Phone call from a baseball dad helped Wichita State find assistant coach

A baseball coach with a good reputation in Owasso, Okla., is off to a great start at Wichita State.

Shocker coach Todd Butler needed a new assistant coach and a conversation with a parent of an Owasso star pushed him toward Sammy Esposito.

“It’s interesting how that one phone call really changed the hiring,” Butler said.

Esposito worked from 2012-2017 as assistant coach at South Carolina and helped that program to three 40-win seasons and NCAA super regionals in 2013 and 2016. The Gamecocks, however, missed NCAA play in 2015 and 2017 and coach Chad Holbrook resigned under pressure in early June, leaving Esposito looking for a job.

Fortunately, he had a dad on his side.

“He loved how his son was treated with us at South Carolina and loved everything about it,” Esposito said.

Galen Webb is the father of former South Carolina pitcher Braden Webb, a third-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016. Braden Webb underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow as a high school senior and missed almost two years. South Carolina’s coaching staff stuck with Webb during the rehabilitation and his father did not take that treatment for granted.

“In today’s time when coaches will recruit over kids … (Esposito) assured me through it all that his scholarship would be waiting on him,” Galen Webb said. “The second the doctor released him to start throwing, Sammy honored the scholarship.”

Owasso is one of Oklahoma’s top baseball high schools and tied to the tradition of Shocker baseball. It produced three Bluma brothers, current Royals reliever Brian Flynn, incoming junior first baseman Mason O’Brien and others for Wichita State.

When Webb learned Butler needed a coach to replace Brian Walker, who resigned in June to devote time to his family, he thought of Esposito. Braden Webb rewarded the Gamecocks coaching staff for their patience. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named him the 2016 Freshman Pitcher of the Year. He is pitching in Class A for the Brewers.

“I remained in contact with Sammy because he’s just a quality guy,” Galen Webb said. “One day Todd and I were talking … and I said ‘I’ve got a guy.’ ”

Esposito visited Wichita soon after. Butler grilled steaks for him at his house and they watched baseball. Butler hired him in early July. Esposito started calling current and incoming Shockers before completing his university paperwork. A day later, he recruited for the Shockers.

Butler also liked Esposito’s long tenure in the SEC, which started as a volunteer assistant at South Carolina in 2007. He helped the Gamecocks to College World Series titles in 2010 and 2011 and runner-up in 2012. Butler watched that success as an assistant at Arkansas.

“I’ve seen him work with catchers and hitters at South Carolina and saw the product they put on the field,” Butler said. “To get a coach who’s been on two national championship teams as a coach, who’s recruited at South Carolina … I think it’s a home run.”

Esposito comes to coaching through his father, Sam Esposito, who coached North Carolina State from 1967-87. After school, his mother drove him to Doak Field for 4 p.m. games. He shagged fly balls with the pitchers — future Boston Red Sox Brian Bark was a favorite — while his dad threw batting practice.

“He was running down fly balls and I was running the opposite way from them, just because you can’t judge a fly ball at that age,” Sammy Esposito said.

Sammy Esposito played at North Carolina State, for coach Elliott Avent, from 1999-2002. He told Avent he wanted to coach while on a recruiting visit.

“Seeing my dad do it — I don’t look at it as a job,” he said. “This is my way of being involved in the game. It’s still fun for me.”

He came to North Carolina State as a shortstop. Avent needed a catcher. Esposito played some middle infield and a little first base in college. Catching served as his main job.

“My athleticism translated a little better behind the plate,” Esposito said. “They said ‘Do you want to play more?’ I said ‘I would love to play more.’”

Catchers handle pitchers, position defenders, comfort coaches and bargain with umpires. Those all-encompassing duties do seem to prepare them for coaching.

“You’re starting to get those leadership abilities that translate to coaching,” he said. “Physically, you do get beat up a lot more than every other position, but I enjoyed it so much because you’re involved in every aspect. You can see a right fielder and the ball doesn’t get hit to him for five innings.”

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Phone call from a baseball dad helped Wichita State find assistant coach."