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PITTSBURG —
Pittsburg State assistant baseball coach Daniel Esposito started his interview for the head coach position Wednesday morning with a simple declaration.
“I have to say that, first and foremost, I'm a Gorilla,” Esposito said. “I've been a Gorilla since the fall of 1994. When I stepped on campus from Southern California, I showed up with a tank-top and slippers on thinking I was pretty cool and found out that there's pretty good baseball played out in Pittsburg.
“Part of the reason why I showed up here was because of a phone call my father made to Coach Bever. Thankfully, he answered that phone call and decided to offer me a $500 scholarship to go play baseball at Pitt State, which was $250 for the fall semester and $250 for the spring semester. I was thrilled and excited to be here.”
Esposito detailed his playing career at Pitt State and that period in his life when he returned to Pittsburg to be an assistant coach, he got married and his family lived in a tiny apartment above a liquor store for $200 a month. Esposito said that all roads led him back to Pittsburg in 2011 after coaching stints at community colleges Johnson County (2004-2007, assistant) and Southwestern Oregon (2008-2011, head coach).
“I've been in Kansas City,” Esposito said. “I've been in Pittsburg. I grew up at Oceanside. I was actually born in Hawaii. I've lived in Las Vegas. I've lived all over the place but the one place that Tammy (Esposito’s wife) and I really call home is Pittsburg because we are Gorillas.”
Esposito talked about how the Pitt State baseball program needs to establish roots in the local communities with young baseball players and continue to nurture relationships with these players until they want to play for Pitt State.
“Pittsburg is a baseball town,” Esposito said. “Coach Bever and I talk about it all the time. If you can produce a winner here, you’re going to get a lot of support from the community.”
Esposito said that he and his wife feel part of the Pittsburg community.
“I know one thing that is huge,” Esposito said. I have a son who’s 9 years old that’s playing youth baseball and then I have a daughter that plays softball. Just injecting yourself into the community . . . my wife and I are coaching my daughter’s softball team, which is an experience. It’s fun. It opens up relationships with people that you otherwise probably wouldn’t be around.”
Pittsburg State assistant baseball coach Daniel Esposito started his interview for the head coach position Wednesday morning with a simple declaration.
“I have to say that, first and foremost, I'm a Gorilla,” Esposito said. “I've been a Gorilla since the fall of 1994. When I stepped on campus from Southern California, I showed up with a tank-top and slippers on thinking I was pretty cool and found out that there's pretty good baseball played out in Pittsburg.
“Part of the reason why I showed up here was because of a phone call my father made to Coach Bever. Thankfully, he answered that phone call and decided to offer me a $500 scholarship to go play baseball at Pitt State, which was $250 for the fall semester and $250 for the spring semester. I was thrilled and excited to be here.”
Esposito detailed his playing career at Pitt State and that period in his life when he returned to Pittsburg to be an assistant coach, he got married and his family lived in a tiny apartment above a liquor store for $200 a month. Esposito said that all roads led him back to Pittsburg in 2011 after coaching stints at community colleges Johnson County (2004-2007, assistant) and Southwestern Oregon (2008-2011, head coach).
“I've been in Kansas City,” Esposito said. “I've been in Pittsburg. I grew up at Oceanside. I was actually born in Hawaii. I've lived in Las Vegas. I've lived all over the place but the one place that Tammy (Esposito’s wife) and I really call home is Pittsburg because we are Gorillas.”
Esposito talked about how the Pitt State baseball program needs to establish roots in the local communities with young baseball players and continue to nurture relationships with these players until they want to play for Pitt State.
“Pittsburg is a baseball town,” Esposito said. “Coach Bever and I talk about it all the time. If you can produce a winner here, you’re going to get a lot of support from the community.”
Esposito said that he and his wife feel part of the Pittsburg community.
“I know one thing that is huge,” Esposito said. I have a son who’s 9 years old that’s playing youth baseball and then I have a daughter that plays softball. Just injecting yourself into the community . . . my wife and I are coaching my daughter’s softball team, which is an experience. It’s fun. It opens up relationships with people that you otherwise probably wouldn’t be around.”
Fellow finalists Matt Murray and Alan Ready both talked recruiting philosophies during their interviews and Esposito touched on his own Wednesday, especially after the subject of transfers from bigger schools came up.
“I would like to have a program that didn’t need Division I transfers,” Esposito said. “I would like to build our program based on guys that are four-year players. Certainly, some other programs are going to have some Division I transfers but I think we need to get to the point where we don’t need anybody transferring. We need to recruit high school kids and the best community college players. . . .
“I’ve never been a big proponent of Division I transfers. I know they help win immediately. They’re impact guys but we want to build a program that has four-year guys. That’s our goal.”
Esposito, however, said the current Pitt State situation will require more junior college players for next year.
“We've signed eight kids that I think are going to come in and fill some holes,” Esposito said. “We signed two outfielders, a couple high school two-way players and we signed two community college arms that I think are going to be impact players for us. But, really, I think we need two frontline arms for us to be successful next year.”
Murray and Ready emphasized pitching during their interviews. Esposito, meanwhile, went in another direction without downplaying pitching.
“I think we need to get back to playing Gorilla baseball a little bit,” Esposito said, “which to me is highly offensive. Kids we might typically look for are kids that can hit doubles and steal you a base. They’re great athletes but they’re strong, they’re physical and they’re fast. That’s what Gorilla ball is . . . we need to get back to being physical in our program.”
Pitt State finished its 48-game season with a .292 batting average, one of three squads in the 11-team Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association hitting below .300 as a team.
Through 48 games of the season, Central Missouri had 106 extra-base hits and 297 RBI and Pitt State had 109 extra-base hits and 227 RBI. Central Missouri finished its season hitting .326 with 348 RBI and 410 runs scored. Ten Central players drove in at least 20 runs and eight players scored at least 30 runs, including six above 40 and two above 50, whereas one Pitt State player drove in more than 30 and three scored more than 30 runs.
Pitt State last won more than 30 games in a season in 2004 and last made the MIAA Tournament that same year.
