FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William and Mary athletics director Terry Driscoll announced the hiring of Jamie Pinzino to the post of head baseball coach at the College on Monday. Pinzino, a two-time conference coach of the year at Bryant University, spent six years as a head coach, before serving as an assistant the last two seasons at Northeastern and William and Mary. In 2011-12, he was the Tribe’s pitching coach and served as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
“Throughout this process, I was impressed with the plan and passion that Jamie showed for William and Mary, and it became evident he was a great fit for our baseball program,” Driscoll said. “His experience in building a program at Bryant and his knowledge of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) are two of the many valuable qualities we saw in him as our head baseball coach. He understands what it takes to be successful at an academic institution like W&M and is committed to our student-athletes.”
Last season, Pinzino, who has 11 years of collegiate coaching experience, helped the Tribe post a 31-25 record. His pitching staff led the CAA in ERA (3.01) and opponent batting average (.245), while allowing the fewest hits (445), walks (126), doubles (79) and home runs (24) in the league. Nationally, W&M ranked 13th in ERA, ninth in fewest walks per game (2.3 BB/game), seventh in WHIP (1.17) and sixth in strikeouts per walk (3.06). Under Pinzino’s tutelage, Matt Davenport earned CAA Pitcher of the Year honors and was named First-Team All-East Region, before being selected in the 34th round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft by the Detroit Tigers.
“I feel fortunate to be given the opportunity as the head baseball coach at William and Mary,” Pinzino said. “I want to thank athletics director Terry Driscoll, associate athletics director Steve Cole and the search committee for believing in me to lead this program moving forward. It’s exciting to work with the type of student-athletes that we have in the program and can attract to this fine institution. Given its advantages and potential, the program has a bright future, and I cannot wait to get to work.”
Prior to joining the Tribe staff, Pinzino spent a season as the pitching coach at Northeastern University. Under his guidance, the Huskies led the CAA in ERA (4.26) and were second in opponent batting average (.270). Pinzino also saw three of his starters selected in the 2011 MLB Draft. Les Williams was taken in the 37th round by the Toronto Blue Jays after earning Third-Team All-CAA honors in 2010, while Brandon McNelis was selected by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (41st round) and Drew Leenhouts by the Florida Marlins (43rd round).
Pinzino brings six years of head coaching experience to the Green and Gold program with an overall mark of 173-150, including a 66-44 (.667) ledger at the Division I level. He was the head coach at Bryant University for five seasons where he successfully guided the Bulldogs from Division II to Division I. He garnered his first Coach of the Year honor from the Northeast-10 Conference in 2007, while leading the Bulldogs to its first of two straight NCAA Division II Regional finals. The 2008 campaign was Pinzino’s best at Bryant, as he led the Bulldogs to a school-record 43 wins and the regular season Northeast-10 Conference title.
In 2009, Pinzino guided Bryant’s transition to Division I and led the Bulldogs to an impressive 32-22 record as an independent. The following season as a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC), the Bulldogs won the regular season league championship, amassing a 34-22 overall mark and a remarkable 25-7 ledger in conference play. For his efforts, Pinzino was selected the NEC Coach of the Year, marking the second award of his career.
Overall at Bryant, Pinzino guided the Bulldogs to 162 wins and an impressive conference mark of 86-36 (.705) that included two league championships. During his time, Pinzino saw two Bryant players selected in the MLB Draft. In 2010, the Chicago Cubs took Jeff Vigurs in the 22nd round, while Pat McKenna was selected in the 27th round by the Detroit Tigers in 2009.
Pinzino spent his other season as a head coach at Assumption College in 2005. He was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Tufts University, for two seasons and also had one-year assistant coaching stints at Holy Cross and Pomona-Pitzer College.
During his playing days at Tufts, Pinzino was a four-year letterwinner, helping the Jumbos win three ECAC Championships. In 1995, Tufts reached the NCAA Division III Regional as the No. 2 seed. He was the Tufts Baseball Elias Award recipient for hard work and dedication in 1997.
Pinzino graduated from Tufts in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in history and later earned a master’s degree from the school in educational studies during his coaching stint with the Jumbos. He is married to Cheryl Milligan, who is the head women’s softball coach at Tufts. She has led the Jumbos to four New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championships and guided Tufts to its second NCAA Division III Regional crown under her direction in 2012.
