LOS ANGELES — Andy Stankiewicz, as he recalls, didn’t earn a multi-year contract in his baseball life until he started coaching.
A product of Pepperdine University, he squeezed out close to two decades bouncing around in the minor and major leagues, a member of six different organizations, all on one-year deals. He stood all of 5-foot-9 and weighed 165 pounds, eking the ball over the fence exactly 15 times in 16 seasons of professional baseball. Current USC freshman Duce Robinson stands approximately a foot taller than him.
But Stankiewicz was a grinder. He snatched opportunities that were never handed to him. It’s intrinsic to his core, his big-league life a direct reflection of his worldview.
“I just had to kind of fight and kick and claw my way through it all,” Stankieiwcz reflected, sitting in the metal bleachers after the USC baseball team’s practice on Tuesday morning. “And so I think that’s part of what we’re trying to help these young men understand.”
The revitalization of USC baseball will hinge directly on its coach at the masthead, molded directly in Stankiewicz’s image, trying to infuse a talented lineup and intriguing rotation pieces with the same nitty-gritty scrappiness that gave him a life in baseball and rebuilt Grand Canyon over a decade-long tenure. For years, an all-time legendary program had faded into irrelevancy and turmoil, enduring several seasons of mediocrity that ended in a Los Angeles Times-reported investigation into former head coach Jason Gill. Stankiewicz’s subsequent 2022 hire was a breath of fresh air, USC putting together its first full winning season since 2015.
“Last year was kind of the beginning,” sophomore Austin Overn said. “Just, proved a point that we’re better than everyone expected, and kinda earn everyone’s respect.”
“That’s our main goal, just earning other people’s respect,” Overn continued. “Because I feel like over the past few years, no one has respected…
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