By Lauren Schaediglschaedi@mscd.edu

After the resignation of baseball head coach Jerry Schemmel due to personal reasons, the Roadrunners were on the hunt for new talent to lead them and continue their successes in the 2010 season. Traveling all the way from Ottawa, Canada, Tom Carcione has been named to the position of head coach of the baseball team. With 10 years of coaching at all levels behind him, Carcione is a promising new face on the field and will bring a fresh new look at the game.

Carcione began his baseball career in his hometown of Chicago, but his college career took him south to Texas A&M where he led the team as the starting catcher. After only a year in Texas and an exceptional record of 52-15 in the 1988 season, Carcione was drafted in the 10th round by the Oakland Athletics. He spent five years with the A’s organization before moving his career to join the minor league teams in Sioux City and Grand Forks. Carcione spent five seasons with those teams before his career as a player ended, and his new career as a coach began.

All those years of playing the game gave Carcione the knowledge he would need as he led his teams to record successes.

With his success, expectations are high for the Roadrunners and their new coach. The team finished the 2009 season with a 28-24 record, and has been to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament for the past four seasons. With a team that’s already doing so well, Carcione expects to continue the success and go even further.

“We obviously want to win, every coach wants to win, but we want a conference championship, to make the conference tournament, and go from there,” Carcione said. Coming into a new team can be difficult though, and success will depend on the meshing of the team and a new coach.

“A good group of kids always makes it easier,” Carcione said. “But the kids will be trying to feel me out. We’ll be evaluating the talent that’s here, learning the way myself and the coaching staff want the game to be played, and where our philosophies are. It’s going to be an experience on both ends.”

Carcione plans to focus on coaching the team to play the game the “right way” and emphasizes the importance of working hard but still while having fun. As a coach he also pushes the ideas of being aggressive and playing hard, but added he will have to “adapt to the talent of [his] players.” He expects a good work ethic on and off the field, and will also stress the importance of academics to his team.

“I’ll be bringing my academic experience to the table,” Carcione said. “Staying up in the classroom is important; these kids are working towards degrees, and not too many will get the chance to play pro ball.” Carcione himself has a bachelor’s degree in recreation from the University of South Dakota that he received in 2001 following his minor league career.

With the season not beginning until the spring, Carcione will have all fall and winter to work with and learn about his new team. He is coming into an exceptional group of athletes and success is well within reach. With the talent of our Roadrunners, and Carcione’s exceptional track record, the spring season will surely be another success for the Metro baseball team, with many more successful seasons to follow.

Tom Carcione coaching profile

Fargo-Moorehead RedHawks (Northern League Division)
-bench and bullpen coach.
-team took NLD Championship

Sioux City Explorers (American Association Independent Baseball League)
-pitching coach.
-team finished 2nd in league

Northern Illinois Univ. (NCAA Division I)
-hitting instructor.
-16-11, 16-10 records

Si Tanka University (NAIA)
-head coach.
-highest ever finish and first regional appearance

University of South Dakota (Great West Conference)
-four years as assistant coach.