TCSBL/VBCBL
2018 Teams and Coaches
Click on team name to visit the team’s page, and view the team’s schedule, roster and coach’s bio information.
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Virginia Beach Shredders Baseball Club
Head Coach: Tony Guzzo
Prior to the 2017 season, former Old Dominion baseball head coach Tony Guzzo returned to ODU as a Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
In his first season as the Special Assistant, Coach Guzzo helped guide the Monarchs to a 37-21 record, the most single-season wins for the program since 2006. ODU also compiled a 19-11 record during Conference USA play and finished second in the league during the regular season, its best finish since joining Conference USA.
Coach Guzzo, one of the deans of collegiate baseball in the state of Virginia, guided the Monarchs for 10 seasons from 1995 to 2004. During his tenure, Old Dominion won two CAA regular season titles (1996, 2000), two CAA Tournament titles (1995, 1996) and earned three NCAA Regional appearances (1995, 1996, 2000).
Overall, Coach Guzzo amassed a career record of 303-252 at Old Dominion, giving the long-time head coach a total of 734 victories as a collegiate skipper. At ODU, Coach Guzzo guided several of the progrem’s brightest stars, including Justin Verlander, Kevin Gibbs, Matt Quatraro, Tim Hummel, Ron Walker, Tony Gsell and many more.
Prior to ODU, Coach Guzzo served as head coach at VCU, where he compiled a 329-300-1 from 1983-1994. Prior to the Rams, he rolled up a 102-66 record at North Carolina Wesleyan, taking that club to the NCAA Division III World Series in 1981 and 82. Both teams placed fourth in the nation.
In his early days as a coach, he served as a graduate assistant at East Carolina from 1976-78 and as head baseball and football coach at Norfolk Catholic High School from 1972-76.
Coach Guzzo played both baseball, as a catcher and football as a placekicker at East Carolina University. He is the parent of two children; a son, Anthony, and a daughter, Gina.
A native of Norfolk, Coach Guzzo graduated from Norfolk Catholic High School in 1967 and earned a B.S. degree in health and physical education from East Carolina University in 1971.
Coach Guzzo is widely regarded as one of Baseballs premier catching instructors, having schooled several pro players and/or catching instructors & coaches, including Joe Breeden, Matt Quatraro. and Mark Strittmatter. Coach Guzzo will be leading the catching and pitching instruction for the Shredders this summer, among other duties.
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Head Coach: Allan Erbe
Allan Erbe is a former Associate Scout with the Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers organizations, and has spent 35 plus years coaching baseball in the Tidewater area.
Coach Erbe, along with local baseball legend Towny Townsend, helped establish the area’s first youth travel baseball organization, the Virginia Blasters, one of the many high quality programs Coach Erbe was involved with that helped develop many of the areas top baseball players, including MLB’s Mike Cuddyer, David Wright, BJ Upton, Josh Rupe & Jimmy Anderson, along with over a dozen more players who played professionally in the minor leagues and indy ball.
Coach Erbe is part of a core of outstanding baseball men who have helped to establish the Hampton Roads area as great baseball player developmental juggernaut and a hot bed of big league prospects. A resident of Hampton, VA, Coach Erbe has continued to help develop players and advance the baseball careers of local baseball players for over 35 years. Coach Erbe will be working with the position players this summer, in addition to other coaching duties with the Shredders.
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Coach Guzzo and Coach Erbe, reuniting after going 63-25 coaching together at NCHS and going 30-14 while coaching together in American Legion Posts 204 & 35; including coaching Tidewater area baseball legend Billy Swoope at both NCHS & Post 35, back in the early days of their respective coaching careers, before Swoope was drafted in the 10th round by the LA Dodgers (1976). After his playing career ended, Swoope has enjoyed a long and distinguished scouting career as the Chicago Cubs east coast senior scout. Both Tony Guzzo and Allan Erbe played in the TSL in the early 70’s for Fett Roofing and Allan Erbe also played for Burtons Appliances. The TSL is excited to have these great baseball men back in the league for the 70th Anniversary season of the Tidewater Summer League.
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There have been 13 MLB Players coached between Coach Guzzo and Coach Erbe.
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Coach Guzzo – Justin Verlander (RHP, Astros), James Austin (RHP, Brewers), Matt Williams (LHP , Indians), Jamie Brewington, (RHP, Giants), Jerry Dipoto, (RHP , Cleveland and current GM Seattle Mariners), Tim Hummel, (Inf- Reds), Mark Strittmatter, (C,numerous teams and MLB coach), Matt Quatraro, (C, current 3rd base coach Tampa Bay Rays) — Coach Guzzo is a former Full Time Scout for the Boston Red Sox, and former associate scout with the LA Dodgers and Kansas City Royals.
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Coach Erbe – David Wright (Inf Mets), BJ Upton (OF, Indians), Mike Cuddyer (Twins, Rockies, Mets), Josh Rupe (RHP Rangers, White Sox, Orioles), ,Jimmy Anderson (LHP, Pirates). Coach Erbe is a former associate scout with the LA Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
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Assistant Coach: Gary Denette
Coach Denette was an outstanding player for Churchland High, earning Portsmouth Player of the Year honors, All-Southeastern District, led district in batting, All-Tidewater led tidewater and all AAA schools in OBP. All-Region. Gary went to Christopher Newport University, where as freshman he led team in batting. Gary also was a starter on the Chesapeake Cubs travel team managed by Allan Erbe. Gary was an outstanding top of the order hitter/ baserunner and performed effectively at several positions including P, SS, 2B and CF. Gary is currently a SCPO in the USN, having served 20 years. Gary is currently the JV coach at Churchland HS.
Asst. Coach: Devon Adams;
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Norfolk Voyagers Baseball Club
Head Coach: Gary Lavelle
With over twenty years of professional pitching experience under his belt, Coach Gary Lavelle will be an incredible asset to to the Tidewater Collegiate Summer Baseball League and our players. He spent most of his his pro pitching career with the San Francisco Giants where he was twice named a National League All-Star and held the record for most game appearances as well as being listed in the top 10 for saves and wins.
Coach Lavelle also played pro ball for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Oakland Athletics before deciding to move from the mound to the coaches’ box, where he had a strong desire to work with youngsters in developing their baseball ability, sportsmanship and leadership. As head coach of Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake, VA, Lavelle was named TCIS Conference Coach of the Year for six consecutive years, as well as a seven-time Virginia State Independent Schools Coach of the Year. Lavelle’s team was a four-time winner of the Metro Conference Championship, a six-time winner of the Division I Virginia State Championship, and winner of the Division II Virginia State Championship in 1999.
In 2000, Coach Lavelle returned to the Big Leagues as a Pitching Coach for the New York Yankees where he culminated his career as the 2004 Eastern League All Star Game Pitching Coach. After five years with the Yankees, Lavelle decided to return to Greenbrier Christian Academy where he had found his true calling. Over the next 10 years, his team went on to win the Virginia Independent Schools State Championship four times and Lavelle was named Coach of the Year for each of those years.
Coach Gary Lavelle officially retired from Greenbrier Christian Academy at the end of the 2016 school year, and is currently the Head Baseball Coach of the Bryant & Stratton College Bobcats, where he continues to help develop and mentor young student athletes and is establishing what will become one of the premier junior college programs.
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Asst. Coach: Mitch Everett
Assistant Coach Mitch Everett is entering his first year of coaching in the TSL, and will be assisting Head Coach Gary Lavelle with the Voyagers this summer.
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Greenbrier Knights Baseball Club
Head Coach: Chuck Slaughter.
Coach Slaughter, a native & resident of Chesapeake, VA, is entering his 25th season of coaching in the Greenbrier Knights organization. Coach Slaughter is the former head baseball coach at IC Norcom HS in Portsmouth, VA. Coach Slaughter played collegiate baseball at Virginia Wesleyan College.
Head Coach: Jack Moore
Coach Moore, a native & resident of Virginia Beach, VA, is returning to the Knights coaching staff. Coach Moore is currently an assistant baseball coach at Bryant & Stratton College, and has over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, serving as head coach and assistant coach for NCAA & NJCAA college programs through the years, as well as in collegiate summer leagues. Coach Moore played collegiate baseball at Barton College.
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Outer Banks Daredevils Baseball Club
Head Coach: Michael Dooley.
Coach Dooley, a resident of Kitty Hawk, NC and native of Chesapeake, VA, will be entering his 5th season as head coach of the Outer Banks Daredevils. Coach Dooley led the Greenbrier Knights as head coach for 20 seasons prior to moving to the Outer Banks and taking the helm of the Daredevils. Coach Dooley has established great summer programs year after year, with his player first approach to summer baseball. His formula of combining playing at championship caliber level with playing for the love of the game has provided hundreds of collegiate players with a great summer baseball experience. Over his collegiate summer league coaching career, Coach Dooley has lead his ball clubs to 13 Tidewater Summer League Championships.
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Asst. Coach: Graham Barnes
Assistant Coach Graham Barnes, a graduate of Appalachian State University, has been a part of the Daredevils organization through out the teams existence. His family served as host parents for many years, and Graham enjoyed his younger years as a host brother to Daredevils players each summer. During his collegiate baseball career, Graham was an outfielder and designated hitter for the Daredevils, and following his playing career, Graham joined the coaching staff of the Outer Banks Daredevils, where he has served as the first base coach during the past several seasons.
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Lakewood Legends Baseball Club
Head Coach: Gary Wright
Founder and long time Tidewater Drillers skipper Gary Wright has joined the Lakewood Legends and will be serving as their manager and head coach. Coach Wright is one of our local baseball legends, and any attempt to provide an accurate and complete bio would be an overwhelming undertaking, but Coach Wrights contribution to the Tidewater Summer League, to the Tidewater area’s youth baseball programs, and the men who have come through the Drillers program through the years cannot be overstated. We are honored to have Coach Wright working with the Legends players.
Head Coach: Mike Milligan
Mike Milligan is the former Varsity Head Coach at Norfolk Christian High School, a VISAA Division 1 program committed to building championship character first. In 2017, Norfolk Christian also announced Mike would be the first coach for their newly formed Post Graduate Baseball program. It will be developed from the ground up to offer players the option to train and play one season between high school and college while retaining four years of collegiate eligibility, improving their academic transcript and developing their baseball ability.
Prior to coaching at Norfolk Christian, Mike was a student coach, graduate assistant and high school coach in North Carolina. He has also served as Head Coach for American Legion teams in VA and NC. In addition to leading Norfolk Christian’s baseball varsity and Post Grad program, he is a baseball scout with National Scouting Report, creator of Championship College Planning and Financial Planner at ZGP Financial. A former player at Scotland High School and Campbell University, he is in his first year with the Tidewater Summer League as General Manager and Head Coach of the Lakewood Legends.
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Tidewater Hawks Baseball Club
Head Coach: Murray Ruggiero
Coach Murray Ruggiero hails from Wallingford, CT. A two-way player during his collegiate playing career, Coach Ruggiero played at Adirondack CC in Queensbury, NY, Clinton Community College in Plattsburg, NY and at Central Penn College in Enola, PA.
Following his playing career, Coach Ruggiero transitioned into coaching and is now an assistant coach and the domestic recruiting coordinator for Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, NC.
Coach Ruggiero served as the assistant coach of the Tidewater Hawks in 2017, managing the pitching staff, and in 2018 took the helm of the Tidewater Hawks in his first season as Head Coach.
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Suffolk Fightin’ Crabs
Head Coach – Nick Giaquinto (Sacred Heart Univ.)
Coach Giaquinto, former Head Coach of northeast power Division I Sacred Heart University (30 yrs). The Pioneers have reached the Northeast Conference championship game 7 years in a row and have won their conference title 4 times and advanced to the NCAA Division I regional tournament. Giaquinto has garnered many coaching accolades during his tenure at Sacred Heart including Coach of the Year Honors multiple times. He has had numerous Sacred Heart players drafted into professional baseball during his coaching career as well. As a player, Nick actually played in the NFL for four years from 1980-83 for the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins and won a Super Bowl with the Redskins in 1983.
Asst. Coach: Franklin Miller
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Portsmouth Sea Monsters
Head Coach – Michael Breen (San Jose State)
Michael Breen, born and raised in Hollister, California, enters his first year as a head coach in the VBCBL. Currently, Breen is the graduate assistant at San Jose State University, a Division 1 program in the Mountain West Conference. Breen is a recent graduate of SJSU, and played for all 4 years for the Spartans. He was mainly an infielder, although he played every position except for catcher and centerfield throughout his tenure. His summer collegiate baseball career was an adventurous one, having played for the DC Grays in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League in 2014, the Belmont Owls in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate League in 2015, and was a member of the inaugural Gresham Greywolves in the West Coast League in 2016. This previous summer, Breen was an assistant for the Utah Marshalls, an independent summer team that ended their season with a 69-13 record. Having earned his business marketing degree, Breen is currently pursuing his master’s in sports management.
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Asst. Coach: Josh Taylor;
Josh Taylor is in his 3rd year of coaching. He is currently coaching at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee where he works with the outfielders and hitters. He was previously at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tennessee. At Roane State, Taylor coached the catchers and hitter and recruiting. His playing experience was at Roane State where he was a catcher, first base, and third base. This is his first year coaching in the Virginia Beach League.
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Sandbridge Seagulls
Head Coach: Thad Johnson;
Asst. Coach: Reid Van Woert;
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Chesapeake Suns
Head Coach: Sean Montgomery;
Asst. Coach: Kyle Dubois;
Kyle Dubois joined the Virginia Wesleyan University Marlins for the 2018 season after spending the previous ten years in the recreation industry. He most recently coached Cox High School where he was a head coach and strength and conditioning coordinator for the program. He oversaw all aspects of the three-time state contender Cox Falcon baseball program and primarily focused on the pitchers.
In his first year with the Marlins, 2018, six players received All-ODAC accolades, highlighted by first-team selections, Sophomore Pitcher/Utility: Jacob Pilarski, Senior Pitcher: Glen Pizzanello, and Senior Shortstop: Brandon Kussmaul. The remaining three players were Senior Outfielder: Randy Niesz (2nd-Team), Senior Pitcher: Chance Pauley (3rd-Team), and Junior Infielder: Brady Fallon (3rd-Team). Continuing in his first year with the Marlins, three players received All-South Region Honors selected by America Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings and D3baseball.com, highlighted by first-team selection, Sophomore Pitcher/Utility: Jacob Pilarski, followed by Senior Shortstop: Brandon Kussmaul (2nd-Team), and Senior Infielder: Corey King (2nd-Team). Ending his first year with the Marlins, 2018, one player was named to the All-America Team by D3baseball.com, Sophomore Pitcher/Utility: Jacob Pilarski (3rd-Team). This is the program’s first All-America selection since 2010.
Dubois came on to the Marlins baseball staff 14 games in to the 2018 season. He helped the coaching staff finish with the most wins in ODAC Conference in nine years, and the most regular season wins ever in Virginia Wesleyan history. The squad was also ranked in the top 25 nationally for the first time in over ten years and received its first regional bid since 2006.
Working with the pitchers, Dubois helped the 2018 squad to a 3.26 conference earned run average, and a 3.98 total earned run average. The pitching staff struck out a total of 330 batters in 47 games, the most in Virginia Wesleyan history. He helped Glen Pizzanello earn National Pitcher of the Week Honors named by D3baseball.com and helped Jacob Pilarski earn ODAC Conference Pitcher of the Week Honors on two separate occasions. Dubois helped Pizzanello to a team-best 2.11 earn run average with 6 wins, 6 saves, and 46 strikeouts in relief. Dubois also helped Pilarski raise his earned run average from 10.23 to a team-best 2.05 with 11 wins (the most wins in Virginia Wesleyan history), 0 losses, 3 complete games, 2 shutouts, and 80 strikeouts as a starter in his first year on staff.
Dubois coached current MLB player Chris Taylor and trained other previous and current MLB players in his career. Before beginning his coaching career, Dubois was previously drafted in the MLB by the Chicago Cubs in 2001 and 2002. He also played for Shreveport Sports the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball in 2006-2008.
Dubois graduated from State College of Florida (Manatee Community College) in 2004 with an Associates Degree in Physical Education and Business Administration before getting his Bachelors of Science Degree from Old Dominion University in 2009. He is married to the former Maria Winship of Virginia Beach, VA. The two reside in Virginia Beach, VA with their dog and son.
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Virginia Beach Waves
Head Coach: Shaun McKenna
Coach McKenna will be returning for his 3rd season as the Head Coach of the Virginia Beach Waves. Coach McKenna will be defending his 2017 TSL/VBCBL Championship.
Asst. Coach: Evan Hirschbaum;
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