Kolasinski leaves Husson job, to coach in Michigan

John Kolasinski, who guided the Husson College baseball program to 284 wins in his 15-year career, has resigned his position to take the baseball job at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Mich.

“It was time,” said the 40-year-old Kolasinski. “I’ve reached a point in my life to see what I can do [elsewhere]. This also offers me a chance to stay in the NAIA and continue my work as second vice president of the NAIA Baseball Coaches Association.”

Bangor-based Husson College is making the move from NAIA to NCAA Division III and Kolasinski wouldn’t have been able to retain his NAIA position beginning the next school year.

Kolasinski will be Siena Heights’ full-time baseball coach and won’t have other responsibilities at the school like he does at Husson where he is the director of residential life.

“I’ve always had my eyes and ears open for that [full-time baseball job],” acknowledged Kolasinski. “I won’t have to wonder what’s wrong when the phone rings at 11:00 on a Friday night.”

Kolasinski, who will replace Gordie Theisen, found out about the position from a friend, Sam Riggleman, the associate head baseball coach at Spring Arbor University (Mich.).

Spring Arbor and Siena Heights are both in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, which has seven teams for baseball. He said the top three teams qualify for NAIA regional play.

He said he was “impressed” by the school, the people and the players during his interview and accepted the job last Friday.

The school does have athletic scholarships. Husson doesn’t.

Siena Heights, which went to the NAIA World Series in 1994, is coming off a 14-41 season.

“There’s some work to do out there. There’s no doubt about that. But there is a good foundation,” said Kolasinski, who indicated that the record is misleading because “they don’t play any northern schools on the spring trip to Alabama.”

The Saints’ 2004 schedule includes games against Division I schools Bowling Green, Michigan State and Central Michigan.

Kolasinski will have two graduate assistant coaches and said the money “is a little less than I made here with everything combined. But I can coach a summer team out there and run baseball camps. There’s the opportunity to make significantly more money there. The clinics we had at Husson were used for fund-raising.”

Kolasinski is a native of Winsted, Conn., and graduated from Husson in 1985 where he was a second baseman.

He became the head coach four years later and led Husson to 14 straight postseason appearances, six Maine Athletic Conference/Sunrise Conference championships and three appearances in NAIA Regional tournaments.

He was the conference coach of the year five times and was also named the NAIA Regional coach of the year once.

He has coached the Bangor American Legion team and was one of the founding members of the Eastern Maine Amateur Baseball League.

His record was 284-262-1.

“I’ll miss the players; coach [John] Winkin and coach [Dave] Paul and the people who have been real good to me like [Dean of the College] John Rubino, [Director of Admissions] Jane Goodwin and [administrative assistant] Carlene Thompson,” said Kolasinski, who will assume his new job next month.

Husson has not named Kolasinski’s successor.