His grandfather, Len Johnston, has been working in professional baseball since 1967. Len Johnston has worked in the Washington Senators', Cleveland Indians' and the Baltimore Orioles' systems and has been with Baltimore since 1976. In 2010 Len Johnston was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.

Johnston graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration in 2010, finished his first M.S. in Organizational Leadership and Administration in 2012 and then completed his second Master’s degree in Educational Leadership in 2014. Besides being the Head Baseball Coach Johnston is also the Director of Sports Information at Concordia.

A native of Michigan, Johnston resides in Pinckney with his wife Karen, son Zander, and daughters Zaidey and Ziley.

Coaching Highlights

• First WHAC Baseball Championship in program history
• First NAIA National Tournament Appearance in program history
• 2 NCCAA National Championships (2019 & 2022)
• 2 NCCAA National Player/Pitcher of the Year
• 2 NCCAA World Series MVP
• 5 NCCAA All-Tournament Team Selections
• 2 NCCAA Regional Player/Pitcher of the Year
• 4 NAIA All-Americans selections
• 13 NCCAA All-American selections
• 28 NCCAA All-Region selections
• 2 WHAC Conference Player/Pitcher of the Year
• 38 All-Conference selections
• 13 conference Gold Glove recipients
• 1 Rawlings National Gold Glove recipient
• 47 NAIA Scholars-Athletes
• 80 WHAC Scholar-Athlete selections
• 2 CoSIDA Academic All-America recipients
• 7 CoSIDA Academic All-District team recipients
• 2 National Player of the Week recipients
• Coached 2 players who received professional contracts
• The longest winning streak in program history (19)
• The longest conference-winning streak in program history (15)
• Top 7 wins in a season
• Program's best start in a season (19-1 in 2023)

Johnston's Year-by-Year Record