Sharks Add Wondrack and Horner to Coaching Staff for 2020 Season
Published on May 7, 2020 under Coastal Plain League (Coastal Plain)
Wilmington Sharks News Release
The Wilmington Sharks are excited to announce the hiring of assistant coaches Danny Wondrack and Pete Horner. Both coaches come to the Sharks with prior experience in the Coastal Plain League.
"We're thrilled. From our earliest conversations, it was clear that Danny and Pete were willing to do what it takes to develop a platform for our guys to get better every day. We know they'll help Russ get the Sharks back to the top of the standings," says Sharks General Manager Carson Bowen.
Wondrack has some personal experience in the city of Wilmington where he played for the Sharks in 2017 and 2018. Most fans will remember his 2-run walk-off home run against the Edenton Steamers that put the Sharks into the Petitt Cup Championship series in 2017 - arguably one of the most iconic moments in recent memory for the Wilmington Sharks.
"I needed someone with playing experience. What really intrigued me about Danny was that he was a catcher, and he played college ball four years in a row", said Wilmington Sharks Head Coach Russ Burroughs. "If I can bring in someone that is a hitter and a catcher to have that knowledge on our coaching staff to help develop not only our catchers, but also provide insight to the pitchers because he has seen things from a different perspective. It was a no-brainer to bring him on as an assistant coach".
Originally from Wall, New Jersey, Wondrack currently works as an assistant coach at Florence- Darlington Technical College in Florence, South Carolina working with hitters and catchers. After graduating from the College of Charleston in 2019, where he played in 183 games over four seasons, he decided to stay down south after an illustrious career as a slugging backstop for the Cougars. Wondrack finished his college baseball career sixth all-time in school history with 35 home runs and added 133 runs batted in.
Ironically enough, Burroughs remembers Wondrack well after being on the opposite side of that game winning home run back in 2017 as the manager of the Steamers at the time.
2019 Coastal Plain League Organization of the Year
The second addition to the staff, Pete Horner, joins the Sharks after a successful run as the pitching coach for the Macon Bacon in 2019. He played an integral part in the development and success of the Bacon pitching staff that finished the season ranked in the top five in almost every significant category for pitchers. This included finishing 2nd in the CPL in both hits and runs allowed, 3rd in earned runs and team ERA, as well as 5th overall in both walks allowed and strikeouts. The success of Macon's pitching staff resulted in the team playing for a Petitt Cup championship in just their second season in the league.
"I want to bring structure and I want to bring fluidity. It is not just about analytics and numbers.
I am a big pitcher development guy as much as I am an obvious analytics and stat guy. I love developing day-to-day programs with pitchers." says Horner. "Very cohesive, very coherent, very thorough programs that help develop velocity", said Pete Horner, when asked about what he plans to bring to the Sharks in 2020.
Born and raised in Cleveland Ohio, Horner spent the previous three seasons (2017-2019) working as an assistant on the coaching staff at Bowling Green State University where he is currently enrolled as a Data Science Major with a plan to graduate in the Fall of 2020. His responsibilities for the Falcons included working directly with their pitching coach Kyle Hallock on creating programs and routines for pitchers, as well as analyzing film and stats. In 2018, Horner spent the summer in the New York Collegiate Baseball League as the pitching coach for the Wellsville Nitros.
"That is the way baseball is going nowadays, it is all analytics, and my thought is if we all want to get to where we want to go, Pete's the one guy that everybody needs to learn from," adds Burroughs. "Even though he may be the youngest, he is going to be teaching us so much from the analytical side. We've got a really good mesh of coaches that can learn from each other".
"We can't wait to get started," adds Burroughs.
Coastal Plain League Stories from May 7, 2020
- Sharks Add Wondrack and Horner to Coaching Staff for 2020 Season - Wilmington Sharks
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