A HOME RUN With national convention its own backyard, Virginia coaches flock to ABCA event

A HOME RUN

With national convention its own backyard, Virginia coaches flock to ABCA event

By David Driver, Special Consultant

Oxon Hill, Maryland – Mike Cassidy sat on a raised platform in the Cherry Blossom ballroom at the Gaylord National & Resort Convention Center, with three fellow college coaches on chairs to his right.

The head baseball coach at Marymount University in Arlington, Cassidy was among a select group chosen to address recruiting with high school coaches at the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Convention.

“I was super excited to be part of the panel again,” Cassidy told the room full of coaches, which included former Major League closer and Miller School head coach Billy Wagner. “Things are changing day by day in recruiting. The talent is through the roof. The important part of recruiting for us is finding out who the people are we are bringing into” to the Marymount program.

Cassidy, a product of Lake Braddock High in Burke, Va., was one of several coaches from the Virginia Baseball Coaches Association (VBCA) who were in the spotlight during the convention.

Former Major League outfielder Brandon Guyer, who played at Herndon High and at the University of Virginia, spoke about the mental aspects of the game. He works with the Angels of MLB and the Cavaliers of Virginia on the mental approach. 

“It was for all levels, on and off the field,” Guyer said after his presentation.  “Whatever you do in life, get a sense of yourself. When it comes to the mental game, there is so much involved. Control the controllables. Before you know it, you will enjoy the process more and be more successful.”

Guyer was impressed with the national convention.  “It has been amazing,” added Guyer, who played in the World Series for Cleveland in 2016. “My mind is still blown with the operation, the process and impact they are making in so many lives.”

One of the Virginia head coaches on hand to hear Guyer was Andrew Riddick, preparing for this second season at Suffolk’s King’s Fork High, his alma mater. “This was my first national convention; the big thing was the networking,” said Riddick, a former player at Virginia State and Norfolk State. “I wish I would (have heard) Guyer when I was a young player.”

It was the first time the ABCA convention had been held in the capital region since 1975.

And one coach with Virginia ties who was there 50 years ago was Ron Tugwell, the former mentor at West Springfield High and a 2023 inductee into the VBCA Hall of Fame.

“It was the best thing I ever did,” Tugwell said of joining the ABCA. “I became the coach at West Springfield in 1974 and went to my first national convention in 1975 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.”

Tugwell coached at West Springfield until 2000, won two state titles and helped develop three future big-league pitchers: Bobby Wahl, Ryan Speier and Joe Saunders.

JMU head coach Marlin Ikenberry has attended all but one of the past 27 events while Shenandoah University coach Kevin Anderson has been to about 25. Bridgewater College pitching coach Austin Nicely, a former minor leaguer with the Astros, attended his third conference, and EMU head coach Adam Posey has been to four.

One of several coaches who attended the Virginia social on Jan. 2 was Kelly Swiney, the head baseball coach at the University of Mary Washington. A native of Ohio, he has quickly learned about the quality of play in Virginia since coming to Fredericksburg. “It is a hotbed of Division III baseball,” said Swiney, noting Lynchburg won the national title in 2023. “You want to play the best of the best. It is a really high level.”

Another Virginia coach on hand was former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Randy Tomlin, a product of Amherst High and Liberty University. He is the head coach at Lynchburg Christian Academy after coaching in the minors with the Washington Nationals. Tomlin has attended several national conventions and always comes away with new lessons learned.

“It is always an exciting time and fun. You can get overwhelmed because everything that is going on, but it is a great time. I have already seen people I have not seen in years and connect with them and catch up,” said Tomlin, standing in the lobby of the Gaylord. “Plus, I enjoy listening to guys speak and hear different ideas and learning, especially with today’s baseball world.”

Tomlin has been involved at nearly every level of the game, including as the pitching coach at Liberty and as the father of Quade, a former LCA star who played in the minors for the Nationals in 2021-22. The elder Tomlin will coach the Charlottesville Tom Sox of the Valley Baseball League again in 2025.

So what does he try to learn from national conventions?

“I am looking at it from the level I am coaching at to help me help them,” Tomlin said of his LCA players. “There is more emphasis on the kids to be bigger and stronger. The state of college baseball changes so fast. Seniors going in and playing as (college) freshmen has become harder and harder. But recruiting so early allows them to develop and be more prepared to show your stuff.”

Other Virginia coaches who had a presence on a national stage just outside of the nation’s capital at the convention were:

James Madison High coach Mark “Pudge” Gjormand, whose clinic was on Practice Organization. His daughter, Sam, part of the coaching staff at Division I College of Charleston in South Carolina, also attended the national convention.

McLean High coach John Dowling, who did a youth coaches session on Practice Habits that Play on Game Day.

Chris Berset of the Alexandria Aces of the Cal Ripken League, whose youth coach’s session was on Molding the Elite Youth Catcher. 

Jennifer Hammond, part of the coaching staff at Thomas Jefferson High in Fairfax County and the Aces, whose youth coach’s session dealt with Integrating Catching into Practice Planning. 

Rob Hahne of Northern Virginia Travel Baseball League, whose youth coach’s session topic was on travel baseball.

“It was a huge honor. It was very humbling,” said Dowling, who led McLean baseball to its first state title in 2024.

Hahne, the new coach at Langley High, reports that at least 500 VBCA members attended the national event at the Gaylord. Virginia has about 900 ABCA members and that is third in the country back of California and Texas, according to Hahne, who is on the VBCA board of directors.

“Baseball in Virginia is flourishing at an all-time time,” said Guyer, who graduated from Herndon in 2004. 

STATE BASEBALL NOTES: Going into the 2025 season, the Virginia public schools with the most state titles is J.J. Kelly with nine, followed by Virginia High and Turner Ashby with seven and J.R. Tucker and Madison with six … The two state schools that have produced the most Major Leaguers, with four each, is Madison of Vienna (Mike Wallace, Jay Franklin, Bob Brower and Jim McNamara) and Kempsville with Al Gettel, Bill Paschall, D.J. Dozier and Neil Ramirez … The public schools with the most combined state titles and MLB alums at 10 is James Madison High (six titles, four alums) and Turner Ashby, with seven titles and three alums: Alan Knicely, Brian Bocock and Brenan Hanifee, who pitched for the Tigers in 2024 … Tomlin is one of three Major Leaguers from Amherst High; the other two are former Orioles pitcher Ken Dixon and Mike Hubbard, a catcher for several teams from 1995 to 2001. 

Editor’s note: Harrisonburg native David Driver played baseball at Turner Ashby High, EMU and for Clover Hill in Rockingham County Baseball League (RCBL). He covered the Washington Nationals from 2013-22 and is the co-author of “From Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia’s Rich Baseball Legacy,” available on Amazon. Driver can be reached at daytondavid.com and davidsdriver@aol.com