THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507230173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 144 lines
After finishing the season on a roll - winning the Colonial Athletic Association tournament and taking two games in the NCAA tournament - something strange has been happening to Old Dominion's baseball team:
``Everybody's rolling,'' outfielder Brian Fiumara said.
Not quite everybody. But two of ODU's returning starters have transferred, and two others are in the process, an unusual rash of defections for a championship club.
On the way out are pitcher Brett Wheeler, who has signed with Mississippi State; catcher Matt Quatraro, who has his release from ODU and is attempting to join Wheeler at Mississippi State; and shortstop Dan Almonte, who will play for Long Beach State. In addition, pitcher Anthony Eannacony says he's looking into transferring to a school closer to his New York home.
Add the loss of outfielder Kevin Gibbs to the major league draft and regulars Maika Symmonds, Rob Morgan and Jason Riley to graduation, plus the departures of assistant coaches Tim Parenton and Mike Bowers, and the Monarchs will have an almost completely new look next year.
Still, second-year coach Tony Guzzo is not pushing the panic button. While the departures are alarming collectively, individually they can be viewed as regrettable, but in some ways inevitable, byproducts of a change in regimes.
``There haven't really been that many surprises,'' Guzzo said.
The graduation losses were obviously expected, as was the departure of Gibbs, an All-American. The Monarchs were even prepared for the possibility of Quatraro and Eannacony being drafted.
But Quatraro and Eannacony weren't drafted, and have a year of eligibility left at ODU. Almonte also has one year, while Wheeler has two.
``Those are all the kids I grew up with at ODU,'' said Fiumara, a rising senior who considered transferring, too. ``I'm going to be looking around and seeing a lot of new faces next year.
``But coach Guzzo is a good coach. He'll get it going.''
For three of the four players involved, it was the departure of an old, familiar face - former ODU coach Pat McMahon - that ultimately led to their decision to leave the Monarchs. Wheeler and Quatraro said they are leaving to rejoin McMahon at Mississippi State - where he is the associate head coach. Almonte says he's leaving because of personality differences with Guzzo, McMahon's successor.
For many of the Monarchs, McMahon's abrupt departure in June 1994 was hard to take.
``A lot of guys came here because of Coach Mac,'' Fiumara said. ``Kevin Gibbs came here just because of Coach Mac. Some of them had trouble adjusting.''
McMahon, widely regarded as one of the top young coaches in college baseball, recruited every one of the players on last year's team. He was a player's coach, a teacher with an easy, affable manner.
``Coach Mac was real personable,'' Almonte said.
After McMahon left, ``Things were just a lot different at The Bud (ODU's Bud Metheney Complex),'' Almonte said. ``A lot of guys weren't happy.''
Guzzo's style was different from McMahon's. By his own admission, Guzzo is an old-fashioned coach, a disciplinarian.
But, recognizing that he had inherited McMahon's team, Guzzo made allowances.
``I felt like I adjusted to them,'' Guzzo said. ``At times, there was tension.''
As there would be with almost any new coach. But the Monarchs performed on the field. After a slow start - attributable in part to an injury to Wheeler, the team's best pitcher - the Monarchs peaked late in the season, winning the CAA tournament and beating Ole Miss and Central Florida in the NCAAs, the best showing in school history.
``I'm proud of what the team accomplished and very, very proud of what they accomplished at the end of the year, when it really counts,'' Guzzo said.
Wheeler, who went 7-1 with a 1.48 ERA, called it ``a great year. It was fun.''
But, he said, ``I've always wanted to play for coach McMahon.''
Wheeler had wanted to transfer a year ago, but Guzzo, and McMahon, said they advised him to stay at least another year. That year did nothing to change his mind.
``Brett feels very firmly that he wants to come here,'' McMahon said.
Quatraro, who tied a team record with 13 home runs and also led the team in hitting (.371) and RBIs (62), also said he felt loyal to McMahon. Because Quatraro is a one-year transfer, the Bulldogs will need written permission from other SEC schools to bring him in. It's not a given that permission will be granted.
McMahon says that he's comfortable with the fact that Wheeler and Quatraro waited a year before deciding to transfer, but said he could't help having some mixed feelings about them leaving ODU.
``It's a difficult situation for both parties, in particular for me. I love those kids and I love ODU, that's a big part of my life.''
As for Almonte, his departure was not a case of loyalty to McMahon, but rather an unwillingness to continue playing for Guzzo, he said.
``After playing for Coach Mac, the coaching styles were a lot different,'' said Almonte, who hit .356 last year. ``I was really happy under coach Mac, I can't say the same for coach Guzzo this year.
``On the field, we got along the best we could. Other than that . . .''
At a meeting at the end of the season, Almonte and Guzzo agreed that Almonte would be better off elsewhere.
``Coach Guzzo felt that I could play at the next level but he didn't think he could get me there,'' Almonte said.
Much of the conflict between Almonte and Guzzo stemmed from rules that Guzzo laid down to each player at the end of the season, rules that would govern Guzzo's tenure at ODU.
``I felt like this was the year when we were going to have to establish what was going to be and what wasn't going to be in the program, because we had 10 new players and I didn't think that I could live with a double standard,'' Guzzo said.
``Dan was having a hard time conforming with the off-the-field demands that I put on him.''
Guzzo said he has no hard feelings toward Almonte.
`I'm happy for him that he got an opportunity that he's excited about,'' he said.
Guzzo also says he understands Wheeler and Quatraro's reasons for leaving.
``I would want the same for my son,'' he said.
And Guzzo has made it clear to Eannacony that he is welcome to return if his transfer does not work out.
``Coach Guzzo called me and said the door's always open,'' Eannacony said.
Eannacony, a senior, was not planning on being at ODU next year. He was counting on being drafted.
``I was really surprised that I wasn't,'' he said. ``I thought I was going to at least get a chance.''
The product of a close-knit family, Eannacony says he would like to stay closer to home next year. His father, David, travels from Shrub Oak, N.Y., to watch his son's every start.
``It's more of a personal reason, it wasn't really anything to do with the team,'' he said.
With so many of his friends, leaving, Fiumara said he considered going, too, but decided against it.
``It's really tough to transfer your senior year,'' said Fiumara, who looked into going to Arizona State, which is near his father's home in Phoenix.
Besides, as Fiumara put it: ``Someone has to stay loyal to the team.
``I don't consider my friends traitors for leaving,'' he added. ``Although I guess I would have respected them a little more if they stuck it out. Just think of the team we could have had.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Brett Wheeler
Matt Quatraro
Dan Almonte
by CNB