New baseball coach looks to have Eagles soar on field

By David Thackham
thackham@thejohnsonian.com

On the baseball diamond, Tom Riginos could be regarded as a master thief.

In his four year career at Stetson Univerity, he stole a record-breaking 61 bases to help the Hatters achieve three NCAA Regionals appearances and as many Atlantic Sun Conference titles.

After graduating with a B.A. in sports administration, he channeled his vision toward another type of theft: this time stealing whole players.

Riginos was hired as the recruiting coordinator for Stetson soon after graduation and admits the assignment was tough, yet strengthening.

“Coach [Pete Dunn] knew I would make some bumps, make bad decisions,” the Clearwater, Fla. native said.

“But in the end, I would work hard, get the players I needed to get, and he trusted me. That was really the most important thing.”

It became clear very quickly that the trust was paying off.

While at Stetson, Riginos recruited and convinced eight nationally recognized classes to come to East Florida, including six All-Americans and 10 freshman All- Americans.

Riginos is still proud of the wealth of recruiting experience he gained with the Hatters.

“I was able to work with a top-30 team [in the country] that competes on a high level, so I brought a good work ethic and it worked out great,” he said.

Riginos’ tenure with Stetson impressed, and by 2002, Clemson University was hungry for his talent.

His prestige only grew with the Tigers when Collegiate Baseball named his 2009 incoming class of recruits the ninth best in the country.

Baseball America billed the 2010 class as #20 of all Division-I squads.

The baseball veteran explained that personal relationships are essential to the recruitment of a young star.

“I have a feel of what’s good and bad in a baseball player,” he said. “So when I talk to kids and parents they can trust me, because I’m going to tell them everything, true and honest,” he said.

This straightforward mentality has allowed the husband and father of four children to accrue a network of friends from South Carolina to San Diego.

“I’ve been doing this for such a long time,” Riginos said, “and I’ve had so many people to work with,that when I got the job here at Winthrop, I had about 75 to 100 texts congratulating me.”

At Winthrop, Riginos has the opportunity to spread his wings even wider.

Under the tutelage of coach Jack Leggett of Clemson, Riginos said he learned everything he knows about head coaching.

The 42-year-old describes Leggett as a mentor who gave him the responsibility needed to build teams to compete on the highest level.

The training will be well -appreciated at Winthrop Ballpark, where the Eagles will need to improve quickly.

 Despite the emergence of slugger Chas Crane, Winthrop’s star junior third baseman and outfielder, the team could only post a 27-30 record with a conference win percentage of .481.

However, Riginos is already settled and prepared to turn the club’s luck around.

“I just get the right feel here  I’ve always felt very comfortable [at Winthrop]…” “I can tell this team is going to be mentally tough, eager to win, by putting in the hours,” he said.

“It’s going to be a blue-collar team. We may not have a lot of superstars, but they’ll be competitive and work hard every day,” Riginos said.

For the Fort Mill native, the improvement he is looking for does not necessarily have to be reflected in the wins and losses.

“I don’t want to put any [predictions] for the season up because we just want to get better every single day, and once we take care of the little stuff, it’ll take care of itself and we’ll have a pretty good record,” he said.

Regardless of the results at the end of the season, Riginos is committed to having his players take responsibility for their success.

“Every day, we give the players a choice to get better or worse every practice,” said Riginos. “They always want to go out and do their best. I’m excited for the season.”