Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 6 | June 2018

44 Inside Hokie Sports 300 Technology Drive Christiansburg, Virginia 24073 www.inorganicventures.com European distribution center located in Santander, Spain Two of our PhDs as well as eleven key members of our service, production, and business teams hold degrees from Virginia Tech. When you’ve got the right talent in place, there’s no limit to how far you can go. Makers of the world’s most accurate Certified Reference Materials Proud to support the Hokies’ teams. Because the Hokies are such a big part of ours. a lot of things at Virginia Tech—we have an amazing academic school, we have good facilities, we have great leadership … so I think I’m in a very good situation.” D’Amour’s bio is similar in some respects to Lopez Miro. He worked at Missouri for 10 years before taking the Kennesaw State job, including the same five-year time period in which Babcock served as executive associate AD for the Tigers. The two knew each other, though D’Amour said they had more of a business relationship back then. “I’d go in there and ask him for parking passes for football games,” D’Amour joked. Missouri went 453-154 during D’Amour’s 10 years on the staff, and more impressively, appeared in the Women’s College World Series three times. The Tigers finished ranked in the top 20 nationally all 10 years. D’Amour started his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Missouri in 2007 and worked as a batting practice pitching coach for two seasons while finishing up work on his undergraduate degree before later being promoted to assistant coach in 2009. In 2015, he was promoted to associate coach. During his time inColumbia, he primarilyworkedwith the pitchers and catchers, and he mentored 11 All-Americans and three conference Pitchers of the Year. The lure of returning close to his roots led to his interest in the Virginia Tech position. He grew up in Monrovia, Maryland and his parents today live in Martinsburg, West Virginia—a 3.5-hour drive from Blacksburg. “It’s closer to home, the facilities, the administration, a good conference,”D’Amour said, ticking off his reasons for wanting the position. “I like the area. I’ve been interested in this job for a long time. It was good when it came open. I was ready for it.” D’Amour inherits a Tech program coming of two straight losing seasons and three straight campaigns without an NCAA regional appearance. The Hokies went 23-30 this past season, including 7-16 in ACC play, and lost 10 games by just a run. The Hokies, though, do return most of a young team from a season ago—they tied for the most newcomers in the ACC with 11. The returning group includes All-ACC pitcher Carrie Eberle, who led Tech with a 1.72 ERA and also at the plate, with eight home runs and a .362 on- base percentage. “Just looking at the stats, good pitching and good defense,” D’Amour said of his impressions of the Tech program. “They struggled to score runs a little bit, but that can be worked on. I think the program is close. It’s close. Coach [Scot] Thomas left it in a good spot. I’m excited about the roster and what it looks like.” D’Amour, who played baseball at both Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Frostburg State and later earned his degree in general studies and a master’s degree in sports psychology from Missouri, planned on attacking his list of duties related to his new job rather quickly. “It’s going to be a situation where I’m on the go for the next two months,” he said. “I think the first thing is getting to know people in the state and getting to know the travel ball coaches and the recruits that are lined up. I’ll be in and out here in Blacksburg, but I plan on being on the road the majority of the time.” Both new coaches were eager to get started because, in both cases, they accepted positions that put them in good situations. The cupboards aren’t bare—so hopefully, the wins will be soon to follow. New TECH head coaches Continued from page 43 Pete D’Amour