Doherty forgoed his senior season of college baseball and signed as a free agent by the Arizona Diamondbacks in June 2005.

[10] He moved up one minor league level the next two seasons, playing for the Single-A South Bend Silver Hawks in 2006 and the High-A Visalia Oaks in 2007.

[11] After his release from minor league baseball, Doherty moved to South Carolina and took up beach volleyball with Steve Johnson.

[3] They paired together to win the 2012 National Volleyball League Preakness event in Baltimore over highly ranked Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers.

Starting with the October 2013 São Paulo Grand Slam on the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Doherty had switched partners to Nick Lucena.