How a coach treats his players can say a lot about a team. After USC’s season ended Sunday afternoon with a 4-3 loss to UNC, head coach Andy Stankiewicz and sophomore right-handed starter Andrew Johnson sat down for a press conference.
“I’m disappointed in the results, but I’m never disappointed in our guys,” Stankiewicz said. As he continued, he put his arm around Johnson, who threw 178 pitches over 20.1 innings and four appearances in the tournament. “What this young man did in the postseason was phenomenal; his grit, toughness, skill, attitude - everything you dream about coaching is what this young man did. We’re very proud of him.”
Coach Stankiewicz has long believed in his players, it seems. At the beginning of the season, he spoke of players like pitcher Mason Edwards, second baseman Abbrie Covarrubias and outfielder Kevin Takeuchi, all juniors, taking big steps forward.
Edwards is a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist after leading D1 college baseball in strikeouts with 169. Covarrubias became a threat on the basepaths, leading the team in stolen bases. Takeuchi’s profile as a hitter exploded; with his newfound power and ability to get on base, he has the ceiling of a five-tool player, someone with the potential to be a high-draft pick.
Any Trojans fans who are heartbroken about Sunday’s loss shouldn’t remain heartbroken for long. The future for USC baseball is bright.
Last season, losses to the MLB draft and the transfer portal depleted USC’s roster. Stankiewicz and his staff added several pieces via freshman recruiting and the transfer portal, but USC wasn’t ranked by D1Baseball, Baseball America or Perfect Game in their preseason previews.
This Trojans team quickly made a name for themselves, winning 19 straight games to start the season, the best start in the program’s history.
“We’re going to continue to work,” Stankiewicz said. “We’re going to continue to get better.”
There haven’t been any announcements yet about players entering the transfer portal this offseason. Fans will hope that USC’s core, including Johnson, Covarrubias, Takeuchi, junior first baseman Adrian Lopez, sophomore designated hitter Augie Lopez and sophomore catcher Isaac Cadena, remains intact. Supplemented by the freshman players who showed glimpses of their potential this season, such as outfielder Walter Urbon and pitcher/shortstop Diego Velazquez, Stankiewicz is only a few additions away from building a team to take the next step forward.
“I’ve never been closer to a group of 39 others as these boys,” Johnson said at the press conference.
Stankiewicz will likely prioritize pitching, specifically in the starting rotation. Edwards and sophomore Grant Govel are both eligible for the MLB draft this summer. Assuming they are taken, that leaves two significant holes in the roster that USC cannot close internally, as evidenced by both Sunday’s loss and the Big Ten semifinal defeat at the hands of UCLA, which ended in similar walk-off fashion.
There are players already available in the transfer portal. For example, sophomore Chase Swift, who just finished his season with Virginia Tech, is a hard-throwing left-hander with a 4.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 3.63 ERA across 22.1 innings pitched.
“As head coach, you think. “Dangit, what could I have done differently?’” Stankiewicz said during the press conference. “I have to figure that out, and I will.”
Throughout his career at both USC and Grand Canyon University, where he coached from 2012 to 2022, Stankiewicz has demonstrated an ability to improve a team from season to season, not just through talent, but through a culture of empathy and support in the clubhouse.
Baseball, as a game, tests every team, player, coach and fan. Brooklyn Dodgers fans popularized the platitude “wait ‘til next year” precisely because they would come so close to only fall short of a title. The Boston Red Sox were one out away from a World Series title in 1986 before Bill Buckner let a ground ball pass under his legs, thus allowing the Mets to win the game and eventually the series.
Baseball is a punishing game, but historically, it also rewards those who wait.