WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William
and Mary Tribe head baseball coach Frank Leoni announced the hiring of Jamie Pinzino to his staff on Friday (July 29).
Pinzino will serve as the College's pitching coach as well as its recruiting
coordinator. Pinzino joins David Miller
on the Tribe coaching staff, who was named an assistant coach earlier this
month.
"I am very pleased
to announce the hiring of Jamie Pinzino as our new pitching coach and
recruiting coordinator," Leoni remarked. "Jamie brings a wealth of
experience to Williamsburg. He transformed Bryant's program into
a formidable DI program in a very short period of time. Jamie
understands what it takes to be successful in the CAA and at a fine academic
institution like William & Mary. He is certainly committed to the
student-athlete. His addition, along with the recent appointment of
David Miller, makes this one of the very best coaching staffs that
I've been fortunate to assemble. I cannot wait to get the fall
started."
Pinzino comes to Williamsburg from Northeastern, where he
made an immediate impact in his one season with the Huskies. Under his guidance, Northeastern led the CAA
in team ERA (4.26) and was second only to the Tribe in opponent batting average
(.270). Pinzino also saw all three of
his weekend starters get 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 was drafted by the Florida Marlins (43rd round).
Before Northeastern, Pinzino served as the head coach at
Bryant University where he successfully guided the Bulldogs from Division II to
Division I. At Bryant, Pinzino was twice
honored as conference coach of the year in 2007 and 2010. From 2006-08, Bryant went to back-to-back
D-II regional finals. The 2008 campaign
was the best for Pinzino at Bryant, as he led the Bulldogs to a school record
43 wins and the regular season Northeast-10 conference title.
The transition to D-I could not have gone smoother for
Pinzino and Bulldogs, as Bryant posted a record of 32-22 as an independent in
2009. In 2010 as a member of the Northeast
Conference, Pinzino and Bryant finished with an overall record of 34-22, which
included a regular season conference title after posting a NEC mark of 25-7.
Overall at Bryant, Pinzino guided the Bulldogs to 162 wins
and an impressive conference mark of 87-35 (.713) that included the two
conference crowns. During his time,
Pinzino saw two of his players from Bryant get drafted. The Chicago Cubs took Jeff Vigurs in the 22nd
round in the 2010 MLB Draft, while Pat McKenna was selected in the 27th round by the Detroit Tigers.
Prior to joining Bryant, Pinzino spent one season as the
head coach at Assumption College in 2005.
Before that stint, Pinzino was an assistant coach at his alma mater,
Tufts University, for two seasons. Pinzino
also held assistant coaching positions at Holy Cross and Pomona-Pitzer College.
During his playing days at Tufts, Pinzino was a four-year
letterwinner on the baseball team, helping the Jumbos win three ECAC
Championships and reach the 1995 Division III Regional as the No. 2 seed.
Pinzino graduated from Tufts in 1997 with a
history degree and later earned a Masters from Tufts in Educational Studies
during his coaching stint with the Jumbos.