THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408130420
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COLLEGE NOTES
SOURCE: BY ABE GOLDBLATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Tony Guzzo, Old Dominion's new head baseball coach, is keeping it in the family.
In his first official move as ODU coach, Guzzo named Mike Bowers, the Monarchs' co-captain last season, as the restricted-earnings assistant coach.
Bowers, a lefthanded relief pitcher, worked in eight games for the 1994 Monarchs, who were ranked 30th in the final polls and compiled a 40-14 record while winning the Colonial Athletic Association championship and advancing to the NCAA regionals.
Bowers was 0-1 with a 4.57 earned-run average in '94. He went 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in just four games in 1993, dislocating his left elbow during the season.
``I am real excited about having Mike on the staff,'' Guzzo said. ``Old Dominion has always been outstanding in pitching, and Mike will be a big help in carrying on that tradition he learned as a player into the coaching profession.
``Another thing I really like in Mike is that he is a battler. He got hurt in his junior year but didn't quit, and was an integral part of the pitching success at Old Dominion.''
Bowers, a native of Woodbridge, Va., graduated in May with a degree in criminal justice.
ODAC FOOTBALL: Football coaches in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference think this season's race will be run practically the same way it was in 1993. In a preseason poll, they picked defending champion Randolph-Macon to repeat, followed by Hampden-Sydney, Emory & Henry, Washington & Lee, Guilford and Bridgewater. . . . Hampden-Sydney is the only ODAC team in Street & Smith's Division III top 25 preseason poll, at No. 25. And the Tigers' junior defensive tackle Robert Hull is the only ODAC player selected on the preseason All-America team.
TIME MARCHES ON: It's hard to believe that Vito Regazzo, one of William and Mary's football greats and a longtime popular figure on the Virginia sports scene, has retired. He served the past seven years as director of student life in Virginia Tech's athletic department. A member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, he will move to Southport, N.C., where he recently purchased a home.
Ragazzo was the head coach at VMI from 1966 to 1970, then at Shippensburg State (1978-1986). His 1981 team finished 12-1, and Ragazzo was the Division II coach of the year. He also served as an assistant at North Carolina, East Carolina, Wake Forest and VMI, and he worked a year as a scout for the NFL's New England Patriots.
BASEBALL REPORT: Old Dominion junior righthander Anthony Eannacony is having an outstanding summer in the Cape Cod League, which features collegiate players from around the nation. Working in relief, he has a 1-1 record, four saves and an 0.84 ERA, with 31 strikeouts and 25 hits in 32 innings. Eannacony, 8-4 with the Monarchs last season, plays for the Wareham (Mass.) Gatemen, who are in second place in the Eastern Division.
IT'S ABOUT TIME: Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist, has been inducted into the Bridgewater College Athletic Hall of Fame. Richards, who played basketball and track at Bridgewater in 1944-45, took Olympic golds in 1952 and 1956. He won three national decathlon championships and 26 national indoor and outdoor championships. In 1951, he was presented the Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete.
LONGWOOD REPORT: Wrestling coach Steve Nelson, with a national ranking in mind, is bringing in six incoming freshmen from the Hampton Roads area to his Division II program: 142-pounder Matt Browning from Indian River High; heavyweight Adam Brooks (all-state at Denbigh); Jamie Foley (134, Windsor); William Leland (142, Exmore); Hunter Riggins (150, Poquoson); and Nick White (177 or 190, Menchville). ILLUSTRATION: Former ODU reliever Mike Bowers was named the Monarchs' newest
assistant coach.
by CNB