2014 Winthrop Baseball
It’s A Big Hit
Tom Riginos
om Riginos is entering his fourth season as
head coach of the Winthrop baseball team.
Riginos was officially introduced as the new
baseball coach at Winthrop University on August 4,
2010, becoming just the third head coach in the pro-
gram’s history.
In his first season with the program, two Win-
throp players were drafted in the 2011 Major League
Baseball First Year Player Draft (Tyler Mizenko, Ed-
die Rohan), while one signed a free agent contract
(Robert Lake). Mizenko was drafted in the 28th round
by the San Francisco Giants and Rohan in the 50th
round by the New York Mets, with Lake signing with
the Mets as well.
Riginos earned his first career victory as a head
coach in the Eagles’ 14-9 season-opening victory
over the San Diego State Aztecs, who were coached
by Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tony
Gwynn.
Prior to joining the Eagles, Riginos (pronounced
ruh-JEEN-us) spent eight seasons on the Clemson
baseball staff under head coach Jack Leggett. He
Jim Ward. Riginos was in charge of the hitters and
outfielders for the Colonels, and helped coach the
team to a second-place league finish during the 1992
season.
As a player, Riginos was a four-year letter winner
for the Hatters from 1987-90. He played under Dunn
and helped Stetson to three NCAA Regionals and
three conference titles.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in Sports Ad-
ministration from Stetson in 1990, and later earned a
master’s degree in Physical Education/Sports Admin-
istration from Eastern Kentucky in 1993.
A native of Clearwater, FL, Riginos is married to
the former Shaileen Kelley. The couple has twin girls,
Alexandra and Grace, and a son, Chatham. Tom also
has another son, Ben.
T
spent his final three seasons with the Tigers as the
associate head coach/recruiting coordinator, and was
an assistant head coach from 2003-07.
During his time as the recruiting coordinator at
Clemson, Riginos brought in consecutive top 20 re-
cruiting classes. The 2009 class was ranked ninth by
Collegiate Baseball, while the 2010 recruiting class
ranked 29th nationally by Baseball America.
“I just knew it was going to be the right fit,” said
Riginos at his introductory press conference. “Rock
Hill is a good area to bring up a family. With my fam-
ily and my wife’s family and relatives being in Florida,
staying in the Southeast was important to me. It’s
about family, relationships and contacts, and this is
the right fit. The overall program here at Winthrop,
the facilities and the size of the school reminded me
so much of where I got my start as a player and a
coach at Stetson University. Those are my roots and
Winthrop is so similar in so many ways.”
After bringing in a talented recruiting class that
was ranked among the top 60 nationally by Colle-
giate Baseball Newspaper, Riginos believes Win-
throp’s program has turned the corner and is back to
where it challenges for conference titles and NCAA
post-season appearances. His first three Winthrop
teams have compiled a 65-98 record.
Before heading to Clemson, Riginos spent nine
seasons (1994-02) with head coach Pete Dunn as an
assistant coach at his alma mater, Stetson University.
He recruited eight classes for the Hatters program
that garnered national recognition. Riginos also
recruited six All-Americans and 10 Freshman All-
Americans during his time at Stetson.
He coached four of the five top hitting teams in
Hatter program history, which included the 2001
squad that ranked 24th nationally in batting average,
12th in slugging percentage and 19th in homers per-
game.
He began his collegiate coaching career as the
top assistant and graduate assistant coach for two
seasons at Eastern Kentucky under head coach
Head
Coach
