By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio - Baldwin Wallace University Associate Head Baseball Coach Tom DeAngelis has been in love with baseball since he was about five years old.
Coached by his father, DeAngelis played with the same group of guys from 8 years old up through high school. That main group of guys are still best friends to this day.
Baseball has run its way through DeAngelis’ life from those early years playing alongside his best friends to collegiate student-athlete to now patrolling the third base line and directing runners on the base path as a coach.
Playing collegiate baseball wasn’t even a question as DeAngelis had a successful three-year career at NCAA Division II Seton Hill (Pa.) University after transferring from Ohio Athletic Conference rival Marietta College. He ended his playing career with a .331 batting average and All-West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, All-Atlantic Region and All-American honors.
“There never really was a decision,” DeAngelis said. “In my mind, it wasn’t an option not to continue playing baseball into college. Just like then, I don’t see a day in my future where baseball isn’t involved.”
DeAngelis knew early in his college career that he ultimately wanted to be a coach. When he had to leave morning practice to go to class, he felt jealous of the coaches who got to stay in the cages all day working with hitters. .
Soon after his playing days were over, DeAngelis received a phone call from his former head coach Marc Marizzaldi offering a chance to start his coaching career on the Seton Hill staff.
“Getting to coach a bunch of guys I just got done playing with, alongside one of my biggest mentors at a place I loved dearly, was the perfect scenario at the time,” DeAngelis recalled.
Seton Hill had a lot of success in DeAngelis’ two years on the staff, reaching 40 wins both seasons in addition to national top-10 rankings and a Division II World Series berth. As a brand new coach, he learned a lot of lessons in the midst of the team’s success.
“I learned very quickly that coaching is a lot more about figuring out how to connect with players individually, rather than just the ins and outs of baseball.,” DeAngelis said. “Being passionate about each player and their individual development as a player and as a man is a quality that I developed there and has stuck with me to this day.”
DeAngelis met BW Head Coach Brian Harrison while on the road recruiting in the summer of 2014 after both the Griffins and the Yellow Jackets made respective World Series runs. He was immediately struck by Harrison’s “infectious personality” and the program’s success.
Eight years later, DeAngelis has become a mainstay in the Yellow Jackets’ third base dugout alongside Harrison and now begins his first season as associate head coach.
“I get to work for one of my closest friends,” DeAngelis said. “I am forever indebted to Coach Harrison for all he has given and taught me over the past seven years. … There are a lot of attributes to speak highly of when it comes to Coach Harrison but the one that stands out to me the most is how genuine he is. There is nothing fake when it comes to Coach Harrison and that is why he has the innate ability to connect with everyone he encounters.”
The biggest lesson that DeAngelis has learned throughout his time in Berea has been the attitude of gratitude.
“We try to be very intentional about noticing the things we are grateful for,” DeAngelis explained. “As we’ve been intentional about being grateful over the years, we start to see things through a different light. It’s created a positive atmosphere within our team as we see the things we are grateful for on a daily basis rather than making excuses and finding things to complain about. We ‘get to’ go to school and play baseball, we don’t ‘have to.’”
BW’s baseball program has certainly stood apart in the OAC and nationally in recent years under both Harrison’s and DeAngelis’ tutelage. However, DeAngelis gives all the credit back to the student-athletes and the work that they put in on a daily basis.
“Something that stands out about our athletes is how invested they are in both their personal development and the success of our program,” DeAngelis said. “Being invested is a covenant we talk a lot about in our program and we try to be very transparent in the recruiting process of what that looks like. At our level, there is a huge premium placed on the ability to get better whenever the coaches are unable to be around. We take a lot of pride in our guys’ investment in our program’s success and how they train on their own when the coaches aren’t around.”