LI Ducks' Kraig Binick and Former Pro Paul Parsolano Join Baseball Staff as Assistants
Patchogue, N.Y. – St. Joseph's-L.I. head baseball coach Rick Garrett has announced two new additions to his coaching staff for the upcoming 2014 baseball season. Joining the ranks of the Golden Eagles as assistant coaches are former Long Island Duck Kraig Binick and LIU-Post alum Paul Parsolano.
Binick and Parsolano join two holdover coaches from the fall season, Joe Benkert and Dennis Lopez, to round out the staff of first-year head coach Garrett. Benkert is a St. Joseph's College alum and a two-time All-Skyline Conference pitcher. Lopez was a two-time CUNYAC All-Star at shortstop for John Jay College.
"I feel we have assembled an excellent staff focused on the details of the game as well as game situations," said Garrett. "It is a staff that can draw on one another's strengths from their varied backgrounds. They are all highly motivated to succeed at St. Joseph's."
Kraig Binick played three seasons with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League, winning back-to-back championships the past two seasons and has played seven years of professional baseball in total. The speedster won the 2011 Atlantic League batting title with a .343 batting average and led the league with 42 stolen bases and a .429 on-base percentage.
Binick, a Hicksville native, began the 2013 season in the Mexican League, splitting time with Piratas de Campeche and Acereros de Monclova. He led the Mexican Pacific League in hits and won a Rawlings Gold Glove.
A graduate of Chaminade High School and NYIT, Binick has a .283 career batting average, a .366 on-base percentage, 402 runs and 188 stolen bases in 656 games. He was originally drafted by the Orioles in the 27th round of the 2007 amateur draft and reached their double A-level. At NYIT, Binick was a former NCAA Division I Player of the Year.
Paul Parsolano joins the staff after serving as Garrett's assistant head coach/pitching coach at St. Dominic High School. While with the Bayhawks, they won a NSCHSAA Catholic League championship and made four appearances in the league finals.
Parsolano has also had coaching stints at St. Anthony's High School and Cold Spring Harbor High School, winning multiple league and state championships.
Having played his high school ball at Sachem, Parsolano went on to pitch at LIU-Post before continuing his playing career with the Boise Hawks in the Northwest League and being invited to minor league free agent camps for the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox.
The new staff takes over a Golden Eagle squad that finished last season with a 16-22 overall record and a 9-7 mark in the Skyline Conference. The team has not captured a Skyline Conference crown since the 2004 season, but they have their sights set on ending that drought under Garrett's tutelage.
The Golden Eagles are scheduled to open their season on February 28 with a home game vs. Ithaca College at the St. Joseph's Outdoor Field Complex.