By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

Like any coach going into his first season with a new team, Rob McCoy is stressing the importance of an established culture. But few go so far as to spell it out — literally.

"We use the Tribe name for our five core values — Trust, Resiliency, Integrity, Believe and Excellence," said McCoy, who was hired as William & Mary's baseball coach in June. "We're trying to establish those core values as an identity for how we do things here.

"Our number one goal is to establish our culture and do this the right way. We need to be a team and not a group of individuals. If more wins than losses happen the first couple of years, great. If they don't, I'm willing to lose the battle to win the war."

McCoy comes to William & Mary from Niagara University, where he is the most successful coach in program history with 299 wins in 16 seasons. In 2024, the Purple Eagles won a school-record 38 games and made their first NCAA tournament appearance.

Now in Williamsburg, McCoy takes over a program coming off three consecutive winning seasons but with a 2-6 CAA tournament record in that span.

Coming back are eight position players who started at least 22 games last season, including outfielder Ben Parker (.335, 10 home runs, 48 RBI) and infielder Henry Jackson (.301, .470 OBP). Also returning are four pitchers who logged more than 40 innings, including right-handers Zack Potts (6-5, 3.84 ERA, 70.1 IP) and Carter Lovasz (7 saves, 75 Ks in 43.1 IP).

"We're still going to be a solid ball club," McCoy said. "We're a little bit up against it from a depth perspective, but the overall talent is there. We're playing a little bit of catch-up with the development side of things from a team perspective, but we've got time.

"There's a ton of leadership on this team. They're eager, and they have bought in on the stuff they're not used to. I'm really happy about that. I could have walked into a situation where everyone is young and everyone transferred when I got the job and you're starting from scratch. We're not starting from scratch."

Things can always change leading up to the Tribe's Feb. 14 opener against Rhode Island, but here's how the infield looks: Jackson at third base, grad student Owen Wilson at shortstop, freshman Jamie Laskofski at second base, and 6-foot-4 junior Charlie Iriotakis at first base. Ethan Rothstein, a transfer from Ithaca College, and Derek Holmes will provide depth as utility players.
Laskofski is a Tribe baseball legacy. His father, Mike, was a two-time second-team All-CAA pick at first base. His career batting average of .343 was fifth on the program's all-time list (No. 14 now) when he finished in 1996.

Wilson batted .326 with an OBP of .418 in his senior season at Denison University, a Division III program in Ohio.

The outfield looks to be Lucas Carmichael (88 career starts) in left, Parker (1.045 OPS, 16-19 SB) in center and Christian Rush (.402 OBP) in right. Iriotakis and Anthony Greco (.296, 36 RBI) will be in the mix, and Greco can also play first and DH.

Witt Scafidi (.263) is expected to start at catcher with Jerry Barnes III, Charlie Felmlee and Holmes behind him.
In addition to Potts and Lovasz, W&M has experienced arms in Owen Pierce (3.77, 43 IP) and Reed Interdonato (2-0, 40.2 IP). New to the staff is left-hander Ryan Feczko, a grad transfer from Davidson who was Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 2022. McCoy sees him as the Sunday starter.

The last three seasons under Mike McRae, pitchers were limited (with very few exceptions) to 18 batters per appearance. The logic was that no pitcher would see a batter more than twice. McCoy doesn't have a set number, but he also wants to protect the arms.

"With the direction college baseball is headed, it's tough to find pitchers who can take the ball and go win," McCoy said. "We are going to go in shorter stints than normal, but I'm not going to predetermine what those stints are. I'm going to manage the game and feel it out and see where our guys are.

"Sometimes we'll go longer and sometimes we'll go shorter. My goal always is to get my best guys in the game against the best hitters so we won't really have a traditional closer. We'll have a guy who faces the top of the order late. Those are things I've picked up over the years."

It works: In his final two years at Niagara, McCoy said the Purple Eagles were 48-1 when leading after seven innings.

McCoy has become used to winning, and that won't change with a new address. He does, however, understand this is a process that might not lead to a championship overnight.

"The goal is for us to get everyone to buy into an environment that is bigger than themselves," McCoy said. "That will help the current team be more satisfied with their experience. Satisfaction leads to confidence and freedom of play. 

"These kids are going to love playing here. Once they love playing here and we have some success, they're going to spread the word. And there's no better recruiters than the players you already have."