Gomez aims to continue WNE’s winning culture
Date: 3/6/2014
By Chris Maza
chrism@thereminder.comSPRINGFIELD – As new Western New England University head baseball coach Dan Gomez sits in his office at the Alumni Healthy Living Center, he is surrounded by the legacy of the man who came before him.
Trophies of the Golden Bears’ success under Matt LaBranche, including several Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) titles, an NCAA regional trophy, and All-America certificates flank Gomez on all sides, serving as a constant reminder of the expectations now bestowed upon him.
“[LaBranche] was a great mentor,” Gomez said. “I was extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work under him and I’m extremely fortunate to have this opportunity. I owe a big chunk of it and what I’ve learned in the short time I was here to him.”
LaBranche, who left the program after last season to take a job at Eastern Connecticut State University, was the school’s winningest baseball coach, compiling an impressive 429-187 career record with 10 NCAA tournament berths, and 17 Great Northeast Athletic Conference and CCC titles.
“The biggest thing I learned from Coach LaBranche is his ability to prepare a team,” Gomez said. “He’s extremely detail-oriented and had a great ability to prepare practice plans. He could keep it fresh, but also was able to take care of the little things that are going to help in the long run.”
Having the reminders of past success also serves to reinforce one thing for Gomez – don’t mess with success.
Gomez, an East Longmeadow native and former CCC star at Endicott College, who has been with the Golden Bears as LaBranche’s top assistant since 2010, said while the leadership at the top has changed, the team’s philosophy will largely stay the same.
After all, during his tenure, the team has captured three CCC championships and appeared in four NCAA Division III Baseball Championship tournaments, including the College World Series and a New England Regional.
“The success of the program speaks for itself,” he said. “When you have a blueprint that’s successful, it makes no sense to change it drastically. When you’ve had so much success, you don’t want to tinker with it too much.”
The continuity, he said, has been a major factor in the smooth transition the team has been able to make in preparing for this season in which it will attempt to regain the CCC crown after falling in the championship game to Endicott a year ago.
“I think the big thing is [the team] had an understanding of not just my personality, but also the expectations that I had,” he said. “I also think it helped them knowing that I’ve gone through the development of this program as they have. They kind of knew that the expectations would still be there and they wouldn’t have to worry about any drastic changes.”
Gomez explained that the team’s style was dependent upon hitters grinding out at-bats and getting on base, while defensively focusing on its pitchers pounding the strike zone and allowing the defense behind them to make plays.
While having graduated a large and successful senior class last year, including West Springfield standout Tim Clark, he said he expects that successful formula to continue to serve the Golden Bears well.
It starts on the mound, Gomez said, with a trio of experienced starters in Trevor Breton, Mike Lopinuso and Brendan Nugent. Those three helped the Golden Bears to the conference’s second-best overall ERA at 3.23 and an eye-popping 2.01 ERA against conference opponents, the best in the league.
“We are fortunate in the fact that we have a pretty veteran pitching staff where we really have our top three guys back from last year. Behind them, we have three guys who are ready to step up,” Gomez said. “It’s good to know that day in and day out we’re going to have a guy out there who will give us a chance to win.”
Offensively, he said three big pieces from last year’s team also return in leadoff hitter Jeff Schult, No. 3 hitter Steve Ambrosino and cleanup hitter Steve Buckley.
“They’re guys that are expected the carry the load offensively,” Gomez said. “We have some youth to fill in those other spots, but they are guys who had a chance to learn under a very good senior class and were able to develop a lot and are very capable of being successful for us.”
With the season originally slated to start on Feb. 28, frigid winter weather has put things on hold, pushing Gomez’s debut back.
“It’s tough,” Gomez said of the false start to the season. “The key is keeping guys focused day in and day out. Part of it is knowing that you’re going to have days that are not going to go the way you want it to and you have to find a way to turn those into teaching moments and they’re always getting something out of it.”
Golden Bears are now scheduled to play a split doubleheader against Southern Maine and SUNY Old Westbury on March 9 at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, NY.
