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When Rich Pasquale took over as Youngstown State's head baseballcoach in October 2007, he brought a great sense of energy and anunmatched passion for the game.
Pasquale came to YSU with three primary goals: attract the bestplayers from the Youngstown area, annually finish toward the top ofthe Horizon League and become a nationally-respected program.
Now entering his fifth season, Pasquale has helped the Penguins'program make significant progress toward reaching those goals.
The growth was evident at the 2011 Horizon League BaseballChampionship when Pasquale directed the Penguins to two wins and athird-place finish at the tournament. The two postseason wins tiedfor the second-most since YSU joined the conference in 2002, andthe third-place finish also tied as the second-best for thePenguins. YSU led 3-0 and 6-5 before falling 8-6 in the game thatwould have sent it to the title round.
Two weeks after the tournament, another indicator of theprogram's growth arrived as senior pitcher Phil Klein was draftedby the Texas Rangers in the 30th round. He became the third Penguinin two years to be selected in the top 30 rounds.
Klein admirably headlined a young pitching staff in 2011, going5-5 with a Horizon League-high 105 strikeouts in 15 starts. His ERAwas 2.26 over his last 12 starts, and he closed out his career bydefeating Milwaukee in the opening round of the league tournament.Klein finished his career with 258 strikeouts, which ranks himsecond on the all-time list. The 105 strikeouts are the second-mostfor a season in school history, behind only 126 by 2001 first-rounddraft pick Brad Hennessey.
Klein was a second-team All-Horizon League selection, andfreshman Drew Dosch was voted onto the league's all-newcomerteam.
Fifth-year senior Joe Iacobucci closed out his career by beingnamed to the all-tournament team. The outfielder hit .438 with fourRBIs in four games at the tournament. He finished his career with243 hits, which ranks as the sixth-most in school history.Iacobucci also retired ranking third in career RBIs (128), third incareer total bases (341), fourth in career games played (206),fifth in career at bats (737) and sixth in career doubles (44).
The program's promise was obvious to his coaching peers in justhis first year as Pasquale was voted the Horizon League Co-Coach ofthe Year in 2008. That season Pasquale led YSU to a third-placefinish in the Horizon League standings, a four-win improvement inleague games and a winning percentage increase of .199 inconference contests. YSU defeated six teams that finished with atleast 30 wins - Cincinnati (39), Kent State (36), West Virginia(35), UIC (35), Bowling Green (32) and Wright State (30), and itdropped one-run contests to Georgia Tech and Penn State.
Pasquale also helped the Penguins collect an impressive list ofindividual accomplishments. Aaron Swenson was named the HorizonLeague Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore after going 6-3 andleading the league in strikeouts and innings pitched. JoeIacobucci, Eric Marzec and Sean Lucas earned second-team all-leaguehonors, and Iacobucci was recognized nationally as an honorablemention pick on the All-Ping! Freshman team. Lucas set career-highsin every offensive category and batted 36 points better than he didas a junior. Marzec batted an outstanding 84 points higher than hedid in 2007. Josh Page was named First-Team Academic All-Districtafter being a second-team selection the previous two years.
As a squad, six starters hit better than .300 and the pitchingstaff lowered its ERA by 0.63 from the previous season.
The 2009 season saw an influx of talent from four junior collegestars and seven high school standouts. JUCO transfer Jacke Healeymade an immediate impact in the Horizon League, earning first-teamall-conference honors at shortstop. Jeremy Banks also had a veryproductive first season by hitting .302 with four home runs and 30RBIs.
Sophomore pitcher Phil Klein joined Healey on the Horizon LeagueFirst Team after having a breakout season. Klein went 5-2 with a4.62 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 76 innings as he developed into apremier power pitcher in the conference. Marzec was namedsecond-team all-conference for the second straight season atutility, and David Leon earned second-team honors at secondbase.
Eight starters hit at least .280, and John Koehnlein finishedthird in the Horizon League with a .385 batting average.
Pasquale's 2010 squad, led by a large group of seniors that thehead coach developed, was perhaps the top offensive team in schoolhistory. The club set new school records with 609 hits, 60 homeruns, 380 RBIs, 417 runs, 115 doubles, 920 total bases and a .460slugging percentage. The team's 7.4 runs per contest ranked secondto only the 7.5 runs per game scored by the 1964 squad.
Individually, four of those seniors continued their careers atthe professional level after the season. For the first time inschool history, two Penguins players were chosen in the MajorLeague Baseball Draft. Shortstop Jacke Healey was taken in the 27thround and 813th overall by the Houston Astros. Eric Marzec, apitcher from Canton, Ohio, was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers inthe 30th round and 909th overall. Aaron Swenson signed a free agentcontract with the Baltimore Orioles, and Tom Clayton signed withOakland County in the Frontier League.
Clayton became YSU's first conference player of the year in 56seasons of baseball. The senior from nearby Poland, Ohio, batted.412 with 45 runs scored, 17 doubles, 10 home runs, 47 RBIs and aleague-high .700 slugging percentage. Healey set school seasonrecords in home runs (12), runs scored (63) and RBIs (59).
The program has also seen a big improvement off the field underPasquale. A new baseball locker room and lounge area was opened in2009. Three new sets of uniforms and a vast selection of apparelhave been ordered since Pasquale's arrival, and the coach hashelped increase community connections and relations.
Pasquale has also been integral in developing plans for theWatson and Tressel Training Site, an indoor facility that willallow the baseball team and other Penguins squads to practice yearround.
Pasquale, the seventh coach in YSU history, came to PenguinCountry after spending a season as the top assistant coach atDivision II Slippery Rock. Prior to that he led a drasticturnaround at Division III La Roche College in Pittsburgh, Pa., andhe was an assistant for three seasons at the University ofPittsburgh.
At Slippery Rock, Pasquale helped veteran head coach Jeff Messerlead The Rock to a 35-17 record. A coach recognized for his hittingand fielding instruction, Pasquale helped SRU to a .322 battingaverage. Four players hit over .360, including Third-TeamAll-America selection Matt Adams and Honorable Mention All-Americapick M.J. Parsons.
At La Roche, Pasquale led a complete rebirth for a Redhawks teamthat had won just 24 games in the five years prior to his arrival.In four years (2003-06) he led the program to 84 wins and threestraight berths in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conferenceplayoffs. He was named the AMCC Coach of the Year in his secondseason, and his teams set school records for conference wins andoverall wins.
Pasquale also served as the sports information director and aphysical education instructor at La Roche.
During his first year at Pittsburgh in 2000, the Panthers went31-24 and had two players drafted in the first 20 rounds. In hisfinal year in 2002, two more players were drafted in the first 16rounds, and the Panthers finished with a record of 36-16-1 and wonwhat was then a school-record 14 Big East games.
Pasquale got his coaching start at Penn State Beaver in 1995 andstayed there until 1999. As an infield and hitting coach, PSUBeaver appeared in the NJCAA Division III World Series in 1997 and1999, and the team was the Region 20 Champions four times in hisfive years. Pasquale served as the acting athletic director,director of intramural and recreation sports and facilitiescoordinator at PSU Beaver.
Pasquale has also worked camps as an infield and hittinginstructor at Clemson and Slippery Rock.
Pasquale has vast experience as an administrator. He was anAssistant to the Athletic Director and Compliance Officer atSlippery Rock, and he was the Facilities Manager of JackCritchfield Park for the Slippery Rock Sliders of the FrontierLeague.
Pasquale has also served as a scout for the Cleveland Indianssince November 2005.
After playing at PSU Beaver for two seasons, Pasquale had aheralded playing career at Francis Marion University in Florence,S.C. As a senior he batted .322 with 52 runs scored in 47 games toearn NAIA Honorable Mention All-America honors. He was also aunanimous selection to the NAIA All-District and an All-Areahonoree covering seven states as a senior.
Pasquale earned a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology fromFrancis Marion in 1991 and his master's in health and physicaleducation from Madison University in 2006.
Pasquale and his wife, Mindy, have three children - Dominic,Maura and Kara. He is the nephew of former Cleveland Indians firstbaseman Tito Francona and cousin of former Boston Red Sox andPhiladelphia Phillies manager Terry Francona.
