ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy baseball head coach
Paul Kostacopoulos announced today the addition of former Hawai'i head coach Mike Trapasso as the team's pitching coach. Trapasso replaces Bobby Applegate, who was named the head coach at Colorado State Pueblo in June.
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"I would like to thank
Chet Gladchuk and
Paul Kostacopoulos for this opportunity," said Trapasso. "It is truly an honor to have an opportunity to work with these student athletes. I look forward to doing all I can to support Coach Kostacopoulos and the Midshipmen."
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In his 20 years as the head coach of the Rainbow Warriors, Trapasso recorded 536 victories including eight seasons of 30 wins or more. He guided Hawai'i to multiple NCAA Regional appearances.
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Additionally, Trapasso coached 13 All-Americans, 27 All-Big West selections, 52 All-WAC honorees and 80 academic all-conference selections. Along with the collegiate honors earned under the tutelage of Trapasso, 43 of his student-athletes were selected in the Major League Baseball draft.
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"I'm not sure we could have found a better coach to come aboard with us," remarked Kostacopoulos. "He is one of the most respected pitching coaches in all of college baseball. Mike is a genuine person who loves the game of baseball, I feel fortunate to have him."
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Prior to becoming the head coach at Hawai'i, Tapasso served as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, USF and Missouri.
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For his efforts, Trapasso was inducted into the Greater St. Louis Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015 along with being named the 2006 National Baseball Coach of the Year by the National Baseball Foundation. In addition to his national honors, Trapasso is a three-time WAC Coach of the Year honoree.
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Trapasso was also an outstanding player at Jefferson College in Missouri (1982-83), which is one of the premier junior colleges, and at Oklahoma State (1983-84).Â
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At Jefferson College, he was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player, while at Oklahoma State he led the Big Eight Conference and was fifth in the country in ERA allowing just 1.42 earned runs per game.
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