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PING!BASEBALL
SPOTLIGHT COACH
Frank Leoni
William and Mary Tribe |
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From 1970 to 1992 the William and Mary baseball
program had more turnovers than Pillsbury. The head coaching
job switched hands ten times and the team floundered amongst
the also-rans, rarely reaching the .500 mark. However when
Coach Jim Farr took over the program in 1992 he transformed
the Tribe into a perennial Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)
contender and became the school's all-time winningest coach.
When Farr resigned after the 2005 season the search was on
for someone to fill his cleats and continue the Tribe’s
rise to the top of the CAA.
 Meanwhile
up I-95 another baseball revitalization had been taking place.
The Rhode Island Rams baseball team struggled to reach double
digit wins in the late 80’s and early 90’s, and
in 1992 funding for the team was slashed to satisfy Title
IX regulations. The university mulled dropping the baseball
program completely, causing nervous players to jettison from
the unstable program. However despite all the uncertainty
and ambiguity, Rhody’s young head coach, URI alum Frank
Leoni was able to turn the Rams into winners.
Utilizing smart recruiting and fundamental
baseball, Leoni was able to raise the program from the dead
in a manner that would make even George Romero envious. The
bandaged together club posted a 2-39-1 in 1992, Leoni’s
second season, a year in which Leoni admits the team would
have struggled to beat many high school clubs. However once
Leoni’s coached recruits hit the field and started playing,
the win totals quickly escalated. Ram victories jumped to
12 the next season, then 15 the following spring. Five years
later, in 2001, the Rhode Island eclipsed the .500 mark for
the first time 1984. The Rams won a school-record 35 games
in 2004, and their 20-4 Atlantic 10 finish earned the team
the distinction of being just the second school in A-10 history
to reach the 20 conference win plateau. In 2005, the Rams
won the Atlantic 10 Championship and earned the right to play
in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite his success in Kingston, Leoni was
ready for his next challenge. Thus, when the opening at William
and Mary opened caused by Coach Farr's departure, he seized
the opportunity with bittersweet emotion and eager anticipation.
"It was a very difficult decision to
leave URI," Leoni admits, "We worked very hard to
build a powerhouse in the Atlantic 10. Professionally, I felt
like I was ready for the next challenge. The opportunity to
coach college baseball in the south in a program looking to
rebuild was a chance that I could not pass up."
Leoni’s first season in Williamsburg,
the Tribe finished with a 23-29 overall record (11-19 CAA)
- impressive considering the W&M roster consisted of a
number of inexperienced and young players. William and Mary
just missed the CAA playoffs, falling just a single game shy
of advancing to the conference postseason. The team also gained
experience, momentum and confidence as the season progressed
as the Tribe won three of their final four conference series.
Last year, true to Leoni tradition, the team
turned into a winner once again, finishing the year at 29-25
with some jaw dropping batting statistics. W&M led the
CAA in team batting average, finishing at .319 (18th nationally),
with the top four Tribe hitters combining for an amazing .386
average. The Tribe scored 7.2 runs per game to rank 34th in
the country and 33rd in slugging percentage at .472. Additionally
CAA Co-Player of the Year, Greg Sexton (.455, 10, 61) finished
the season ranked second nationally in batting average and
was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB amateur draft. Catcher
Tim Park, a first-team all-conference honoree last year and
Wallace Award and Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award watch
list member this season, ranked fifth in the CAA (59th nationally)
in batting average at .391. The fundamentally sound club also
led the conference in fielding percentage, finishing at .969
to place 55th in the country.
A big part of Leoni’s teams’
batting success has been to effectively put bat onto ball.
Last season first baseman Mike Sheridan, a CAA All-Freshman
in 2006, continued to improve under Leoni’s tutelage
and was the toughest player to strikeout in the country. He
had just five strikeouts in 209 at bats, a ratio of just one
strikeout per every 41.8 at bats. Sexton also ranked in the
top 50 in the country in toughest to strike out, being set
down on strikes just 15 times in 209 at bats. In 2001, back
at URI, Leoni’s shortstop Mike LaBarbera earned All-America
status after batting .404 and striking out only five times
in 198 at bats and signed with the Montreal Expos.
"It’s a combination of a well-practiced
two strike approach and some really good players." Leoni
explained when asked about his uncanny ability to develop
tough to strikeout batters, "Mike LaBarbera and Mike
Sheridan are two of the very best players that I have had
the pleasure of coaching. Over the years, my teams have had
some of the fewest strike out totals of any teams. Our philosophy
is that a strike out does no good, but a two strike hit continues
to put pressure (and in some cases demoralizes) on opposing
pitchers."
The only chink in the Tribe’s armor
last season was the pitching staff whose team ERA jumped to
6.58 from 5.96 the year before, and fell short of accruing
300 strikeouts for the first time in several seasons. However,
Leoni anticipates the W&M pitchers are gaining ground
and making progress. Any improvement should have the Green
and Gold playing in the CAA postseason.
"With a small improvement in our pitching,
we should be able to make it to the next step," a confident
Leoni forecasts, "Our offense is just as good if not
better than last year - even with the departure of Greg Sexton.
Our line-up has been virtually the same for the past three
years, and these guys really understand how to approach the
game."
PREVIOUS COACH SPOTLIGHTS
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