San Diego head coach Rich Hill has announced coaching changes with former top assistant coach Eric Valenzuela heading over to cross town rival San Diego State. The biggest change sees Jay Johnson moved up to the top assistant position while Tyler Kincaid has been hired from Palomar College to take over the pitching duties. Ramon Orozco has been moved up to volunteer assistant coach while Nik Crouch joins the staff as the Director of Baseball Operations. We should see how the move by Valenzuela affects the San Diego program as he was very important in bringing some star players into the program which is highlighted by Brian Matusz and Josh Romanski.
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of San Diego head baseball coach Rich Hill has announced changes to the 2010 coaching staff. Assistant Coach Jay Johnson has been elevated to the head recruiting coordinator and top assistant coach, Tyler Kincaid has been hired as the new USD pitching coach and Ramon Orozco has been elevated to volunteer assistant coach. San Diego has also added Nik Crouch to the staff as the Director of Baseball Operations.
Johnson, who begins his fifth-year with the Toreros in 2010, has served as USD’s hitting coach and also the roll of associate recruiting coordinator for the past four years and has helped guide USD into national prominence during his time at USD. He helped recruit USD’s 2008 class, which was ranked the nation’s best by Baseball America. In his first season, the Toreros ranked first in the WCC in team hitting overall (.310) as well as in conference games (.329). Under his guidance, Josh Romanski was tabbed as the WCC Freshman of the Year, Shane Buschini was named the WCC Player of the Year in 2007 and in 2009 Johnson helped guide senior outfielder James Meador to the Conference Player of the Year as well. Johnson was instrumental in guiding the Toreros to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, as well as back-to-back WCC Championships in 2007 and 2008.
“Jay has established himself as one of the premiere recruiting guys in the country,” stated Hill. “He is quickly rising as one of the brightest young coaches in the college game today.”
Kincaid comes to the Toreros from nearby Palomar College, where he has served as the pitching coach from 2005-09. In 2009, Palomar finished the season with a 36-13-1 overall record and his pitching staff ranked No. 1 in California with a team ERA of 2.60. Two of Kincaid’s pitchers received California Community College All-America honors in 2009, and three pitchers received All-Conference recognitions. Prior to working at Palomar College, Kincaid has success at San Francisco State as the pitching coach from 2002-2005, where he helped lead the 2004 Gator pitching staff to its firs 30-win season since 1995, the lowest team ERA since 1991 at 4.99 and its first back-to-back winning seasons since the 1990-91 seasons. He has also served as the pitching coach with the Catham A’s baseball team in the prestigious Cape Cod League. In the summers of 2005 and 2006, he helped guide the A’s pitching staff to the second lowest ERA in the league, while also giving up the fewest number of hits. The A’s advanced to the Cape Cod playoffs in three of the five years Kincaid coached them and he helped produce the two Most Outstanding Pitchers of the CBBL in current Major Leager Andre Miller (Detroit Tigers) and USC’s Tom Milone took home the honor in 2007.
“TK has established himself as a top pitching technician. He is one of the best guys around in dealing with mechanics and conditioning,” stated Hill. “His experience in dealing with elite players in the Cape is invaluable.”
