Article, 2008 Season - Ohlone Renegades Men's Baseball

Ohlone finds new baseball coach

Former Stanford assistant Kunis takes over Renegades

By Kyle Bonagura, Staff writer.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007—Reprinted from Inside Bay Area.

FREMONT—Ohlone College named Stanford University pitching coach Tom Kunis its new baseball coach, replacing interim coach Eric Kahoalii, who served just one year.

In Kunis, the Renegades have a coach with a proven track record. During his seven years at Stanford, he was instrumental in molding eight pitchers into top-five round draft picks—four of whom have made appearances in the big leagues.

Kunis was one of six applicants who interviewed for the position, but according to former athletic director and baseball coach Paul Moore, Kunis stood out.

"He has a lot of college coaching experience," Moore said. "He won a national championship in college and went to the College World Series five times. He's very good at what he does. He is just a quality coach and a quality person."

Moore served as the head coach at Ohlone from 1990-2006 before relinquishing some responsibility as an assistant to Kahoalii this season.

Moore, who will continue to serve as a consultant in his retirement, said he thinks the program will continue to get better with Kunis in charge, but the school would benefit from a facilities upgrade.

During Kunis' tenure at Stanford, the Cardinal led the Pac-10 conference in earned-run average three times and finished second three times.

"Tom Kunis has done a fantastic job in his first six years as our pitching coach," Stanford head coach Mark Marquess said before the start of the season. "Pitching has always been one of the keys to our success at Stanford, and he has continued that tradition. Tom is one of the best pitching coaches in the country."

Kunis started teaching summer school on Monday. He received his bachelor's degree in kinesiology from San Jose State in 1982 and added a master's in sports administration from Saint Mary's.

Before working for Stanford, Kunis was the pitching coach at Cal Poly for four years and also the head coach at De Anza College. He was an assistant at San Jose State for four years.

Ohlone (27-19, 17-8 Coast Conference) finished third in the Coast Conference South this season and qualified for the state tournament as a No.16 seed. The Renegades defeated No.17 Butte in the first round before falling to No.2 Fresno in the second round.

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