Baseball
- Title:
- Graduate Assistant Pitching Coach
- Email:
- kgaines@stcloudstate.edu
Kassidy Gaines enters his third year as a part of the St. Cloud State University coaching staff as the Pitching Coach. Gaines, a Twin Falls, Idaho native, primarily handles pitchers and catchers.
“In one short year Coach Gaines has revamped and re-energized our pitching staff," SCSU head coach Pat Dolan said. "His one-on-one approach in coaching provided unbelievable benefits and results for our younger pitchers...and even though he inherited a strong returning staff with 10 proven arms he developed each one of them and brought them to new heights. We are very fortunate to have him a part of our staff.”
Despite the 2020 season being shortened by COVID-19, Gaines' staff again ranked as one of the top stables in the Central Region. SCSU ranked top-five in the NSIC in ERA, strikeout rate, opponent on-base percentage and FIP. The Huskies led the Northern Sun in shutouts for the second straight season with three, and their 24.4% strikeout rate ranked second in the conference.
In his inagural 2019 campaign, the SCSU pitching staff posted one of their best seasons ever. The Huskies led the NSIC in ERA (3.24), shutouts (10), strikeouts (500), strikeout rate (26.1%) and FIP (2.80). SCSU's arms combined to deliver the NSIC's lowest walk rate (6.7%), opponent average (.240), opponent OBP (.307) and opponent OPS (.639). Under Gaines' guidance, St. Cloud State's staff recorded their lowest FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) in the Dolan era with a stellar 2.80 mark. The Huskies' pitching staff only allowed 163 earned runs in 453.0 innings pitched, held opponents to the second-lowest slugging percentage in the NSIC (.332) and recorded four more shutouts than any other team in the conference. Gaines' pitching staff included five All-Americans, including 2020 honoree Dominic Austing, Sheldon Miks (2015-16), Cal Giese (2018), Blake Flint (2018-NJCAA) and Zach Walz (2017-NJCAA).
Gaines joined the Huskies after serving as the pitching coach for two seasons with fellow NSIC member Bemidji State University. In his first year as a volunteer in 2017, The BSU pitching staff earned the lowest team run average (5.87), most wins (19) most team K’s (282), and lowest amount of walks (155), since the 2014 season.
In 2016, Gaines finished a full season of professional baseball with the Utica Unicorns of the USPBL. He was among a league leader in several categories including finishing second in innings pitched (60.2) and second in wins (5), and he helped defeat the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers 5-0 to claim the USPBL championship. Gaines also had a short stint with the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association in 2015 and with the Florence Freedom of the Frontier League prior to his season in the USPBL.
Gaines served as an as assistant coach for the Aberdeen, S.D., American Legion team in 2015, taking over the responsibilities of renovating the pitching staff for the Smitty’s, which included a significant drop in a team ERA from 9.60 in the prior season to a 6.12 ERA in the summer of 2015 season, and the first appearance at the South Dakota State American Legion Statement since winning the championship in 2009.
In the spring of 2015, Gaines graduated from Northern State University with a degree in marketing. He played three years for the Wolves via junior college transfer after his freshman year at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, Wash. Gaines spent the majority of his career as one of the starters in the Wolves' rotation while also seeing innings from the bullpen as a setup/closer role. He also played for two summer leagues during his college career, the Kitsap BlueJackets of the West Coast League in 2011 and the SoCal Outlaws of the Southern California Collegiate League in 2013. Gaines completed his MS in Educational Leadership and Administration while serving as the Graduate Assistant Coach.
