About Us
Richie Casper
Owner
Richie is from Gainesville and studied Japanese history as a Japan Ministry of Education Fellowship scholar at Hiroshima University. He later graduated from the University of Georgia with an interdisciplinary degree in Japanese language and 3D animation and then started his career making video games in Tokyo, Japan after graduation.
In 2012, he founded Black Tower Studios, an independent game development studio in Tokyo, Japan.
Richie has extensive experience in International Business Development, Creative Direction, Game Development Production and Corporate Management.
Blake Davis
Head Coach | General Manager
Coach Davis joined the Georgia Gwinnett College baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2024 season.
Davis has a decorated MLB professional scouting resume that spans the last 17 years, ranging from national crosschecker, regional crosschecker, area scout, front office, and as a player agent.
He spent four years as the national crosschecker for the Toronto Blue Jays, where he was responsible for evaluating all the top amateur prospects from across the country.
Prior to his stint with the Blue Jays, he served as the Midwest crosschecker for the Kansas City Royals for two years. Davis also spent seven years as an area scout for the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals, signing notable prospects such as Huston Street, Dallas Braden, Corey Brown, Cliff Pennington, Bubba Starling, Jeremy Barfield, and Sam Demel.
In 2005, Davis earned the Dick Bogart Scout the of the Year award for the Oakland Athletics.
He has served as the Vice President of Player Personnel for Select Sports Group. Davis’s first job in Major League Baseball was a two-year stint working in the Arizona Fall League where he worked in baseball operations and dealing with every MLB teams’ prospects playing in the league.
Davis worked in the front office of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in scouting and player development.
Aside from his accomplishments as an MLB scout, the Davis name runs deep in baseball and basketball in Georgia. Davis’s father and grandfather were highly successful basketball coaches, while his uncle, Jody Davis, was an All-Star catcher with the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves. His cousin, Wade Davis, was a 3-time MLB Allstar, World Series Champion, and was one of the top closers in baseball for the Rays, Royals, Cubs and Rockies.
Back in his playing days, Blake Davis helped lead Gainesville High School to consecutive state championships in 1996 and 1997 and played collegiately at Marian University (Indiana).
Now, Davis will bring his vast baseball experiences and passions for coaching and scouting to the Sunbelt League as the two-time defending champions, the Gainesville Gol’Diggers seek a 3-peat.
Gordon Blakely
Special Assistant to the GM
Gordon Blakey served four years as an Assistant General Manager for the Atlanta Braves. Before his service in Atlanta, Blakely was the senior vice president of baseball operations for the New York Yankees working closely with the late owner, George Steinbrenner.
Gordon Blakely started his MLB scouting career with the Seattle Mariners in the early 1990s and has since been responsible for signing dozens of the top players in MLB. In addition to signing numerous MLB stars, Blakely is responsible for three of the five MLB players who are in the 40/40 club: Ronald Acuna Jr., Alfonso Soriano and Alex Rodriguez. Blakely’s past successes in evaluating and signing player talent include: David Ortiz, Hideki Matsui, Jose Contreras and Ozzie Albies.
Ryan Casper
Assistant Coach | Director of Operations
Ryan is a native of Gainesville, Georgia and an alumni member of the Gainesville Red Elephants 1997 State Championship baseball team. He is entering his 5th year as an assistant coach for the Gainesville High School varsity baseball team. His love and passion for the game is evident in his coaching as he strives to add to the rich history of baseball in Gainesville.
He also brings over 25 years of experience as a project manager and business owner on multimillion dollar projects. Ryan has over 13 years of experience with stadium operations, field maintenance and game day events for Gainesville City Schools. He currently serves as the PA announcer for Gainesville High School football, a role he has enjoyed for the past 10 years.
Dale Carey
Assistant Coach
Carey joined the Georgia Gwinnett College baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach for the 2024 season.
Carey played high school baseball at Wheeler High School (Georgia) under Hall of Famer Dave McDonald. He was a two-time all-region and all-county selection in 2009 and 2010. Carey earned all-state accolades following his senior season. Carey is a 2024 inductee into the Wheeler High School Hall of Fame.
He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 21st round, but Carey elected to attend college at the University of Miami (Florida) under American Baseball Coaches Association Hall Fame inductee Jim Morris. He was a four-year starter, garnering second all-Atlantic Coast Conference team honors in 2014. Then, he was named to the ACC all-tournament team that same season.
Carey was then drafted by the Washington Nationals in the seventh round in 2014. He played four seasons with the organization before concluding his playing career with two seasons of Independent Baseball for the Gary RailCats and the Sussex County Miners.
Carey has coached at Marist High School (Georgia) under Mike Strickland for four seasons, helping guide the team win the 2021 state championship.