Updated: July 19, 2014 at 6:32 p.m.
A former Binghamton University assistant will join the baseball team as pitching coach for next season.
Head coach Gregg Ritchie said in an announcement Tuesday that he hopes to draw on assistant coach Dustin Johnson’s postseason experience, including two consecutive trips to the NCAA Regionals. The Colonials will aim to make it back to the postseason in 2015 after falling a game short in the standings of qualifying for last season’s Atlantic 10 tournament.
“He comes from an established program that is coming off consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament, so he knows exactly what it takes to be a winner,” Ritchie said in a release. “He is going to be a huge asset for us moving forward.”
Pitching was already a strength for the Colonials in 2014, when they finished fifth in the conference with a 4.22 team ERA – compared to coming in 11th in batting average at .268. But the team will be without last season’s leading arm, Colin Milon, who graduated in May after posting a 2.94 ERA over more than 33 innings pitched.
Johnson will take on the development of junior Bobby LeWarne and sophomore Jordan Sheinkop. Johnson helped train Kyle Hunter, a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-PSAC East Pitcher, and Mike Augliera, who was taken in the fifth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
Binghamton won two America East Conference championships during Johnson’s coaching tenure, and Bearcat arms set program bests in earned run average, walks allowed, walks allowed per game, strikeout-to-walk ratio and opponent batting average. In 2012, the team ranked seventh overall in Division I in walks allowed per game and 20th overall in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Johnson spent his last three years at Binghamton after serving as a pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for his alma mater, Bloomsburg University, where he was a starting pitcher and team captain. The four-year letterwinner – who led the Huskies arms in wins, strikeouts, complete games and innings pitched during the 2006 and 2007 seasons – also ran the strength and conditioning program while coaching at Bloomsburg.
He graduated in 2008 with a degree in elementary education and earned a master’s degree in instructional technology in 2010.
This post was updated to reflect the following correction:
The Hatchet incorrectly reported that Bobby LeWarne was a sophomore and Jordan Sheinkop was a junior. LeWarne is a junior and Sheinkop is a sophomore. We regret these errors.
