Restaino To Succeed Giaquinto As Sacred Heart Coach Following 2017

Sacred Heart announced Tuesday that Nick Giaquinto will step down as head coach following the 2017 season. Assistant coach Nick Restaino will succeed Giaquinto as head coach.

Giaquinto has been the Pioneers head coach since 1988, and enters the season with a 608-716-3 record. He led Sacred Heart to the 1992 Division II College World Series and helped the program transition to Division I in 2000. The Pioneers reached the NCAA tournament four times after moving to Division I, most recently in 2015, when they were swept in the Fort Worth Regional.

The Pioneers went 30-28 in 2016 and finished in second place in the Northeast Conference.

In a release, Giaquinto said it was “a bittersweet decision” to leave Sacred Heart. Following the season, he will relocate to be with his wife, who is a lecturer at Old Dominion.

“I will never forget the dedication and passion of the student-athletes that I have had the honor to coach and the coaches and staff that I have had the privilege to work alongside,” he said.

Restaino was head coach at Fordham from 2005-2011, and joined the Sacred Heart staff in 2015, serving as recruiting coordinator. He went 196-189-2 in seven seasons with the Rams.

Athletic director Bobby Valentine, the former big league player and manager, said he looks forward to watching the Pioneers under Restaino’s guidance.

“Nick Restaino has played a large role in our baseball program’s success the past two seasons,” Valentine said in a statement. “And I am confident that he will continue the trajectory of Pioneer baseball as our next head coach. He has acquitted himself well at every stop of his career.”

Giaquinto is the third coach to announce his intention to step down following the 2017 season. Stanford’s Mark Marquess and Stetson’s Pete Dunn will both retire following this spring.