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Former Indians pitcher Stanford to kickstart baseball program
Former Indians pitcher to kickstart baseball program
By Greg Gulas
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
It is the hope of Eastern Gateway Community College to have four sports programs up and competing over the course of the next several academic years.
Gators athetic director John Zizzo has already cleared one hurdle by laying the groundwork for the school’s charter baseball program, which is set to begin practice this fall and take on a full schedule in 2018.
Zizzo’s first task was to hire a head coach and he didn’t have to look any further that his own backyard when he secured a commitment from former Cleveland Indians twirler and Niles resident Jason Stanford is its first leader.
Stanford, who served as Howland High School head baseball coach and enjoyed a stint as Youngstown State’s pitching coach, told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center that it is a dream come true to manage at the collegiate level.
”It will take grit, determination and hard work, but we’re ready and more than up to the challenge,” Stanford said. “I have the passion, drive and football mentality that I can translate to our baseball program. I’m a grinder who is going to find a way to compete from the very first day and I expect our players to be accountable as I am to be accountable.”
Stanford said that he applied at several four-year schools hoping to get an opportunity to run his own program, but was told that he lacked the credentials in order to be a head coach.
A native of Tucson, Ariz., Stanford was a standout pitcher during his days at Barton County Community College in Great Bend, Kan. He later played his final two collegiate seasons for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers — and he is hoping that his junior college roots will appeal to recruits that he and his staff are targeting.
Former YSU and area sandlot standout Phil Panno is the assistant coach who will work with infielders and man one of the coaching boxes.
“When [Zizzo] originally called me, I was going serve as his pitching coach so when he decided to concentrate on his AD duties, I was absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to become head coach,” Stanford said. “We’re going to go after the blue collar players who want to grind it out, give it their all and establish a winning atmosphere,” Stanford said.
Stanford’s first recruiting class includes three Mahoning Valley players, two of whom hail from New Castle with the Cleveland area also represented.
The initial class includes pitcher Danny Joyce (Boardman), pitcher-first baseman Jake Rudzik (Struthers) and pitcher-third baseman Justin Humphrey (Newton Falls) from the immediate area, pitcher-catcher Nick Benson (Shenango) and outfielder Gino Demonaco (West Midddlesex) from western Pennsylvania and home-schooled outfielder Trevor Durlaski of Cleveland.
“We’ll start from scratch, mentor them and then watch them grow as student-athletes and young men,” Stanford said.
Stanford has three goals between now and the start of fall practice.
“We want to form a competitive team immediately with the mindset to come in hungry because no one else wanted them,” he said. “I’m hoping to draw on my Juco experience and translate to them how I got ready and finally, we want to make sure that we have the support of the community since we are a local community college.”
The Gators will open competition next spring in NJCAA Division II and as members of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference, Region 12.
Next week, Nick Spano, local baseball historian will serve as guest speaker.